Misdemeanor arrests and community perceptions of fear of crime in Seattle

Purpose This study utilizes data from two research initiatives – Seattle Police Department's Micro-Community Policing Plans and the Research Network on Misdemeanor Justice to explore the relationship between misdemeanor arrests and fear of crime in Seattle. Method Data collected on Misdemeanor arrests is compared with Seattle Public Safety Survey annual data from 2016 to 2018 from 19,103 respondents on community perceptions of fear of crime, social cohesion, informal social control, social disorganization, and police legitimacy at the micro-community (neighborhood) level in Seattle's five Police Precincts. The extent to which neighborhood perception of fear of crime is impacted by misdemeanor arrests, demographic characteristics, and community perceptions of social disorganization, social cohesion, informal social control, and police legitimacy across Seattle's precincts and neighborhoods is examined. Results Results show that at the citywide level, fear of crime is associated with gender (female), marital status (married), age (older), race/ethnicity (minority), education (less), and income (higher) and perceptions of high social disorganization, low social cohesion, and high informal social control. At the neighborhood level, a significant difference was found between some Seattle neighborhoods grouped by High Fear of Crime-Low Misdemeanor Arrest, Low Fear of Crime-High Misdemeanor Arrest, Low Fear of Crime-Low Misdemeanor Arrest, High Fear of Crime-High Misdemeanor Arrest showing distinct profiles with respect demographic characteristics and ratings on aspects of neighborhood public safety. Conclusions Implications for directing police resources city services that are directed toward both crime incidence and community perception to improve public safety are discussed.