Pollster Find Out Now and election experts Electoral Calculus have run a poll for the Daily Telegraph on attitudes to the Police. The first wave of the poll involved 2,061 respondents and was carried out from 4-5 February 2022, and the second wave surveyed 2,061 respondents on 11 February 2022.
The poll asked GB residents various questions about the Police. We asked whether people had confidence in the Police, whether they would report crimes, and what they thought of the effectiveness, competence, respectfulness and corruptibility of the Police.
In summary:
A further three questions were asked on 11 February 2022, after the resignation of Cressida Dick.
In summary:
The questions and their responses are given in the sections below.
In this question, we asked whether people felt they had more or less confidence in the police than they did previously.
The results are also shown in the table below.
| All respondents | Con voters | Lab voters | Lib Dem voters | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Much more confidence | 2% | 1% | 2% | 1% |
| A little more confidence | 3% | 4% | 2% | 1% |
| About the same confidence | 34% | 39% | 29% | 41% |
| A little less confidence | 20% | 21% | 20% | 35% |
| Much less confidence | 28% | 26% | 35% | 17% |
| Don't know | 9% | 6% | 7% | 5% |
| Prefer not to say | 3% | 2% | 4% | 1% |
Very few people (only one in twenty) said that their confidence had gone up, although nearly two people in five said their confidence was the same or better. But nearly half of our respondents said that they had less confidence in the Police than they used to. This was particularly marked among those who voted Labour in 2019, of whom 55% had less confidence in the Police.
We asked people if they would report crimes of various types. Respondents could select multiple options, so percentages will add up to more than 100%.
| All respondents | Age 18-24 | Age 65+ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burglary | 87% | 78% | 94% |
| Mugging | 85% | 74% | 92% |
| Criminal damage | 78% | 70% | 88% |
| Assault | 85% | 76% | 94% |
| Anti-social behaviour | 55% | 31% | 70% |
| None of these | 4% | 5% | 2% |
| Prefer not to say | 7% | 14% | 2% |
Very large majorities of people said they would report most crimes, with over three-quarters of people saying they would report burglary, mugging, criminal damage or assault. Anti-social behaviour would be reported by over half our respondents, but a large minority would not report it. Responses to this question varied by age, with younger respondents less likely to report crimes than older respondents.
We went on to ask people, what reasons they might have not to report crimes. Respondents could select multiple options, so percentages will add up to more than 100%.
| All respondents | Age 18-24 | Age 65+ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Waste of time because the police won't solve it | 33% | 36% | 27% |
| Fear of retaliation | 14% | 14% | 13% |
| Crimes too minor | 13% | 22% | 8% |
| Too much effort to report | 10% | 18% | 3% |
| Other | 3% | 3% | 2% |
| No, I would report these crimes | 40% | 25% | 51% |
| Don't know | 5% | 5% | 4% |
| Prefer not to say | 9% | 15% | 8% |
The most popular option chosen by our panel (chosen by two people out of every five) was that they would report the crimes anyway. But one in three said that they wouldn't report crime because the police were unlikely to solve it. Other responses were less popular. Again there was a difference in responses by age group, with younger respondents more likely to choose 'waste of time' over 'I would report', with the oppositie preference made by older respondents.
Next we asked people how likely they thought the Police would be to solve a crime they reported.
| All respondents | Age 18-24 | Age 65+ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Very likely | 2% | 3% | 2% |
| Quite likely | 6% | 7% | 6% |
| Possibly | 35% | 31% | 41% |
| Quite unlikely | 25% | 28% | 23% |
| Very unlikely | 23% | 17% | 24% |
| Don't know | 4% | 5% | 3% |
| Prefer not to say | 5% | 9% | 1% |
Very few people overall (8%) thought the Police are quite likely or very likely to solve the hypothetical crime. But about one person in three thought that it was 'possible' that the crime would be solved. But more people, nearly one person in two, thought that the crime would be unlikely to be solved. There was broad agreement between the age groups on this question.
Our next question asked whether felt the Police were generally on the side of the public.
| All respondents | North West | South West | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agree strongly | 5% | 4% | 4% |
| Agree | 33% | 26% | 41% |
| Neither agree nor disagree | 32% | 31% | 30% |
| Disagree | 13% | 18% | 9% |
| Disagree strongly | 8% | 10% | 5% |
| Don't know | 5% | 5% | 5% |
| Prefer not to say | 5% | 6% | 7% |
The net number of public agreeing is 38% and those disagreeing is 21%, with 32% of people in between. Generally people don't disagree that the Police act in their best interests, although sentiment is not very strong on this question. There was not much variation by age or party affiliation, but those in the South West agreed more (45%) than those in the North West (30%).
