Mr. Diarmuid Cronin:

The fear of crime is actually far worse than crime. Most people have perhaps one serious encounter with a criminal in the course of their lives. Many people never have an incident. However, there are people who cannot sleep at night because of the fear that they might be raided.

I cannot give an answer because there are two sides to it. Without a certain level of apprehension, people will relax and do nothing to protect themselves, such as become involved in community alert or neighbourhood watch groups. Without apprehension, they will not put up security lights, lock their back doors or invest in any of the facilities that people invest in. A certain apprehension is necessary but fear is a disease.