Americans’ concern over crime hits four-year high: poll

Americans’ concerns over crime have hit a four-year high, according to a Washington Post- ABC News poll released Friday.

Fifty-nine percent of respondents said that crime is an “extremely” or “very serious” problem in the U.S., the highest level since 2017.

On a local level, worries about crime are also growing, though lower than the national concern.

Seventeen percent of respondents said that crime was either “extremely” or a “very serious” problem in the areas they live in, compared with 10 percent last fall.

The survey comes amid a heated debate about how to address crime amid a spike.

Last month, President Biden outlined his plans to address crime, which includes encouraging jurisdictions to use coronavirus relief funds to invest in police departments and community programs to cut down on violence, as well as addressing gun violence.

The poll also comes amid a heated debate around the “defund the police” movement, which gained traction among progressives last year after the police killing of George Floyd rocked the nation.

Thirty-five percent of Americans said they trusted Democrats to do a better job at handling crime, while 36 percent said they trusted Republicans to do a better job. Twenty percent said they trusted neither party on the issue.

Among the solutions for addressing crime, 55 percent of respondents said that increasing funding for police departments would reduce violent crime.

However, 75 percent said that increasing funding to build economic opportunities would help reduce violent crime. Another 65 percent said using social workers to help police defuse situations with people having emotional problems would also reduce violent crime.

The poll surveyed 907 adults between June 27-30, 2021. It has a margin of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.