Annual Policing Survey Results
19 December 2023
Survey shows people in Kent DO trust the Police
A survey commissioned by Kent’s Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Scott, shows the majority of people living in the county do trust Kent Police.
Residents were asked to rank their level of trust in the force on a score of 1-10, with 10 being “trust completely”; 1 being “do not trust at all” and 5 being “neutral”. On average people scored the police 6/10, with 57% of the population rating their confidence level as 6 or higher and 32% ranking it 4 or lower.
The consultation was open over the summer and autumn months and 4538 people took part. Other questions included how well residents thought Kent Police perform; whether people had been victims of crime over the last year and whether people feel safe where they live.
Overall victims of crime ranked their trust in the police lower, at 4.5/10.
On police performance, 40% of Kent’s population thinks the Force does well or extremely well, with 26% neutral and 34% feeling the force performs badly or extremely badly.
23% told us they had been a victim of crime, with the most common crime types being antisocial behaviour, vehicle crime or criminal damage. This is up on last year, when 20% of respondents said they had been victims of crime. However, this year nearly 82% of those victims did report the crime to the police, which is up on last year’s 79%.
People generally feel safe where they live, scoring on average 6.3/10, however this is down on 2022’s figure which was 7/10.
The Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Scott said,
“I wanted to find out whether people in Kent did still trust the police, following several years of negative stories and the spotlight on the misconduct of police officers and staff. I am heartened to find that on the whole, people here do have faith in Kent Police, although I acknowledge there is still work to do especially in regard to victims of crime.
“The new neighbourhood policing model, the improvements in the Force control room's performance and the increase in the number of people being charged show that Kent Police is moving in the right direction. This has been acknowledged by their latest independent inspection.
Thank you to all those who took part in this survey. It provides me with valuable information, which I will use to hold the Chief Constable to account.”
ENDS
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NOTES TO EDITORS:
The full survey report can be found here: