Cantabrigians Express Concern About Crime, Security in City

Only 14.4 percent of Cantabrigians feel very safe at night in their neighborhoods, according to the Cambridge Human Services sponsored survey.

But, in an interview yesterday City Councillor Jonathan S. Myers said that overall the survey does not point to a safety crisis.

"Rather, the results indicate a level of concern about safety on the part of the city's residents," Myers said.

Slightly over half of the respondents said they felt somewhat safe at night. Myers added that 63.3 percent of the people polled felt very secure during the daytime.

At night, 26.7 percent felt somewhat unsafe and 7.7 percent felt very unsafe. Daytime figures were significantly lower.

Nancy M. Ryan, director of the Women's Commission, said she believes people's security fears are a reaction to the rise of homelessness.

"People see homeless persons as a menace, and therefore feel that the homeless are a threat to their safety," Ryan said.

Ryan said that the city hopes to educate residents in the true causes of crime and to increase citizen involvement in neighborhood crime prevention.

The Cambridge Safe Neighborhoods Initiative, a collaboration of various city departments, has been established as "a joint effort geared towards improving safety," Myers said.

The city councillor said that the committee is trying to address the safety issue by setting up crime watch organizations and increasing communication between the police and the community.

The key thrust of these projects is "to get people involved, and to build a neighbor to neighbor network," Myers said.