Advertisement

Singapore, EU score high in 'Law and Order' ratings; Latin America the worst

By Sara Shayanian
Relatives of prisoners fight with police officers outside a police building in Valencia, Venezuela, on March 28. A global Law and Order report by Gallup Thursday said Venezuela scored the worst, as most residents are not confidence in local police and do not feel safe in their communities. File Photo by Miguel Gutiérrez/EPA
Relatives of prisoners fight with police officers outside a police building in Valencia, Venezuela, on March 28. A global Law and Order report by Gallup Thursday said Venezuela scored the worst, as most residents are not confidence in local police and do not feel safe in their communities. File Photo by Miguel Gutiérrez/EPA

June 7 (UPI) -- Asia, Western Europe and North America scored the highest ratings Thursday in Gallup's yearly Law and Order Report, while Latin America received the worst marks for security.

Gallup asked in its 11-page report how confident respondents are in local police, whether they feel safe walking alone at night, if they've had property stolen or if they've been assaulted in the past year.

Advertisement

Singapore was given the greatest score (97) in Gallup's Law and Order Index, which rates answers on all four questions. Norway, Iceland and Finland tied for second with scores of 93.

Uzbekistan, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Canada, Indonesia and Denmark round out the top 10.

Venezuela received the worst score (44), followed by Afghanistan (45), South Sudan (54) and Gabon (55).

The United States was ranked 32nd with a score of 84.

"People in Latin America and the Caribbean are the least likely among all global regions to feel secure in their communities," Gallup said. "Residents of the U.S. and Canada, Southeast Asia, East Asia and Western Europe are the most likely to feel secure."

"In most economically developed countries with strong rule of law, high majorities of residents say they feel safe walking alone in their areas at night," the report said.

Advertisement

Ninety-four percent of those questioned in Singapore said they feel safe, followed by Norway (93 percent) and Hong Kong (89 percent).

Just 17 percent of Venezuelans said they feel safe walking alone at night -- putting the country on near footing with Afghanistan (20 percent). Venezuelans also reported having the most money or property stolen in the past year, at 42 percent.

More than two-thirds of all respondents said they are confident in their local police force. The United States and Canada voiced the most confidence, at 82 percent, followed by Western Europe and Southeast Asia (both 80 percent). The lowest police approval ratings were found in Latin America (42 percent), the Commonwealth of Independent States (52 percent) and Sub-Saharan Africa (60 percent).

Gallup surveyed 1,000 adults throughout last year in 142 countries. The margin of error for the report is between 2 and 6 percent.

Latest Headlines