Confidence in Policing

In terms of confidence in police in the local area, over the range of indicators a higher proportion of respondents scored ‘Low’ across all indicators – see Figure 2:

General (56%, n=15)

Responding quickly (52%, n=14)

Tackling crime (59%, n=16)

Preventing crime (67%, n=18)

Tackling anti-social behaviour (67%, n=18)

Keeping your area safe (59%, n=16)

Being there when you need them (56%, n=15)

Providing an appropriate and timely response (59%, n=16)

Comparatively, in Sept-Nov 2022, shows the following indicators were rated as ‘Medium’ by a higher proportion of respondents – with all others being rated ‘low’.

Providing an appropriate and timely response

Being there when you need them

General

A larger proportion of respondents selected ‘low’ in July/August 2023 compared to those who selected ‘low’ in Sept-Nov 2022. However, for ‘responding quickly’, ‘tackling anti-social behaviour’, ‘keeping your area safe’, ‘being there when you need them’, and ‘providing an appropriate and timely response’, a higher proportion selected ‘high’ in July/August 2023 than in Sept-Nov 2022. A similar downward trend in feelings of confidence in policing has been documented in the SPA national polling between July 2022 and 2023.

However, Figure 3 shows a higher proportion of those who were aware of at least one of the initiatives scored ‘high’ for all initiatives except ‘Preventing crime’ where there was an even split between ‘low’ and ‘high’. This is in comparison to those who were not aware of any initiative scoring ‘low’ across all indicators – see Figure 4.

While it is not possible to tell if these factors are linked due to small sample sizes, it does suggest that awareness of initiatives could be linked to increased confidence in policing.