CARI: Center for Applied Rural Innovation

 

Title

Perceptions of Safety and Crime in Rural Nebraska

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

June 2003

Comments

Published by the Center for Applied Rural Innovation, University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Copyright © 2003 by R. Vogt, J. Allen, and R. Cantrell.

There is a common perception that rural areas are generally safer compared to urban areas. However, many changes are occurring in rural Nebraska. Increased media attention has been given to methamphetamine use in rural areas of the state. Given all that, how safe do rural Nebraskans feel? Do they believe crime has increased in their community? Do their opinions differ by their region, size of their community or their occupation?

This report details 3,087 responses to the 2003 Nebraska Rural Poll, the eighth annual effort to understand rural Nebraskans’ perceptions. Respondents were asked a series of questions about personal safety. For all questions, comparisons are made among different respondent subgroups, i.e., comparisons by age, occupation, region, etc. Based on these analyses, some key findings emerged:

• Over one-third of rural Nebraskans walk alone at night and let their children walk to school alone. Thirty-seven percent generally walk alone at night and 34 percent let their children walk to school alone. Less than one-third of rural Nebraskans generally do the following: let their children walk downtown alone (32%), leave their house unlocked when they leave (27%), leave their keys in their car (24%) and leave their house unlocked at night (20%).

• Persons living in or near smaller communities are more likely than persons living in or near larger communities to do each of the items listed above. As an example, 52 percent of the persons living in or near communities with less than 500 people let their children walk downtown alone. But, only 16 percent of the persons living in or near communities with populations of 10,000 or more allow their children to do so.

• Most rural Nebraskans believe that rural areas are generally safer than urban areas. Sixty-nine percent believe that the threat of terrorism in rural areas is less than that in urban areas. And, 60 percent think more people will move to rural areas from urban areas in the next ten years because they believe rural areas are safer.

• Most rural Nebraskans rely on their neighbors to help watch their property when they are away. Seventy-two percent agree that when they are away from home, they count on their neighbors to watch their property.

• The majority of rural Nebraskans believe that drugs are a problem in their community. Seventy-six percent agree with this statement.

• Over one-half of rural Nebraskans say that crime has increased in their community compared to five years ago. Fifty-eight percent agree that crime has increased in their community.

• Persons living in or near the largest communities in the state are more likely than the persons living in or near the smaller communities to agree that crime has increased in their community. Seventy-three percent of the persons living in or near communities with populations of 10,000 or more agree that crime has increased in their community compared to five years ago. However, only 44 percent of the persons living in communities with populations ranging from 500 to 999 share this opinion.

• Residents of the South Central region are more likely than persons living in different areas of the state to say that various crimes are problems in their community. Residents of this region are most likely to agree that crime has increased in their community compared to five years ago. And, they are the regional group most likely to say that the following types of crime are a problem in their community: theft, drugs and violent crime.

• Persons living in or near the largest communities in the state are more likely than the persons living in or near the smaller communities to say that various crimes are a problem in their community. The persons living in or near the largest communities are more likely than the persons living in or near smaller communities to say that theft, drugs, juvenile delinquency and violent crime are problems in their community. As an example, 44 percent of the persons living in or near communities with populations of 10,000 or more agree that violent crime is a problem in their community. In contrast, only six percent of the persons living in or near communities with less than 500 people agree.

• Some rural Nebraskans have made changes to their behavior because of a concern about crime. Twenty-nine percent have limited the times and places they will go by themselves and 24 percent have improved their home security. Only five percent have purchased a hand gun and one percent have enrolled in a self-defense class.

• Females are more likely than males to have limited the times or places they will go by themselves. Forty-two percent of females have made such limitations, compared to only 16 percent of males.

• Younger persons are more likely than older persons to have moved to a different community or neighborhood because of a concern about crime. Ten percent of the persons age 19 to 29 have made such a move, compared to only three percent of the persons over the age of 50.