Dig in to The Daily Memphian’s crime poll data
Respondents to The Daily Memphian’s crime poll were taken from local voter registration lists and The Daily Memphian email subscriber database. The margin of error for the survey is less than 2%. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)
How do younger adults in the Mid-South feel about crime versus their more mature counterparts? What about men versus women? Do attitudes about crime differ by gender or by race?
Over the past week, reporters from The Daily Memphian have dug in to the results of a poll, commissioned by the news organization, about local residents’ perceptions of crime.
More than 86% of Memphis and Shelby County residents polled think crime is a major problem; in fact, a combined 58% of respondents said that they had considered moving to another part of the area or out of the county altogether because of crime.
The majority of both Memphis and Shelby County residents also think that new laws are needed to reduce easy access to assault weapons and other firearms.
But those are top-line findings, and the poll — conducted by Blueprint Polling — goes much deeper.
Take, for instance, a question about how the mayor of Memphis should prioritize crime reduction.
Just shy of 55% of Memphis respondents, ages 18-34, said crime reduction should be the “very top priority.” Of those Memphis residents polled who were 65 years of age or older, 63% said it should be the “very top priority.”
But for those people living in Memphis whose households earn less than $30,000 annually, 48.1% said crime reduction should be the highest priority. Of those Memphis respondents with a household income of $91,000 to $120,000 each year, more than 63% said crime reduction should top the mayor’s agenda.
Women living in Memphis were much more likely (48.2%) than men living in Memphis (38.8%) to say that harsher sentences for violent and repeat offenders should be the top priority for reducing crime.
While 62.2% of white respondents in Memphis elected for harsher sentences, only 38.5% of Black Memphians and 39.8% of Hispanic or Latino Memphians thought similarly. Twenty-five percent of Black Memphians polled thought more body cameras and technology should be the top priority for reducing crime; 29.9% of Hispanic or Latino respondents in Memphis choose “more community policing.”
The data can be split similarly for respondents living in Shelby County but outside Memphis’ city limits.
To view the entire data set, go here for Memphis residents’ responses and here for residents elsewhere in Shelby County’s responses.
Demographics of race, age, income and gender from both groups match the demographics of the communities in which they live; the poll includes responses from 2,988 people who responded online or by phone from May 10 to 25, 2023.
Respondents were taken from local voter registration lists and The Daily Memphian email subscriber database. The margin of error for the survey is less than 2%.
More in this series
An overview of The Daily Memphian’s public safety poll and what the community thinks about local crime.
Opinion: The lack of accountability, transparency and trust in the many different parts of the criminal justice system must be addressed, says Daily Memphian CEO Eric Barnes.
A large majority of Memphis-area residents support gun reform of some kind; a deeper dive shows men living outside of the city are essentially split on reform: dramatic, some or none.
Speeding is a problem nationwide that Memphis drivers agree is at least as bad here as anywhere, according to those responding to a poll by The Daily Memphian.
The Daily Memphian’s poll shows the effect of crime when it comes to how people feel about their city – victims of crime are more likely to want to leave.
Memphis candidates for mayor react to The Daily Memphian’s crime poll. Not surprisingly, all agree crime is a major issue.
Mayor Jim Strickland answers questions about The Daily Memphian survey, which shows most residents agree with him on the criminal justice system’s “revolving door.”
Most respondents to The Daily Memphian’s public safety poll view crime as a major problem, but how does that perception compare to real world data?
MPD Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis discusses body cams, reckless driving, and says, “Sometimes, it’s difficult for one officer to deal with individuals, especially when they have guns. And many ... have all kinds of weapons.”
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