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8-in-10 Americans Worry About Crime As Violence Spikes

Spencer Brown
Spencer Brown  |  April 07, 2022 12:30 PM

While President Biden has sought to emphasize his stated commitment to increasing funding for America's police departments, members of his party continue to undermine public safety by calling for police departments to be defunded, demonizing cops, and pushing for radical changes in policing. All the while, crime continues to spike in big cities across the country and deadly drugs such as fentanyl claim lives across the country. 

It's no surprise, then, that Gallup's latest survey found more Americans are worried about crime than they have been since the time Obama and Biden were in the White House. Like other problems that have returned after fading during the Trump years, worries about crime are back in a big way as federal crime data shows homicides at a 25-year high.

According to Gallup, "for the first time since 2016, a majority (53%) say they personally worry a 'great deal' about crime" while "27% report they worry a 'fair amount,'" meaning crime is now "near the top of the list of 14 national concerns... behind only inflation and the economy, and on par with hunger and homelessness."

The level of concern varied among Americans surveyed by Gallup based on where they lived: "City residents (58%) register a higher level of worry than U.S. adults residing in suburbs (46%) and rural areas (51%)," showing that "city dwellers' worry has increased nine percentage points since 2021, while worry among suburbanites and rural residents is essentially flat" and reflects the spikes in violent crime in cities compared to smaller increases in suburban and rural areas. 

Interestingly, the partisan split on worry about crime has varied back and forth. As Gallup explains:

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Democrats were generally more likely than Republicans to say they worried a great deal about crime between 2001 and 2015. However, in 2016 and 2017, Republicans' worry outpaced Democrats' for the first time.

Partisans' relative worry shifted again in 2018, the second year of Donald Trump's presidency, with Democratic concern increasing and Republican concern declining. In 2019, Democrats' worry receded and has been below 50% since. Republicans' worry about crime has risen sharply since Joe Biden became president, including an eight-point increase this year.

The recent increase in worry about crime among Republicans is likely explained by Biden's open-border policies and refusal to address the unmitigated flow of illegal immigrants, illicit drugs, and previously-deported criminals into the United States, paired with his party's leftward lurch and attempts to kneecap law enforcement's ability to maintain law and order. 

The data is also bad news for Democrats ahead of the midterms as concerns over safety paired with the other leading worries among Americans are on issues which Democrats have generally ignored or failed to adequately address.