Perceptions of crime, engagement with the police, authorities dealing with antisocial-behaviour and Community Payback: Findings from the 2010/11 British Crime Survey.
Understanding perceptions <br><br>The 2010/11 BCS showed that 60 per cent of people thought that crime in the country as a whole had gone up over the last few years, but only 28 per cent of people thought the same about crime in their local area. Ten per cent of people thought crime in their local area was ‘higher than average’ and around half (51per cent) thought it was ‘lower than average’.<br><br>The media was most commonly mentioned when people were asked which sources of information gave them the impression that crime was going up nationally, most commonly news programmes on television or radio (59per cent of respondents). The media was also<br>important in informing views on changes locally (for example, 47per cent of respondents said that information came from local newspapers). However, personal experience was much more influential in informing views of local changes (41per cent) than it was in the case of views of national changes (24per cent).<br><br>Those who had used online crime maps in the last 12 months and who lived in a relatively low-crime area were more likely to think that crime in their local area was ‘lower than average’ than those who had not (83per cent compared with 65per cent). However, there was no relationship between use of crime maps and perceptions of crime in relatively high-crime areas.<br><br>The use of crime data, such as via online crime maps or published as official Home Office statistics, was relatively low when compared with media consumption. Thirty-six per cent of people said they take notice of official crime statistics and four per cent had used crime<br>maps in the last 12 months. This compares with 73 per cent of people reading newspapers and 91 per cent watching the news on television.<br><br>There was some evidence that perceptions of crime in the local area were related to personal experiences. Those who had been victims of crime in their local area, those living in areas of high physical disorder and those who experienced problems with ASB in their local area were more likely to think that crime in the local area was ‘above average’.<br><br>Notes <br><br>Figures included in this publication are from the British Crime Survey (BCS), a large, nationally representative victimisation survey in which people resident in households in England and Wales are asked about their experiences of crime in the 12 months prior to interview. Respondents to the survey are also asked about their attitudes towards different crime-related issues, such as the police and the criminal justice system and perceptions of crime and anti-social behaviour. Some questions are asked of a half (around 23,000<br>respondents) or quarter (around 11,500 respondents) of the overall BCS interview sample. In these cases, respondents are assigned modules of questions on a random basis meaning that the results are based on a nationally representative sample.<br><br>Analysis relating to confidence in the authorities tackling ASB is focused solely on people who perceived at least one of the following five behaviours to be a problem in the local area: noisy neighbours, teenagers hanging around, vandalism and graffiti, people using or<br>dealing drugs, and people being drunk of rowdy (that is, 48per cent of BCS respondents). This measure of ASB is different to the standard 7-strand index measure routinely published from the BCS.<br><br>‘Perceptions of crime, engagement with the police, authorities dealing with anti-social behaviour and Community Payback: Findings from the 2010/11 British Crime Survey’ can be accessed via the National Statistics Publication Hub as well as the Home Office<br>website.<br><br>http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/researchstatistics/<br>crime-research/hosb1811/<br><br>‘Crime in England and Wales 2010/11’ is available online on the Home Office website:<br><br>http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/researchstatistics/<br>crime-research/hosb1011/<br><br><br>Supplementary volume 1 to Crime in England and Wales 2010/11<br>This statistical bulletin is the first in the series of supplementary volumes that accompany the annual bulletin ‘Crime in England and Wales 2010/11’, and presents more detailed analysis on perceptions of crime, engagement with the police, views on the authorities dealing with anti-social behaviour (ASB) and perceptions of Community Payback.<br><br>Policing and community engagement<br><br>The 2010/11 BCS showed that over half of people (55per cent) said they had seen a police officer or Police Community Support Officer on foot patrol at least once a month, up from 38 per cent in 2006/07 when the question was introduced. A quarter (25per cent) said they never saw police officers on foot patrol in the local area, down from 40 per cent in 2006/07.<br><br>Awareness of local neighbourhood policing teams increased from 39 per cent in 2009/10 when this question was first asked) to 44 per cent in 2010/11. In 2010/11, about a third (32per cent) of adults had seen, read or heard details about their local police and over half of people (57per cent) said they knew how to contact the police about policing, crime or ASB. Ten per cent had contacted the police about local issues.<br><br>Around a quarter of people (23per cent) had made contact with the police (other than about local issues) in 2010/11, most commonly to report a personal or household crime. This is a fall from 43 per cent in 1993. It is not possible to be certain of the reasons for this fall, but they are likely to include police deployment, policing methods and falls in actual levels of crime.<br><br>Around one in ten people (9per cent) had been in a car or motorcycle which was stopped by the police in the last 12 months and a much smaller proportion had been stopped when they were on foot (3per cent). Of those who had been stopped, eight per cent of those in a vehicle and 30 per cent of those on foot had been searched (both representing less than 1per cent of the general population).<br><br>Public confidence in the authorities tackling anti-social behaviour and awareness of Community Payback.<br><br>Of those who perceived at least one of five elements of ASB as a problem in the local area:<br><br>• half (52per cent) were confident that the authorities were effective at reducing ASB;<br>• two in five (41per cent) felt the authorities were effective in bringing ASB offenders to<br>justice; and<br>• a third (34per cent) felt well informed about what was being done to tackle ASB.<br><br>As might be expected, perceptions of the effectiveness of the authorities in tackling ASB were associated with other measures of confidence in crime and policing-related issues. For example, those who thought the police in the local area were doing a good or excellent job were twice as likely to be confident in the effectiveness of the authorities at reducing ASB compared with those who thought the police were doing a fair or poor job 70per cent and 35per cent respectively).<br><br>A high proportion of people had heard of Community Payback (85per cent), but levels of awareness of activities in the local area were much lower: only 15 per cent of adults had seen offenders carrying out Community Payback work in the last 12 months.<br><br>Two-thirds of all adults (67per cent) felt that Community Payback was a very or fairly effective form of punishment. Only five per cent thought it was not at all effective.<br><br>Those who had heard about, were aware of, or had personally seen Community Payback were less confident in the effectiveness of the criminal justice system (CJS). For example, 40 per cent of those who had heard of Community Payback were confident in the CJS as a whole being effective compared with 50 per cent of those who had not. However, caution is needed in the interpretation of this result as it is likely that other factors may be contributing to this pattern.<br><br>ACPO view<br><br>According to ACPO, there are encouraging trends around peoples’ awareness of neighbourhood policing teams across the country, as well as increases in their confidence to contact police to ensure the service is more accessible and responsive to local concerns<br><br>ACPO lead on performance management Chief Constable Steve Finnigan said: “The police service is acutely aware of the importance of ensuring the public have confidence in the work that we do to keep them safe from harm.<br><br>“The supplementary British Crime Survey figures which have been released today remain a key indicator to measure public confidence in policing. There are encouraging trends around peoples’ awareness of neighbourhood policing teams across the country, as well as increases in their confidence to contact police to ensure the service is more accessible and responsive to local concerns.<br><br>“A big part of the policing mission is around increasing public confidence in local policing services, and increasing the satisfaction members of the public have with the service they receive.<br><br>"There is no doubt the funding cuts to the police has presented challenges in protecting the frontline, however, chief constables are committed to maintaining the service’s approach to neighbourhood policing and providing a visible, accessible and responsive service that tackles the issues that matter most to local people.”
