Hamilton police release survey report measuring local views on safety

Hamilton police released the results of a community survey Friday, that examined residents’ views on safety across the city.

The survey had 1,245 participants, and was conducted between January and April of this year.

It was funded by the Hamilton Police Service and conducted by Wilfrid Laurier University, with researchers asking residents about their experiences with crime across Hamilton.

“These results reinforce what we hear from the community: crime rates matter, but so does how safe people feel,” said Chief Frank Bergen with Hamilton police in a statement. “When residents and businesses see officers engaging and responding to issues that affect daily life, their sense of safety improves — even if crime statistics alone don’t tell the whole story.”

The report says perceptions of police were generally positive, with over 75 per cent of participants saying that officers are courteous and respectful.

According to the data and graphic that police provided, “Area 1” — which predominately encompassed the western part of the city — had the highest perception of safety.

Meanwhile, “Area 6” — which includes a significant part of Central Hamilton and Hamilton’s downtown core — was identified as the area with the lowest perception of safety.

The issues that respondents highlighted as most important included homelessness, road safety, open drug use and violence.

The report says close to 94 per cent of residents felt safe going outside during the day, and over 76 per cent felt it was safe for children to play outside in the neighbourhood.

However, around two-thirds of the participants said they were worried about vehicle theft, 55.7 per cent were worried about vandalism, and almost 55 per cent of the participants were worried about home break-ins.

Over half of the survey participants said they believed their neighbourhoods were becoming more dangerous.

Data from the report says two-thirds of the participants say they had not been the victim of crime in the past two years.

Out of the remaining participants who did say they were the victim of crime in that timeframe, around 64 per cent had reported the crime to police.

The most common reason why people did not report being victims of crime was believing the crime wasn’t serious enough for police to step in.

Hamilton police say they will use the survey findings to guide ongoing deployment strategies, and community engagement initiatives, as well as help develop the 2027 – 2030 Strategic Plan.

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