Rasmussen Survey: Violent Crime Concerns Rising In US

An overwhelming majority of voters are increasingly worried about violent crime and, by a wide margin, trust Republicans to deal with it, a new Rasmussen Reports survey found.

A telephone and online survey by the conservative pollster found that 89% of likely voters are concerned about violent crime in America, including 64% who are "very concerned." In July, 79% were concerned, including 49% who were very concerned.

According to the pollster, 68% of voters now say the problem of violent crime in America is getting worse; 8% think it’s getting better; and 22% believe it’s about the same.

But asked who they trust more to deal with the problem of violent crime, 49% of voters say Republicans, compared with 27% who trust Democrats more; 21% of voters think the two parties are about the same in dealing with violent crime.

In other findings, the survey showed that:

• 61% of Democrats trust fellow Democrats to deal with violent crime, and 83% of Republicans trust their fellow GOP members to handle the issue. Among independent voters, 49% trust Republicans, 15% trust Democrats.
• 55% of voters believe America needs to spend more on police, 14% favor spending less on police, and 25% think the current amount of spending on police is about right. By party, 38% of Democratic voters think America needs to spend more police, compared with 74% of Republicans, and 55% of independents.
• 71% of Republicans, 61% of Democrats, and 60% of independents say they’re very concerned about violent crime.
• 55% of Democrats, 78% of Republicans and 71% of independents think violent crime in America is getting worse.
• 53% of Black voters trust Democrats more to deal with the problem of violent crime; 23% of white and 26% of other minorities agree.
• 69% of women and 59% of men say they’re very concerned about the problem of violent crime in America; 53% of men, and 45% of women, trust Republicans to deal with it.
• The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

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