New survey reveals that people are confident in the police
76 percent of people are satisfied with policing according to a new report published by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary today.
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Public views of policing in England and Wales
The Ipsos MORI survey is the first of its kind commissioned by the police inspectorate. Over 25,000 people across England and Wales completed the survey which included questions on local policing, contact and serious and organised crime.
The findings reflected differences in the experiences and perceptions of individuals across the country. The report also shows that the views of people living in urban and rural areas and people living in affluent and deprived areas has an impact on how they view local policing service.
HM Inspector Mike Cunningham said:
“How the police are viewed by members of the public is vitally important as it impacts upon feelings of safety and how confident they are in reporting a crime.”
“We commissioned this survey in order to inform our inspection programme and have already begun to use these findings to inform the questions we ask of police forces.”
“By sharing our findings today we can see that the majority of people feel safe in their local area and are satisfied with the work of local police officers.
“We will continue to work with forces to improve the way in which they engage with members of the public to ensure that people are confident in reporting crime.”
The survey responses highlight how individuals can hold varying views of policing (both positive and negative) across different measures.
Those living in more deprived neighbourhoods are significantly more likely to feel unsafe and feel crime/anti-social behaviour is a big problem locally.
People are twice as likely to speak positively about their local police as to express negative views.
The majority of those who have had contact as a victim or witness agree they had been treated people fairly and with respect.
Almost a third of respondents had contact with local police in the last year.
Those who feel better informed about local policing are far more likely to feel confident.
To learn more about public views of policing visit our summary and full report.