Families victimized by crime at record low of 4.9% in Q4 2016 – SWS

The number of Filipino families that said they were common-crime victims dropped to a record low of 4.9 percent, or 3.1 million families, in the fourth quarter of 2016, a Social Weather Stations poll concluded.

The fourth quarter numbers were 1.9 points below the previous record low - 2016's third quarter of 6.8 percent or 4.2 million families.

However, 2016's annual average of those who said they were crime victims comes to 8.2 percent, compared to 2015's 6.8 percent.

Meanwhile, property crime in the fourth quarter was also at a record low 4.5 percent compared, to the previous quarter's 6.4 percent, and the previous record low of 5.5 percent during 2016's first and second quarter.

The average property crime numbers for 2016 was also at a record low 5.5 percent from 2015's 6.2 percent.

Violent crime during 2016's fourth quarter remained steady at .7 percent, with 2016's annual average at .8 percent compared to 2015's .7 percent.

The fourth-quarter 2016 SWS crime poll was taken from December 3 to 6, using face-to-face interviews of 1,500 respondents nationwide. The poll has sampling error margins of ±3 percent for national percentages; ±4 percent for Balance Luzon; and ±6% for Metro Manila, the Visayas and Mindanao.

Poll results were posted in the Business World website.

Property crimes

Among those respondents who were victims of street crimes during 2016's fourth quarter, 3.4 percent said they were victims of street robbery, a record low compared to the previous low - the first quarter's 3.7 percent. Some 4.6 percent were victims of street robberies in the third quarter.

The annual average for street robberies in 2016 was 5.7 percent, compared to 2015's record low of 4.8 percent.

Home robberies, meanwhile, was at 1.8 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the previous quarter's 2.2 percent. The record low for home robberies was recorded during of during 2015's third quarter at 1.6 percent.

The 2016 average for home robberies was 2.8 percent, compared to 2015's 2.3 percent.

Motor vehicle theft during the third quarter was at .5 percent, from the third quarter's .2 percent. The motor-vehicle-theft average for 2016 was .4 percent, compared to 2015's .6 percent.

Crime fears

The SWS fourth quarter poll also took note of respondents' fears over crime, with 52 percent saying they feared  that very many people were addicted to drugs in their neighborhood, from the third quarter's 56 percent. Annual average for those who feared illegal drugs was a record high 56.3 percent in 2016, from 2015's 48.3%.

Those who feared a home robbery in the fourth quarter was 63 percent, from the third quarter's 62 percent. The annual average for home robberies was at 60.3 percent in 2016, from 2015's 54.3 percent.
 
Those who feared the streets were not safe at night was at 54 percent in the fourth quarter, from the previous quarter's 53 percent. The annual average for street safety was 50.5 percent in 2016, from 2015's 44.3 percent. — DVM, GMA News