POP & Fear of Crime

Gary Cordner

Eastern Kentucky University

Why Fear of Crime?

Widely accepted part of the police mission Recognized as semi-independent of crime

itself An important component of quality of life Did not go down during the crime drop of

the 1990s

Fear: What Do We Know?

Hundreds and perhaps thousands of studies of fear of crime

Fear of crime is multi-dimensional:– Affective fear– Generalized fear vs. fear of certain places– Fear for self vs. fear for family/dependents– Perceived likelihood of victimization– Behavioral effects of fear

Cont.

Young people, old people, and women often report the greatest fear

Women’s fear is strongly tied to assault and rape

Most people feel safer in and near their home than in other parts of town

Most people feel safer walking in the daytime than at night

Cont.

Parents typically express fear for their children’s safety

Most people recognize that their chances of property crime victimization are greater than their chances of personal crime victimization

Many people report that they limit their activities due to fear of crime

Policing to Reduce Fear: Prevailing Theories Reducing Crime Reduces Fear Professional Policing Reduces Fear Reducing Disorder Reduces Fear

(Broken Windows) COP Reduces Fear

National Survey (n=160)

Strategies or programs specifically designed to reduce fear of crime? – 46%

Systematically measure fear?– 10%

Generalized COP Crime prevention & public education Traditional crime fighting Not much else

What’s Missing? POP

Targeted, tailored responses Based on careful analysis Aimed directly at reducing fear Followed up with assessment

Some POP Tools & Issues

SARA Crime Triangle Fear of Crime Matrix Signal Crimes Media

SARA

Scanning – to identify pockets of fear and/or new fear issues

Analysis – to determine who is most fearful, why, when, where, etc.

Response – after considering a range of responses, implementing one or more that are tailored to the specific problem

Assessment – determining whether fear was reduced, if not why not, etc.

Crime Triangle

Locations – places where fear is greatest, or most out of proportion to risk

Offenders – people and behaviors most responsible for fear

Victims – people most affected by fear of crime

Guardians – people who have a stake in reducing fear and/or have some responsibility for offenders/locations

Fear of Crime Matrix

High Crime, Low Fear

Learning Zone

High Crime, High Fear

Crime Reduction

Low Crime, Low Fear

Ideal

Low Crime, High Fear

Fear Reduction

Signal Crimes

A particular event or type of crime, incident, or disorder

Interpreted by the public as a warning about their level of security

May have a disproportionate impact on fear of crime

Impact of the Media

Real World Thesis – fear shaped by objective conditions

Cultivation Thesis – fear shaped by media messages that the world is a scary place

Substitution Thesis – media messages substitute for lack of personal experience

Resonance Thesis – media messages reinforce personal experience

Research on Media Effects

Individuals’ fear of crime affected by real world conditions and experiences as well as by the media

Local TV news and tabloids seem to have the biggest media impact on fear of crime

Has more impact on residents of high-crime neighborhoods than low-crime ones (more resonance than substitution)

Fundamental Considerations

Fear is multi-faceted Fear varies among places Fear varies among groups of people Fear varies over time

Fear Varies -- Concord, CA

Dana Estates

High-lands

Canter-bury

Not safe walking at night near home

18% 11% 28%

More afraid than ever 24% 17% 12%

Good chance of personal crime

12% 0% 0%

Fear Varies Widely

Fear of crime is high in my neighborhood:– Dana Estates – 14.7%– Highlands – 5.6%– Canterbury – 12.0%– PRA055 (Jefferson County, KY) – 51.2%

San Francisco unsafe walking at night in my neighborhood:– City-wide – 28%– Supervisory District 10 – 64%

Residents vs. Businesses in PRA055 Residents agreed more strongly that:

– There is a good chance they will be the victim of a property crime in the next year

– They had seriously thought about moving away because of crime

Businesses agreed more strongly that:– Their fear was high

– Fear was high in the neighborhood

– Most of the crime problems were caused by drugs

– Many of the people in the neighborhood abuse drugs

Sources of Fear Can Be Surprising (Jefferson County)What makes me worried around here is:

PRA055 residents

PRA055 business

Norfolk neigh-

borhood

The possibility of being physically attacked

5th of 6 4th of 4 5th of 6

The possibility of having my property stolen

#1 #1 #1

Sources of Fear Can Vary (Lexington, KY) Three public housing sites The primary cause of crime around here is:

– Bluegrass-Aspendale – drugs– Charlotte Court – unsupervised kids– Pimlico Park – outsiders

Fear of Crime Matrix – San Francisco

High Crime, Low Fear

Learning Zone

District 2

High Crime, High Fear

Crime Reduction

Districts 6 & 9

Low Crime, Low Fear

Ideal

Districts 1, 3, 4

Low Crime, High Fear

Fear Reduction

Districts 10 & 11

Groups of People

San Francisco – less safe walking alone in my neighborhood at night:– Women– People over 60 years old– Lower income residents– Less educated residents– Unemployed and under-employed residents– Latino-Hispanic and African-American

residents

Change Over Time

San Francisco 1997-2003– Safe walking alone during the day: 73%

79%– Safe walking alone at night: 40% 45%

Chicago 1994-2003– Afraid to go out at night: 40% 25%– Gap between men and women cut in half– Gap between young and old eliminated– Hispanics remained the most fearful

COPE

Baltimore County in the early 1980s Came to the conclusion that they had a fear

of crime problem Special units created Evolution:

saturation crime prevention POP

Assessment: POP worked best in reducing fear and improving public opinion

COPE examples

Garden Village Krone Drive Senior high-rise Neighborhood bullies Hate crimes

Policing to Reduce Fear

Generalized COP Targeted POP Identify and address signal crimes Develop a media strategy designed to

moderate media effects on fear of crime

Key Issues and Considerations

Need to measure and analyze fear (direct and indirect methods)

Competing priorities and methods of crime-control vs. fear-reduction

Pernicious effects of moral panics and phony crime waves

Ethical issues related to fear reduction Fear of terrorism

Contact Information

If you know of agencies that we should contact, please let me know

859-622-2344

Gary.Cordner@eku.edu