Someone forgot to tell the public about the “Ferguson Effect.”
Despite high-profile accusations in Washington that increased nationwide scrutiny of police officers has led to a crime wave, Americans are reporting feeling safe at record levels.
The results of a Gallup poll published on Thursday showed the lowest percentage of respondents in fifteen years fearing three types of break-ins. The number of survey participants fearing muggings in 2015 also dropped by five points to 25 percent; a ten-year low.
“Worry about each of these crimes reached lows similar to today’s readings in 2001, based on the percentage of those who say they ‘frequently’ or ‘occasionally’ worry about them,” Gallup noted. “That was a month after the attacks on 9/11, when Americans’ views on a variety of subjects were more positive than usual.”
Self-styled tough-on-crime politicians have said Americans organizing against and calling on police departments to be held accountable for their actions has led to a spike in violent crime.
“A chill wind has blown through law enforcement over the last year, and that wind is surely changing behavior,” FBI Director James Comey said last Friday. On Monday, however, he conceded that he had no empirical proof this was the case, describing his conclusion as being based on “common sense.”
Read the results of the Gallup poll here.
