(08/21/12) -

Americans Feel Safer Now Than Before 9/11, But Many Still Expect Terrorism

More than 40% of respondents express confidence in the FBI and the CIA to avert a terrorist attack.

While most Americans believe their country is now safer than before 9/11, a majority also think that the United States will endure another deadly terrorist attack in their lifetime, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.

In the online survey of a representative national sample of 1,003 American adults, a third of respondents (34%) think it is “very likely” or “moderately likely” that a terrorist attack will happen in the United States in the next year.

Two-in-five Americans express “complete confidence” or “a lot of confidence” in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) (43%) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) (41%) to avert a terrorist attack. The level of confidence is lower when Americans rate their state police force (33%) and their local police force (28%).

More than half of Americans (55%) think the U.S. is safer now than it was before the 9/11 attacks, while 26 per cent perceive no difference and 12 per cent believe the country is now less safe.

Almost two thirds of respondents (64%) believe another deadly terrorist attack is “very likely” or “moderately likely” to take place in the U.S. in their lifetime–including 72 per cent of Republicans and 59 per cent of Democrats.

Full Report, Detailed Tables and Methodology (PDF)

CONTACT:

Mario Canseco, Vice President, Angus Reid Public Opinion
+877 730 3570
mario.canseco@angus-reid.com

Methodology: From July 18 to July 19, 2012, Angus Reid Public Opinion conducted an online survey among 1,003 American adults who are Springboard America panelists. The margin of error—which measures sampling variability—is +/- 3.1%. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and region Census data to ensure a sample representative of the entire adult population of the United States. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.