Executive Summary

This paper discusses the headline findings of a survey conducted in Wick as part of the Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland Community Confidence Action Research Project.

The Community Confidence Survey ran from 11th April to 23rd May 2023 with 139 responses.

It should be noted that due to small sample sizes and the non-representative nature of the samples the findings of these surveys cannot be generalised to the entire Wick population.
Key findings:

Majority of respondents strongly agreed/agreed that Wick has a sense of community (70%, n=97).

It was identified that there is a strong sense of community found in Wick; although the impacts of deprivation can be observed in the area, and respondents perceive there to be an increasing rise in antisocial behaviour and drug use in the area.

Regarding trust and confidence in policing for Wick, the highest proportion of respondents scored ‘Low’ across a range of categories.

When scoring how good a job local policing were doing in the area, the highest proportion of respondents selected ‘A somewhat poor/very poor job’ across scenarios. For the indicators of ‘tackling anti-social behaviour’ and ‘bringing the community together’ this response is reflective of SPA National Polling.

The majority of respondents noted no changes in local police engagement and stated that their view of policing locally had not changed in the past six months.

Comments noted issues relating to police presence and visibility as influencing confidence in policing within the community. It was also suggested that local policing should become more embedded and responsive to the community’s unique needs.