Crime still top concern among Tulsans, poll indicates
By RANDY KREHBIEL World Staff Writer
Tulsans remain on edge about crime, but not as much as they were last summer, the latest Oklahoma Poll indicates.
Twenty-seven percent of the 400 Tulsans surveyed Nov. 1-5 said crime is Tulsa's most pressing problem. That was down from 32 percent in June but remained the most popular response.
"It seems like almost every night there's a shooting somewhere or a forcible break-in," said Darrell Hardin. "On weekends, you can almost bet somebody will get shot. ... Used to, you never heard of that sort of thing."
Streets and roads remained second on the list, at 19 percent (down from June's 24 percent), while city leadership moved up from 6 percent in June to 18 percent just before last month's mayoral election.
The economy was the leading concern of 16 percent, down from 20 percent this summer.
Perhaps driven by a homicide rate that is on pace to surpass the record 71 counted in 2009, Tulsans are increasingly worried about becoming crime victims.
Twenty-eight percent said they were "very concerned" about becoming victims, and 27 percent said they were "somewhat concerned." Women were more likely than men to be "very concerned," and men were more likely to be "not at all concerned."
Whites were less likely than racial minorities to list crime as the community's No. 1 problem but were just as likely to be worried about becoming a victim.
Several respondents cited news reports as the reason for their unease about crime.
"The daily reports of the number of people that have been killed," replied Richard Freeman when asked why he was concerned about crime. "The number is really high too high for Tulsa."
"It's what you read in the paper," said Phil Goldfarb. "Crime is up."
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About the Oklahoma Poll
The poll of 401 likely voters was conducted November 1-5 by SoonerPoll.com, using a random digit-dialing technique that included cellphone and landline telephone numbers. Results were weighted by gender, age and party. The poll was sponsored by the Tulsa World. The margin of error is ±4.9 percentage points.
This poll conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls. A complete description of the methodology can be found here.