Following on from some recent stories of Police incompetence, we asked the public for their views on this.
| All respondents | Con voters | Labour voters | Lib Dem voters | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Very competent | 7% | 8% | 6% | 7% |
| Somewhat competent | 50% | 55% | 49% | 65% |
| Not very competent | 21% | 22% | 21% | 16% |
| Not competent at all | 11% | 9% | 12% | 6% |
| Don't know | 6% | 4% | 7% | 2% |
| Prefer not to say | 5% | 2% | 6% | 4% |
Although over half our sample thought that the Police are 'very' or 'somewhat' competent, a third of people thought that they are 'not very' or 'not at all' competent. Looking at the breakdowns, Liberal Democrat voters are much more optimistic than average about Police competence, with 72% thinking them broadly competent and only 22% disagreeing.
There have also been recent concerns about possible problems in the Police in terms of respecting others. We asked the public how often they thought the Police treated the public with respect.
| All respondents | Con voters | Labour voters | Lib Dem voters | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Very often | 12% | 15% | 10% | 14% |
| Quite often | 32% | 34% | 28% | 43% |
| Sometimes | 30% | 30% | 30% | 30% |
| Not very often | 10% | 10% | 13% | 5% |
| Rarely | 6% | 5% | 7% | 3% |
| Don't know | 5% | 4% | 5% | 4% |
| Prefer not to say | 5% | 2% | 7% | 2% |
Nearly half (45%) of our respondents think that the Police mostly treat the public with respect. Only one in six (16%) thinks this doesn't often happen. Again Liberal Democrat voters are more positive on this question than Labour voters.
Finally we asked a question on the public's perceptions of Police corruption.
| All respondents | Con voters | Lab voters | Lib Dem voters | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not at all corrupt | 3% | 5% | 2% | 2% |
| Hardly at all corrupt | 29% | 40% | 22% | 45% |
| Somewhat corrupt | 34% | 32% | 38% | 31% |
| Quite corrupt | 10% | 8% | 12% | 6% |
| Very corrupt | 6% | 2% | 9% | 3% |
| Don't know | 13% | 10% | 11% | 11% |
| Prefer not to say | 5% | 3% | 7% | 2% |
While nearly one in three (32%) said the Police are 'not at all' or 'hardly at all' corrupt, a similar fraction (34%) thought they are 'somewhat' corrupt. And one respondent in six (16%) thinks they are 'quite' or 'very' corrupt. Again Liberal Democrat voters are more positive on this question than Labour voters.
After the resignation of Cressida Dick, we asked a smaller second set of questions. We started by asking people if they thought it was right that she resigned.
| All respondents | London | |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | 43% | 55% |
| No | 14% | 15% |
| Don't know | 40% | 26% |
| Prefer not to say | 3% | 3% |
Although more people agreed than disagreed, there was a sizable number of those who didn't know or preferred not to say. Focusing on respondents who live in London, there was a majority who agreed she was right to resign, and fewer people who were unsure.
We also asked how successful Dick was in reducing sexism and racism in the Metropolitan Police force.
| All respondents | London | |
|---|---|---|
| Very successful | 1% | 2% |
| Quite successful | 7% | 6% |
| Mediocre | 14% | 16% |
| Not very successful | 18% | 20% |
| Not at all successful | 19% | 31% |
| Don't know | 37% | 21% |
| Prefer not to say | 4% | 3% |
Although over 40% of people didn't express an opinion, only 22% of people thought she had been "average" or better in this respect, and 37% thought she had been fairly unsuccessful. That figure rose to 51% among Londoners themselves.
Finally we asked people to rate Dick's performance as Commissioner overall.
| All respondents | London | |
|---|---|---|
| Very well | 3% | 4% |
| Quite well | 11% | 12% |
| Average | 19% | 25% |
| Not very well | 13% | 18% |
| Not at all well | 16% | 21% |
| Don't know | 35% | 18% |
| Prefer not to say | 4% | 2% |
Only 14% thought her performance was above average, and 29% thought she did "not very" or "not at all" well. A large group of 39% didn't express an opinion. Amongst Londoners, 16% thought she did well, and 39% not well.
Chris Holbrook, CEO of Find Out Now: "These findings follow a pattern from other polls we have recently conducted, showing a growing lack of confidence in our most important public institutions. It is particularly worrying that so many people are put off reporting crimes because they think it's a waste of time."
Martin Baxter, CEO of Electoral Calculus: "There are some grim readings from this poll for Police management, as large numbers of the public have concerns about the ability of the Police to solve crimes, as well as their competence and the perceived prevalence of corruption. That the public remain mostly civic-minded themselves and have faith in the Police's good intentions, gives some indication that trust could be restored if improvements can be made."
Find Out Now polled 2,061 GB adults online from 4-5 February 2022. The sample was weighted to be representative by gender, age, social grade, other demographics and past voting patterns. Find Out Now and Electoral Calculus are both members of the British Polling Council and abide by its rules.
Full data tables are here.
A further poll of another 2,061 GB adults was conducted online on 11 February 2022 after the resignation of Cressida Dick as Metropolitan Police Commissioner.
Full data tables for the second poll are here.