Impact of Crime on Small Business Viability

The victimization survey addressed property crimes including shoplifting, vandalism, and break-ins as well as crimes against individuals including robberies and assaults. Forty-three percent of the businesses surveyed had experienced property crime within the preceding 12 months and 18 percent had been victimized by personal crime. Shoplifting was the most commonly reported crime. The survey showed that businesses that were victimized tended to be victimized more than once and usually by the same type of crime. Retail establishments were more likely to be victimized than food/drink, financial, or service establishments; more than half of retail businesses had experienced a property crime. Personal crimes were more evenly distributed among business types. Guardianship and opportunity, represented by characteristics of individual businesses, were better predictors of victimization than the pool of motivated offenders which depended largely on neighborhood characteristics. The level of fear of crime in small business owners was predicated on both previous victimization and neighborhood characteristics. According to this survey, business owners and managers rated economic concern over crime as the problem most directly affecting their future business vitality. 5 tables