Oscar Strawczynski (Flickr)
1-in-6
have been victims of violent crime
One half want race-based crime stats gathered
TORONTO, April
11th, 2015 - As
many as one-in-six Torontonians have been the victims of violent crime such as
assault, a mugging or a robbery at gun point (15%), and this is just slightly
down from close to one fifth noted in August, 2012 (18%). Incidence of being a
victim is commonest to the youngest (21%), the least wealthy (a proxy for youth
- 23%), residents of Scarborough (20%) and York (19% - caution: small base
size), Doug Ford voters (23%), provincial New Democrats (21%) and those who
disapprove of the job Tory is doing as mayor (25%).
One half want police to gather race-based crime statistics
One
half of Toronto voters want to see Toronto Police gather race-based crime
statistics (50%) and this hasn’t changed since August, 2012 (49%). One third do
not favour the idea now (35%) and 3-in-10 then (31%). One-in-six don’t have an
opinion (15%). Agreement is characteristic of the youngest (54%), males (56%),
the wealthy ($80K to $100K - 65%), in North York, Etobicoke, and Scarborough
(55% each), in East York (60% - caution: small base size) and those who
disapprove of Mayor Tory (57%).
Three quarters support handgun ban
Support
for a handgun ban in Toronto is very high whenever we poll the issue.
Currently, three quarters approve of such a ban (75%), down slightly from
8-in-10 in January 2013 (81%) and stable from three quarters in August of 2012
(75%).
Fewer feel unsafe in Toronto now
Just
one fifth of Torontonians now think their personal safety is at risk in the
city (21%), well down from one third in August 2012 (34%). Those most likely to
see risk in Toronto are Boomers (55 to 64 - 24%), females (25%), the least
wealthy (30%), in North York (26%), East York (31% - caution: small base size),
among Doug Ford voters (29%), provincial New Democrats (26%) and those who
disapprove of John Tory (28%).
"It would appear Toronto has
become a safer city, or at least its citizens believe it has. Our last wave of
polling on violent crime was during the summer of 2012, when gun crime was
headline news, and that may have influenced the findings then," said Forum
Research President, Dr. Lorne Bozinoff.
Lorne Bozinoff, Ph.D. is the president and founder of Forum
Research. He can be reached at lbozinoff@forumresearch.com or at (416)
960-9603.
