The more news about crime that Americans receive, the more likely they are to be concerned, angry or feel personally at risk, but large numbers of people are dissatisfied with the local crime news they get and just as many people get information about crime trends from people they know as from local news outlets, a new Pew Research Center report from the Pew-Knight Initiative has found.
The report, based on a survey in January of more than 5,000 randomly selected adults, found there is little difference between Republicans and Democrats in how they consume local crime information and how concerned they are about it, but Republicans are more likely than Democrats to view violent crime as a very big problem for the country as a whole, the study found.
While most respondents expressed interest in learning the details of crimes, tips about how to stay safe, and broader patterns in local crime, few of those who were interested said it is easy to find news and information about each topic.
"For instance, most Americans (85%) say they are at least somewhat interested in what local officials are doing to address crime," the Pew report states. "But among those who are interested in this element of crime coverage, only 22% say it is at least somewhat easy to find this information, while almost twice as many (41%) say it’s very or somewhat hard to find."
About seven in 10 Americans often or sometimes get information about local crime from local news outlets, and a comparable share from friends, family and neighbors. "But when asked where they would go first for more information if a crime happened in their community, Americans do not coalesce around a single dominant source," the reports states.
About one-quarter chose a local news outlet, 19% said search engines or social media, and 17% said friends, family and neighbors. Local apps like Nextdoor or Ring were the choice of 8%, and local law enforcement were at 7%.
Local TV news consumers report getting local crime news more often than those who prefer other media. TV viewers were less likely to say that local news outlets exaggerate the amount of crime in their community and more likely to express satisfaction with the local crime news they get.
People generally trust crime information from law enforcement more than from local politicians, and are more likely to say that that their information sources exaggerate the amount of crime in their community if the information comes from social media, locally focused apps, or friends, family and neighbors.
The report breaks down responses by political affiliation, age and race, and looks as well at responses to news about types of crime (property, drugs, violence, white-collar crime).
The full report is available here.
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