Four in 10 Americans are afraid to walk alone at night – the highest level since 1993 – as crime soars in Democratic-run cities

Four in 10 Americans are afraid to walk alone near their homes at night, a new poll finds, as crime soars in Democratic-run cities.

The number of Americans who say they are afraid to walk alone within a mile of their home at night has not been this high since 1993, when the country experienced one of the worst crime waves in history.

Between 1993 and 2021, an average of 35 percent of U.S. adults said they were afraid to walk alone at night.

According to Gallup, which has tracked the metric since 1965, 40 percent of Americans now express concerns about safety when walking home in the dark.

Meanwhile, a near-record 28 percent of U.S. adults worry “often” or “occasionally” about being murdered, according to new figures.

Four in 10 Americans are afraid to walk alone near their home at night, according to a new Gallup poll

A third of Americans said they would not drive in certain areas of their community because of fear of crime, and 28 percent said their fear of crime prevents them from attending events such as concerts and sports games.

While violent crime fell slightly by 1.7 percent nationwide in 2022, according to the FBI, liberal cities are struggling with a rise in assaults and murders – and burglaries are increasing across the board.

Austin saw a significant increase in crime this year, with a 77 percent increase in car thefts, an 18 percent increase in aggravated assaults and a 30 percent increase in murders.

Meanwhile, in Washington DC, murders and robberies are up 29 percent and 67 percent, respectively, compared to the same period last year, with homicides reaching levels not seen in two decades.

Neighboring Baltimore could end the year with fewer than 300 murders for the first time since unrest over Freddie Gray’s death in police custody in 2015.

There were more rapes, robberies and assaults in New York City in 2022 than in the previous year.

Rapes – which spiked in 2020 when streets were empty and unemployment was high due to unrest caused by the coronavirus – rose 7 percent, with more than 120 cases occurring.

The number of Americans who say they are afraid to walk alone within a mile of their home at night has not been this high since 1993

Assaults and thefts saw a similarly significant increase across the city in 2022, with crimes increasing by 12 percent – 26,039 incidents compared to 22,835 in 2021 – and burglaries increasing by an alarming 25 percent.

Shoplifting remains a major crisis in America’s two largest cities, with thefts increasing 64 percent in New York City and 61 percent in Los Angeles over the past four years.

The Council on Criminal Justice said that while shoplifting in New York fell slightly in the first half of 2023, the rate remained high, with over 90,000 incidents through November 5, according to the city’s crime statistics.

Los Angeles, on the other hand, continues to suffer from the scourge of theft, with a shocking 109 percent increase in retail theft in the first six months of this year, the highest increase in the country.

Dallas saw the second-highest increase in the first half of 2023, with a 73 percent increase in shoplifting.

Six other major American cities have also seen an increase in shoplifting since 2019: Virginia Beach, Dallas, Raleigh, Boston and Pittsburgh.

Violent crime in the country peaked in 1991 and has declined steadily since then, with occasional spikes. Even though the number of burglaries increased sharply in 2022, they are still below the overall peak in 1990.

For the poll released Nov. 16, Gallup surveyed 1,009 adults between Oct. 2 and Oct. 23.