81% of Americans see crime as a 'major problem' in big cities, new poll shows

A new AP-NORC poll released Wednesday shows that the vast majority of Americans see crime as a huge issue in the United States and approve of President Donald Trump’s handling of it. 

The poll showed that 81% of Americans agree that crime is a “major issue,” including 96% of Republicans and 68% of Democrats, and 72% of Independents say the same. 

Further, 53% of Americans approve of the methods by which Trump is combating crime. 

D.C. police officers at a checkpoint amid Trump crackdown

Police officers set up a roadside checkpoint on 14th Street Northwest on Aug. 13, 2025 in Washington, D.C. U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to deploy federal officers and the National Guard to the District in order to place the DC Metropolitan Police Department under federal control and assist in crime prevention in the nation’s capital. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

She was sexually abused during the incident by a man who turned out to be a repeat offender who was let out of jail after the assault. 

“Through the year and a half that we waited for our case to go to trial, this man was arrested five more times, including for wielding a machete on Capitol Hill. And the judge chose in all five times to release him from jail back onto the street,” Giaritelli said. 

Gregg Pemberton, the chairman of the D.C. Police Union, offered support for Trump’s crackdown.

US Park Police and ATF officers in Washington, DC

U.S. Park Police and ATF officers patrolled Washington, D.C., Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025. (ATF Washington)

“President Donald Trump’s takeover this month of the D.C. police was a drastic but necessary step. On its own, however, it won’t be enough to turn around a force in free fall,” Pemberton wrote in an op-ed published by The Washington Post.

“Unlike most of the country, the D.C. Council still embraces reactionary anti-police thinking. Council members have passed a slew of bills that prioritized wrongheaded ideology over safety, both yours and that of officers whose duty it is to protect you. Chief among those was the Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Act, which Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) vetoed and Congress, including a Senate controlled by Democrats, sought to repeal,” Pemberton wrote. 

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