Most Consider Themselves Unsafe Downtown

Over half of those who responded to a poll done for the police said they feel unsafe downtown after dark or after midnight on weekends.

MBL reports that, according to a poll conducted by the Social Sciences Department of the University of Iceland (at the behest of the police), 55% of respondents said they considered downtown a very or rather unsafe place to be either after midnight on weekends, or after dark on any day of the week. Only 8% said they believed they were very safe downtown during these hours.

Women were 71% more likely than men to consider themselves unsafe downtown after dark, as were respondents between the ages of 66 and 76. Men between the ages of 18 and 36 were the most likely to consider themselves safe.

At the same time, the length of time a respondent has lived downtown did not decrease their likelihood of considering themselves unsafe there after dark; on the contrary, it increased with the length of time spent living downtown.