… Americans’ perceptions of crime are significantly affected by partisanship. Responses to many survey questions about crime vary, in some cases dramatically, based on underlying political identity. It’s probable that these differences reflect party positioning and political campaign strategies as much as they do sharp differences in what partisan groups actually experience in the world around them. …
With a Democratic president in the White House now, there is a yawning 34-percentage-point gap between Republicans and Democrats in their perceptions that U.S. crime is increasing (95% of Republicans say it is, compared with 61% of Democrats). And there is a 31-point partisan gap in respondents’ perceptions that crime is increasing in their local area (73% for Republicans, 42% for Democrats). These partisan gaps are the biggest Gallup has ever recorded. CONTINUED
Frank Newport, Gallup
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