While violent crime in New York City continues to decline, the overall number of crimes has risen since 2019. But while murders and other serious felonies are rare and often geographically concentrated, misdemeanor assault and harassment have skyrocketed, with seemingly random pushes off subway platforms and slashings on streets. These are the crimes that people experience more frequently—and feel more fearful of—than they did in previous years.
As a result, people are more interested in these kinds of details about local crime than in whether the city has a low or high overall crime rate. And 85% of Americans say they are at least somewhat interested in what local officials are doing to address the problem. But when it comes to obtaining this kind of information, many Americans have difficulty doing so: just 22% of those interested in local official actions on the crime problem say that it’s very or somewhat easy for them to stay informed on these issues.
People also vary in how satisfied they are with the quality of their local crime news. Those who get their local crime news from news outlets (79%), local law enforcement (77%), and friends, family or neighbors (67%), are more likely to be extremely or very satisfied with the information they receive than those who get their local crime news from social media or locally focused apps (52%). But those who get their local crime news from a news website or app are more likely to say they think local news sources exaggerate the amount of crime in their community.
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