Story at a glance
- More Americans this year were worried about becoming a crime victim as COVID lockdowns and social distancing measures mostly ended.
- Fear of becoming a victim of cybercrimes rose, as did victimizations.
- But victimization rates for other crimes mostly held steady, with overall victimization rising only slightly over last year.
Americans in 2021 became more fearful of falling victim to crimes like burglary and identity theft after the relative quiet of lockdowns last year, despite actual victimization rates increasing just slightly over last year.
Fear of crime has largely returned to 2019 levels, a new Gallup poll has found, with the percentage of adults who “frequently” or “occasionally” worry about certain violent or property crimes up between five and nine points over last year. These crimes include getting mugged or murdered, burglary, vehicle theft, and identity theft.
Worry about other crimes, like being assaulted by a coworker, being a victim of a hate crime, or being sexually assaulted, were virtually unchanged from last year, according to the survey, which was conducted between Oct. 1 – 19.
Americans are most worried about cybercrimes like identity theft and computer hacking — two crimes which have consistently outpaced other crimes since they appeared in the annual poll in 2009 and 2017, respectively, according to Gallup.
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Roughly 17 percent of the adults surveyed said someone in their household was a victim of identity theft, the highest to date. About 28 percent said a household member’s credit card or financial information was stolen this year, up from 20 percent in 2020 and also the highest level recorded by Gallup.
But aside from internet crimes, victimization rates in 2021 mostly held steady.
About 23 percent of U.S. adults said they or a member of their household had been a victim of a crime in the past 12 months. That’s up ever so slightly from 20 percent in 2020, a record low.
Researchers at Gallup say fear of crime has spiked absent a spike in actual victimization in part because of pandemic lockdowns last year which generally lowered Americans’ worry of becoming a victim of various crimes.
“The declines in worry seen in 2020 may have reflected an enhanced sense of security among Americans brought about by social distancing — staying home more, avoiding public transportation and avoiding places with large crowds,” they wrote. “The increases in worry this year may simply be the expected return to normal as social distancing behaviors have eased.”
But that could also reflect public awareness that violent crime was up last year, and “news about violent crime may be influencing broader perceptions of the crime problem,” researchers said.
More Americans this year also said they primarily stay away from dangerous areas to avoid becoming a crime victim and have armed themselves with guns, knives or mace.
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