Large gap between public fear and the actual rate of crime

Although the official figures show that the fear of crime has fallen in the past year the public still finds it hard to believe that crime overall in England and Wales has dropped sharply in recent years.

The British Crime Survey results published yesterday confirm that there is still a large gap between the fear of crime and the actual crime rate whether recorded by the police or by more reliable methods.

Those who say they have a "high level of worry" about being burgled has fallen in the past year from 14% to 12% while those who have a "high level of worry" about becoming a violent crime victim has fallen from 20% to 14%.

This reduction in the fear of crime is matched by a fall in the level of concern about anti-social behaviour. Those who say they are very worried about "teenagers hanging around on the streets" has fallen from 32% to 27%.

Concern about abandoned or burned-out cars in the neighbourhood is down from 21% to 14% reflecting action taken by local authorities.

The home secretary, David Blunkett, acknowledged yesterday that reducing the fear of crime was crucial to the government's record on law and order.

He said there was gap between people's fear of crime and actual crime levels because the biggest falls had taken place in crimes such as burglary and car crime which received little publicity but accounted for the majority of offences.

He said that violent crime, especially involving a death or serious injury, was much rarer but attracted far more media coverage and so was bound to have an impact on people's fear of crime.

"The new focus obviously raises the temperature through the media. This is not a blame the media culture. This is saying it is the obvious outcome of a change in perception. The much greater focus on gun culture and its link with crack obviously stimulates a much greater fear of crime."

The BCS also reports that confidence levels in the criminal justice system have improved in the last year with 77% of the public saying that the police and courts do respect the rights of those accused of crime and treats them fairly.

But there is a distinct lack of confidence in the juvenile justice system with only 25% saying that they are effective in dealing with young people accused of crime.