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Column: Is Bloomington a ‘relatively safe place’?

Column: Is Bloomington a ‘relatively safe place’?
The text on the left and the right are identical except for the inclusion of the word "relatively" in the version on the right. Here's the text on the right: Bloomington is a relatively safe place but we are not immune to issues with which our entire nation is dealing. This senseless incident is a reminder that we should all look out for each other, be aware of our surroundings and seek to combat racism and prejudice in all its forms wherever and whenever we encounter it. Both versions have the city of Bloomington logo and a timestamp for the time of publication. The time for the left is 12:43 p.m. The time for the right is 12:48
Left is a screen grab of the final paragraph of Bloomington mayor John Hamilton’s Jan. 14, 2023 Facebook statement about a Jan. 11 bus stabbing. Right is a screen grab of the final paragraph of the same Facebook statement five minutes later. The only difference is the insertion of the word “relatively” to modify “safe.”

On Saturday, a statement from Bloomington mayor John Hamilton was posted on his official Facebook page denouncing the racist stabbing of an 18-year-old woman, which took place three days earlier.

Between 12:43 p.m. and 12:48 p.m., an edit was made to the statement’s final paragraph. Instead of describing Bloomington as “a safe place,” the revised statement says Bloomington is “a relatively safe place.”

The revision is consistent with the fact that perceptions of safety are not uniform—across people, specific areas within Bloomington, or time of day.

For example, results from the 2021 community survey showed that just 54 percent of women feel very safe or somewhat safe in Bloomington’s downtown area at night.

As Bloomington enters the 2023 municipal election season, it’s a fair bet that public safety will become fodder for local political campaigns.

The revision to the mayor’s official statement denouncing last Wednesday’s racist attack offers one way to phrase a question for candidates in this year’s races: What are your specific ideas for transforming Bloomington from a “relatively safe place’” to a “safe place”?

Still, that’s the kind of question that lets us, as a community, off the hook—because it presupposes that Bloomington is at least a “relatively safe place.”

It’s worth noting that for the 2021 community survey questions on perceptions of safety, the demographic breakdown of  results includes: length of residency; renter or owner; gender; age; and student or non-student.

Not included in the demographic breakdown: Race.

That is probably because the raw numbers of non-white survey respondents were small. The survey includes results from just 14 Black respondents.

If we want to understand perceptions of safety in the non-white parts of our community, then a first step would be to measure those perceptions. We have a chance this year to do that—because Bloomington’s community survey is conducted on an every-odd-year cycle.

For the 2023 survey, I think it would be worth vastly oversampling for non-white respondents so that perceptions of safety in specific non-white communities can be measured.

If the survey shows that a majority of all residents feel safe, then it will always be easy for Bloomington’s mayor, whoever it is, to write that Bloomington is a “relatively safe place” in official statements denouncing racist violence.

But that won’t be quite as easy, if the survey shows that non-white residents don’t perceive Bloomington as a safe place.

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