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Most North Shore readers polled say they worry about street crime

Almost 90 per cent of North Van and West Van residents said they're either very worried or somewhat concerned
Jane Seyd
Jane Seyd
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Most North Shore News readers say they're worried about street crime. | Getty Images

A majority of North Shore survey respondents say they're worried about increasing levels of street crime, which they feel is out of control in many communities.

That's the result of a recent online poll which asked readers of the North Shore News to weigh in on the issue. Over 59 per cent of those responding said they're "very concerned" about street crime, while a further 30 per cent said they're "somewhat" concerned, although they haven't been directly impacted. Only about 10 per cent said they're not worried about the issue.

Turns out those worried about street crime on the North Shore probably aren't alone. Incidents of street crime from vandalism to random attacks on strangers have recently caught the attention of both the public and politicians in B.C. But a complex intersection of issues facing the courts, the medical system and society at large – including mental illness, drug addiction, homelessness, lack of resources for rehabilitation – make those thorny issues to solve.

North Shore News polled 1,534 North Shore News readers and asked the question: How concerned are you about 'street crime' in B.C.?

The poll ran from Oct. 28 to Nov. 8 on our website. Of the 1534 votes, we can determine that 522 are from within the community. The full results are as follows:

Very. Levels of violence and property crime are out of control on the streets of many towns and cities. 59.39% local, 61.54% total    
Somewhat. I'm concerned street-level crime is getting worse, but it hasn't impacted me too much yet. 30.27% local, 27.84% total    
I'm not concerned. Most of the reports involve people who are mentally ill and are being blown out of proportion. 10.15% local, 10.63% total    
  Local   Total

Results are based on an online study of adult North Shore News readers who are located on the North Shore. The margin of error – which measures sample variability – is +/- 2.49%, 19 times out of 20.

North Shore News uses a variety of techniques to capture data, detect and prevent fraudulent votes, detect and prevent robots, and filter out non-local and duplicate votes.

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