A POLL has found that locals believe Redland city’s bay islands are the worst place for crime in the greater Brisbane area.
The Roy Morgan poll found that it was in outer suburbs across Australia that more locals thought crime was getting worse.
The suburb-by-suburb analysis is contained in Morgan’s latest State of the Nation report.
Residents were approached in each greater capital city, with 74 per cent of those polled about the bay islands agreeing that “crime is a growing problem in my community’’.
In Brisbane, the suburbs where residents were least likely to be concerned about crime were Sumner and Darra, the latter with a high Vietnamese immigrant community.
Darlinghurst, Sydney, was the best suburb nationally, with the area improving substantially since lock-out laws were introduced in 2014.
The national level of concern about local crime has risen sharply in the past year, after declining from 70 per cent in 2003 to 53 per cent in 2015.
Overall, people who live in greater capital city areas are less concerned about rising crime than those in towns and regional areas.
Earlier this year signage was put up on the islands calling on residents to report crime.
Redlands MP Matt McEachan also met with Police Minister Bill Byrne to convey community concerns about island policing resources.
Mr McEachan said more support for police and more police resources were needed.
SMBI Chamber of Commerce president Col McInnes backed Mr McEachan, saying people might be reluctant to dob in criminals but reporting to Crime Stoppers would help to take away that fear.
Roy Morgan Research chief executive Michele Levine warned that the local perception of crime did not always match police statistics.
This had occurred at Lakemba and Fairfield in Sydney – places whose high Middle Eastern immigrant population had recently been under attack – where crime rates were steady but people polled thought it was getting worse.
“It’s this perception of local crime and need for personal security that can affect consumers’ day-to-day behaviours and choices — about how they travel, where and when they do their shopping, their activities and media habits and how they vote,” she said.
The research company uses a base survey sample of 55,000 people nationally.
Crime Stoppers can be contacted on 1800 333 000 or online at www.crimestoppers.com.au
