But 76% believe no local risk.
Personal politics play a major role in the way the Inland Empire looks at the threat of terrorism.
That’s a key finding in Cal Poly Pomona’s annual lifestyle survey.
The survey of 1,022 people in San Bernardino and Riverside counties as well as parts of Los Angeles County provides a quality-of-life snapshot – and the threat of terrorism was a major topic.
“Residents of the Inland Empire generally felt that threat of terrorist attack in the United States was about the same as the previous year,” said Stacy McGoldrick, associate professor of sociology at Cal Poly Pomona.
Slightly more than 28 percent of those surveyed said they believe they were less safe, while less than 20 percent believe they are safer.
But she said those beliefs are tempered by political loyalties.
“Though about 55 percent of respondents say they are about as safe from terrorist attack as a year ago,” McGoldrick said. “Republicans were more likely to report they are more safe (25.9 percent) compared with 14.4 percent of Democrats.
She said liberals were almost twice as likely to say they feel less safe than conservatives or those who say they are moderate.
“Not surprisingly,” McGoldrick said, “liberals are more than twice as likely to feel that the government is somewhat or extremely ineffective in fighting terrorism.”
The focus of political campaigns has changed significantly since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, said McGoldrick, who worked with fellow associate professor of sociology Faye Wachs on the crime and terror section of the survey.
“They talk about terrorism the way they used to talk about crime,” McGoldrick said.
She said unlike the terrorism data, party affiliation did not play a major role in opinions about crime.
“This suggests that crime is not the indicator of political attitude it once was,” McGoldrick said.
Overall, opinions about crime and terrorism are roughly the same in the three counties.
The survey found 32.1 percent felt the United States is less safe from crime than a year ago, while 58.6 percent felt things were about the same.
When asked about terrorism, 28.2 percent said their county is less safe than it was a year ago, while 53.1 percent said there was no change.
“I felt safe a year ago and I feel safe now,” said Sarah Wagner of Loma Linda.
Compared to many parts of the world – where terror is a daily threat – the U.S. is relatively safe, said Brandon Andersen of Rancho Cucamonga.
He said the U.S. fear of terrorism is primarily a lingering effect from Sept. 11.
“It’s just one big thing we always think about,” he said.
Not surprisingly, McGoldrick said, the fear of crime and terrorism dropped when the questions became more locally focused.
Almost 76 percent said they either disagreed or strongly disagreed with the idea their local community was at risk of a terrorist attack.
“We’re still kind of outsiders,” said Terra Andersen of Rancho Cucamonga. “It’s more (of a threat) for Chicago, L.A., New York.
“We’re almost forgotten about. We’re kind of like a secret. Nobody knows we’re here and I like it.”
While you might expect people in high-crime areas such as San Bernardino and Pomona to be more concerned, she said most people tend to downplay crimes in their community.
“It’s a very typical response,” Andersen said. “It doesn’t happen in my neighborhood.
“The country is going to pot but my neighborhood is safe.”
Of those surveyed, more than 68 percent said crime is either going down or staying the same in their community, with 31.8 percent saying it’s going up.
Seventy-four percent said their neighborhood is a safe place to live.
When asked about crime in the U.S., 61.1 percent of people surveyed said it’s going up and 28.4 percent said it’s staying the same.
Opinions on how the government is handing crime and terrorism were also closely aligned.
The survey found 57 percent believed the government is either somewhat effective or extremely effective at combating terrorism.
Article by By Mark Petix – Staff Writer
Originally The Daily Bulletin – 10/17/07
