hate crime, and sexually assaulted https://news.gallup.com/poll/178856/hacking-tops-list-crimes-americans-
worry.aspx. For most people in society, people can go about their daily lives without the fear of being a 
victim of street crime. Street crime is important to take seriously, but it is reassuring to note that it is unlikely 
to happen to most people. The conversation should happen around why fears are high, especially amongst 
those less likely to be a victim. For example, elderly citizens have the greatest fear of street crime, yet they 
are the group least likely to experience it. Whereas younger people, especially young men, are less likely to 
fear crime and are the most likely to experience it. 
3 
 
Gallup polls 
Because Americans are often fearful of street crime, for various reasons, resources are devoted to prevention 
and protecting the public. The United States spends roughly $265.2 billion dollars a year and employs 
more than one million police officers, almost 750,000 correctional officers, and more than 490,000 judicial 
and legal personnel on street crime. 
4 The Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) estimated in 2015 that financial 
loses from property crime at $14.3 billion in 2014 (FBI, 2015a), but keep that number in mind for a 
3. Doerner, W. G., & Lab, S.P. (2008). Victimology (5th ed.). Cincinnati, Ohio: Lexis-Nexis. 
4. Kyckelhahn, T. (2012). Justice expenditure and employment extracts. Bureau of Justice Statistics 
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SANCHEZ
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