1-in-6 have been victims of violent crime

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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.