Over the course of my research thus far, I have spent some time talking to police officers in Ontario about the public’s fear of crime and their role in preventing it. What proved to be the most interesting was that although most of them realized that crime was a serious issue that needed to be addressed, they also realized that many of their crime prevention efforts were actually addressing the public’s fear – not the reality of crime itself. Specifically, given the crime rates are down across the country (in the aggregate, that is, because some particular types of crime are on the rise) the task for many of them seems to be one of calming a public that is actually less likely to be victimized than ever before. This seemed to be especially the case in relation to those who perceive themselves to be at a constant risk while, in reality, are actually the safest of us all; I have in mind here the elderly and white people who are married. As mentioned in an older column, it is actually youths between the ages of 15 and 24 who are the most likely to be victimized with respect to virtually all types of crime. Yet, interestingly, they are often the less fearful.

So, this puts the officer or the police department in a difficult position. Unable to say that this kind of fear is “irrational,” they appear to be left between a rock and a hard place. Either they recognize the fear and attend to it (thereby legitimating it) or they minimize or ignore it and find themselves in political trouble.

Interestingly, there seemed to be a general consensus amongst the officers that I spoke to recently that the source of this fear was actually the media -- who benefit in many ways by reporting such material – and politicians who have learned quite quikly that being “tough on crime” is the fastest route to electoral victory (being soft on crime is to essentially commit political suicide).

While I remain perplexed about this, I suppose one preliminary conclusion can be reached. There are very serious social repercussions of being afraid. Fear, whether it is “legitimate” or not, has the ability to feed a broader system that can effectively make life miserable for us all – all the while promising us a sense of security. The paradoxes here are blatant. But in the end, perhaps part of our duties as citizens is to reflect on such issues while learning to live a life of moderation, not of extremes.

About Patrick Parnaby
Patrick Parnaby is currently completing his Ph.D. in Sociology at McMaster University in Hamilton. His current research includes Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design and the sociology of deviance. E-mail Patrick at patrick@mycaledon.com

Comments? Questions? Have your say in our Message Boards!