Americans spread blame for local crime across mayors, judges, and sheriffs
Core finding
Responsibility for local crime lands on a lot of desks. About half of Americans hold the mayor of their city and criminal court judges responsible for crime problems in their area (52% each), along with their local sheriff (51%) and their local prosecutor or DA (50%), according to an April 2025 Verasight survey.
Blame thins out at the state level: 38% point to their governor and 31% to state legislators. Just 7% say none of these elected officials should bear responsibility.
Selected responses
Americans spread blame for local crime across mayors, judges, and sheriffs.
Which, if any, of the following elected officials do you believe should bear responsibility for crime problems in your area?
n = 1,000 · Apr 9–15, 2025 · MoE ±3.5%
Methodology
Full methodology →| Mode | Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting |
|---|---|
| Population | US adults age 18+ |
| Field dates | Apr 9–15, 2025 |
| Base (unweighted) | 1,000 |
| Margin of error | ±3.5% |
| Module | elections |
| Sponsor | Verasight |
| Weight variable | weight |
| Weighting targets | age, race/ethnicity, sex, income, education, region, metropolitan status |
Sources
- verasight-mpsa-2025.tiiny.co
Which, if any, of the following elected officials do you believe should bear responsibility for crime problems in your area?
Cite this question
Verasight MPSA Omnibus Survey #2025-026, fielded April 9-15, 2025, N=1,000 US adults age 18+, +/- 3.5%.