Background to the Research

• This research focuses on young people's attitudes to, and experiences of, policing in NI, with particular reference to the process of making complaints against officers in the PSNI. Three main issues are addressed:
  • The attitudes and knowledge of young people towards the PSNI, their experiences of that service, of differences between the PSNI and the RUC; and the scale and nature of problems experienced in interacting with the PSNI;
  • The Office of the Police Ombudsman, its work and responsibilities; their experience of making complaints about the police and changes that should be made to the system of reporting or processing complaints; and
  • The Policing Board and DPP.
    

Research Approach

• The research adopted both qualitative and quantitative approaches and the analysis is based on discussions with 31 focus groups and the findings of a questionnaire completed by 1163 young people across NI.
  

Main Findings

Policing (contact, police behaviour and young people's experiences, complaining, changes, support and joining)

• 41% of respondents had some contact with the police in the past year. More males than females reported contact. Those living in urban regions had more contact than those in rural regions.
• 35% of respondents were either very satisfied or satisfied with the PSNI during this contact.
• Young people's experiences of the police were mostly negative. 24% of respondents were very dissatisfied with the PSNI. The main form of unacceptable behaviour reported was disrespectfulness and/or impoliteness.
• Being stopped and questioned and asked to move on were the two most frequently occurring forms of contact. Young people regard these types of contact as forms of harassment. Forms of harassment included physical violence, a constant police presence and being watched, confiscation of goods and verbal abuse.
• More young people agreed than disagreed, that the police were honest, professional, helpful, there to protect them and acceptable.
• Young people voiced annoyance that it was always assumed that they were 'up to no good'. · 5% of respondents had made a complaint about the police in the past 12 months.
• Some Catholic participants felt there had not been enough changes, while many Protestants felt there had been too many changes. More Catholics than Protestants felt that policing had improved since the RUC was renamed as the PSNI.
• Many young people voiced concern about the political nature of policing. · In spite of concerns, many felt that a police service was still required.
• 32% of respondents did not support the police. More Catholics than Protestants were unsupportive.
• Only 17% of respondents would consider joining the PSNI. Less Catholics than Protestants expressed an interest in joining. Catholics who did indicate an interest in joining were often discouraged by family/friends.

Police Ombudsman (Awareness and knowledge, complaints, attitude, accessibility and outcome)

• 52% of respondents had heard of the Ombudsman, with older participants and those in a higher educational bracket being more aware.
• 72% recognised its role as being 'investigating complaints against the police'.
• 11% knew how to contact the Office, with only 2% having actually done so. Of this 2%, 38% were happy with the service. The two main reasons for not being happy were a slow response and a feeling that the complaint was not taken seriously.
• Of those who had complained about the police, 26% lodged their complaint with a police station and 19% with the Ombudsman. 26% were happy with the service offered by the organisation they approached.
• Most young people felt that for a complaint to be taken seriously, the incident had also to be serious, such as physical assault.
• Both communities generally viewed the Ombudsman's Office in a positive way. More within the Catholic community than the Protestant community felt that the Ombudsman was necessary.
• The Ombudsman's Office was not seen as accessible to those living outside Belfast. Also, there was little knowledge of how the Office could be approached.

Policing Board (Awareness, knowledge, opinions and views of the Policing Board and of DPPs)

• General awareness was much greater than knowledge of what it did.
• Some participants confused the Policing Board with other organisations.
• Older participants and those with a higher educational bracket had more awareness and knowledge.
• 22% agreed that the Board was impartial, 23% agreed that it was independent, and 20% agreed that it had made policing more effective. Catholics were more likely to disagree with these statements.
• Concerns were expressed about those with criminal records, custodial sentences or members of a political party being involved in the board.
• Overall, respondents were not familiar with DPPs. Of the 24% who had heard of them, 18% of these did not know what their role was. Some young people felt that the DPPs would have to have some clear benefit to them before they would be prepared to participate/engage in any way.

Recommendations

• Recommendations for the Ombudsman include the formation of an advisory group of young people to help make their information and services more available to young people; a wider range of outlets at which to lodge complaints, as well as promotion of existing outlets; offices outside of Belfast; a standardised complaint registration form; and the creation of a team to deal specifically with complaints by young people.
• Recommendations for the Policing Board include an outreach programme to engage with young people; the initiation of ongoing consultation with young people on policing issues; the raising of the issues addressed in this report with the Chief Constable, with the aim of working together to create more effective engagement between the police and young people; and discussion about how the current training programmes within the PSNI deal with the policing of young people.