Background to the Research
- This
briefing paper looks at the levels of crime and incivilities experienced
by Housing Executive tenants and their willingness to report crimes
to the police.
Research
Approach
- Analysis
of data from the 1998 Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey.
Main
findings
- Home-owners
were much more likely to believe that there was less crime in their
own areas compared with the rest of Northern Ireland - 76% thought
so but only 55% of Housing Executive tenants felt the same.
- Housing
Executive tenants were about three times more likely than home-owners
to say that graffiti, mugging and vandalism were common in their neighbourhoods.
- 60%
of Housing Executive tenants reported that "teenagers hanging around"
was common in their areas compared with 25% of home-owners.
- Nearly
a third of Housing Executive tenants (31%) compared with 16% of home-owners
said that they felt unsafe walking alone in their area after dark.
- There
is a reluctance among tenants from either community background to
enter into direct contact with the police. If they witnessed a burglary,
less than two-thirds of Housing Executive tenants would themselves
report it directly to the police.
- Over
a fifth of both Catholic and Protestant tenants would not come forward
to give evidence in court about a burglary that they had witnessed:
and about three in ten would not give evidence in a hi-jacking case.
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