‘Clickbait’ poll triggers heated debate on crime
A “CLICKBAIT” survey claiming Cardiff is the least safe city in the UK has prompted a fierce debate on crime.
A PR company commissioned a survey asking 2,000 residents of the country’s 15 biggest cities how safe they felt where they live, including 133 people in Cardiff.
The survey was commissioned to promote a new TV crime drama, and led to several newspaper headlines claiming Cardiff was the “UK’s most dangerous city”.
Respondents were asked to rate how safe they felt on a scale of zero to 10, with 133 Cardiff residents giving a score on average of 6.9, below the national average score of 7.4.
Opposition councillors in Cardiff said these figures showed “something has seriously gone wrong with our city”, while Labour councillors slammed the survey as “clickbait news” and insisted Cardiff is safe, in an hour-long row at a council meeting on Thursday, October 21.
Lib Dem councillor Joe Carter said: “I used to view Cardiff as a relatively safe city. I was never naive to think we were a village where you could leave your doors wide open, but the crime I used to see was fairly low-level. Something has gone seriously wrong with our city over the last four years.
“It’s not just me who thinks this – a recent poll of 15 major UK cities rated Cardiff the least safe place to live.”
He was proposing a motion to call on Cardiff council to hire more anti-social behaviour officers, review youth services, increase support for community groups and sports clubs, install more CCTV, and explore creating drug consumption rooms, in a bid to reduce crime in the city.
He added: “Drug crime is up, county lines are bringing gangs into our communities exploiting the vulnerable, bringing misery and destroying lives. And then they fall out, and start stabbing each other. This spring in Llanedeyrn, we had two stabbings in a month, both suspected to be gang-related, and this happened within 200m of a primary school.
“Not long after that, a group of men were spotted brandishing machetes near my local leisure centre, around 3pm in the afternoon. Police were out in force, helicopters in the sky, armed police were everywhere, and local schools were told not to let their children leave for almost two hours.
“Whether Cardiff deserves the title of the least safe city in the UK is debatable. Maybe in terms of recorded crime figures some areas have got more crime. But this is about people’s perceptions, based on what they see around them and what they feel. People are scared and we have a duty to make our city safer.”
Conservative councillors backed the motion, but criticised the proposals to explore drug consumption rooms.
Tory councillor Mia Rees said: “The survey shows people are concerned about crime in our city. Those concerns are legitimate and I’m not surprised due to the number of high-profile cases we’ve had.
“As a woman walking home after dark, I have been scared that I wouldn’t make it home. When I leave my friends after a night out, or even just a meal, the phrase ‘text me when you get home so I know you’re safe’ is always said, regardless of whether I’ve had anything to drink, regardless of whether I’m just walking to my car or walking home.”
The survey was conducted by OnePoll, who describe themselves as “pioneers in the public relations survey, originally a tool to secure column inches in national newspapers”. The results were published on several news websites, which also gave details of the television programme the survey was promoting.
Labour councillors questioned the “incorrect” statistics and pointed to other surveys which suggested Cardiff has a relatively low crime rate and most people feel safe in the city.
Labour councillor Lynda Thorne, cabinet member for housing and communities, said: “We have a responsibility to support people and help them feel safe as they go about their daily lives, rather than making ill-judged statements using flawed statistics to secure party political advantage. There is little substance in these claims. Cardiff has the second-lowest crime rate of any UK core city, and the lowest rate of violent crime of any core city”
Fellow Labour councillor Ashley Lister added: “I’m disappointed we’ve had a motion brought based on incorrect statistics, which are completely not factual. The survey is clickbait news, with 2,000 people surveyed. Reflective of the population? I think not.”
According to police data collected by the Office for National Statistics, Cardiff saw a lower crime rate last year than cities of similar size like Newcastle, Bristol, Leeds and Southampton.