Report Summary
This report provides members of the Policing Performance Committee with an overview of the SPA Public Confidence Polling Report.
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Meeting
The publication discussed was referenced in the meeting below
Policing Performance Committee - 12 September 2023
Date : 12 September 2023
Location : online
Confidence in Police
Respondents were asked how much confidence they have in the police in a number of areas, on a scale of 0 "no confidence at all" to 10 "complete confidence".
As with previous waves of data collection, police in local areas receive the highest levels of confidence from the public. However, all aspects are trending downwards with lower averages for all aspects observed. Differences quoted are between January 2023 and June 2023
This is the first wave of the research where the average level of confidence reported by members of the public has fallen below 5 out of 10 for any indicator. This is true for providing an appropriate and timely response (4.82), preventing crime in local areas (4.78) and tackling anti-social behaviour in local areas (4.5).
Variations in Confidence
Levels of confidence in police vary significantly when looking at demographic and geographic factors
Gender
Males are significantly more likely to have less confidence in police for all aspects
Occupation
Working class people (those in the C2DE category) have less confidence in the police, than people who are middle and upper class (ABC1)
Areas of deprivation
Since the first wave of polling we have observed differences in confidence based on level of deprivation in the local area. Those living in the most deprived areas (SIMD1) are typically less confident in the police on every measure than those in the most affluent areas (SIMD5).
