2005 Edinburgh Fear of Crime Survey

First annual Edinburgh fear of crime survey covering Edinburgh residents' attitudes to quality of life and perceptions of crime in the city.

Nine in ten are satisfied with life in the city including over half of residents who say they are very satisfied -- above levels expressed by residents in Glasgow and London and among the highest MORI has experienced in any local authority in the last five years. Only residents in Northumberland (2001), the Isle of Man (2002) and St. Albans (2002) were more likely to be satisfied with quality of life in their area in the last five years.

People are less likely to be satisfied with their own neighbourhoods, although this remains at a high level, and compares favourably with a similar study among residents in Glasgow.

Although the majority say their area has remained unchanged over the past year, residents are twice as likely to say that it has got worse than got better. Most common concerns are graffiti and vandalism, youths in the street and litter

One in five say they feel threatened by crime, either a great deal or at least a fair amount. However, there are noticeable differences across areas of the city -- twice as high among North & Leith residents as it is among those who live in Central areas

Domestic housebreaking, graffiti and vandalism, and theft from cars are believed to be among the most common crimes and are among those residents are most afraid of. However, while incidence is perceived to be low, there is significant concern about mugging and theft, and sexual assault or harassment.

One in five has been a victim of some form of crime over the last year - most commonly, vandalism (8%), theft from their car (6%) or domestic housebreaking (3%).

Residents feel crime levels are increasing. A quarter thinks crime has increased in their local area and over a third that it has risen across the city over the past five year. That more believe crime levels have risen elsewhere suggests residents' perceptions of other areas are influenced by factors such as local radio and local press, rather than personal experience.

Across the city as a whole, people feel that the priorities should be to reduce anti-social behaviour, reduce core crime and reduce problems associated with drugs and alcohol. The key initiatives residents would like to see are neighbourhood wardens, more facilities for young people, CCTV and improved street lighting.

Download

• The Full Report pdf, 315KB
• Topline Results pdf, 315KB

The second Edinburgh Fear of Crime Survey will be conducted in Spring 2006.

Technical details

• MORI interviewed 1,061 residents in 130 randomly selected Census Output Areas (OAs) across the City of Edinburgh Council area.
• All OAs were sorted by ward and stratified by proportion Council tenure before the random selection was conducted (proportional to population) in order to provide a degree of control for geographical spread and neighbourhood type.
• All interviews were conducted face-to-face in respondents' homes between 26th March and 30th April 2005.
• Data are weighted by age, gender and tenure using 2001 census data.