Perception of Safety

Definition

Perception of safety measures the percentage of people that feel safe walking in their neighbourhood alone at night.

Why This Matters

Perceived safety is an important indicator of people’s comfort within their neighbourhoods. It affects behavior – for instance, the activities they take part in, their mode of transportation, and places they go. Close to two out of every five Canadians have taken precautionary measures to protect themselves from crime within the past year (Statistics Canada, 2009). Perceptions of safety reflect people’s direct and indirect exposure to crime, but may not reflect actual levels of crime or risk of being a victim of crime. Other factors that impact peoples’ perceptions of safety include demographics (e.g., age, gender), socioeconomic status (e.g., income), and the built environment (e.g., lighting).

Measurement and Limitations

A person’s perception of their own personal safety in this sense is determined by whether they agree or somewhat agree that they feel safe walking alone at night in their neighbourhood. This question is asked to the participants of the City of Winnipeg Citizen Satisfaction survey. The results are reported only at the city level, and are not broken down by gender, age, or geography.

Data Source

City of Winnipeg. 2023. Citizen Perspective: 2023 Citizen Survey

Online copies of each survey may be found at https://winnipeg.ca/finance/documents_page.stm#Surveys

Data is updated on Peg as it becomes available from the data providers.

References

City of Winnipeg. (n.d.). Citizen Surveys. Retrieved from http://www.winnipeg.ca/interhom/CityHall/surveys.stm

Statistics Canada. (2009). Canadians’ perceptions of personal safety and crime, 2009. Retrieved from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-002-x/2011001/article/11577-eng.htm