Background to the Research

• The Police Authority first commissioned a research module in the NI Omnibus Survey in September 1995. They have taken place periodically since then and have been continued under the Policing Board.
  

Research Approach

• In 2001, a sample of 2,050 addresses was taken form the Valuation and Land Agency's list of residential properties, and interviewers called at these addresses to interview a predetermined respondent
  

Main Findings

• 63% of respondents felt that the performance of their local police was very/fairly good.
• One in five (20%) thought their local police did a very/fairly poor job, up 3% from last year's report.
• Just over half (53%) of Catholics thought the police in their area did a very/fairly good job, compared to 50% last year. 71% of Protestant respondents agreed with this assessment, a decline of 5% from the previous year. The number of Catholics who felt the performance of their local police was very/fairly poor rose by 1% to 26%, the percentage of Protestants who shared this view rose from 11% to 18%.
• Overall, 69% of respondents thought that the performance of the police in NI as a whole was very or fairly good. By community background, 82% of Protestants and 52% of Catholics rated the NI police performance as good, while 7% and 25% respectively rated it as very or fairly poor.
• 73% of respondents thought their local police treated Protestants and Catholics equally. 58% of Catholics thought that treatment by their local police was equal across the two communities, as did 83% of Protestants.
• When asked about the treatment of Catholics and Protestants by police in NI as a whole, 63% of respondents thought the two communities were treated equally, although Protestants were more likely to say this than Catholics (77% compared to 44%).
• Overall, 47% of respondents had confidence in the police's ability to provide an ordinary day to day service for everyone in NI, with only 18% having little or no confidence. Fewer Catholics (28%) Catholics that Protestants (60%) had confidence in the police.
• In relation to the police's ability to provide a public order service for all the people of NI, 42% of respondents had total/a lot of confidence in them. The percentage of Catholics who have confidence in the police during public order situations has risen from 19% to 27% since October 2000, while those who had no confidence fell from 43% to 28%. However, the proportion of Protestants who had confidence in the police fell from 63% to 53%.
• Almost two thirds of all respondents (65%) of respondents thought that treatment of both communities was equal during public disorder. The percentage of Catholics who thought that Protestants were treated better has fallen significantly from 75% in September 1995 to 42% in this survey. 48% thought that treatment was equal.
• When questioned on the perceived use of force by the police during public disorder, 48% thought that appropriate force was used. 26% of Catholics and 11% of Protestants thought too much force was used.
• 41% of respondents thought that the police respected human rights; however there was a difference across the two communities (26% of Catholics and 52% of Protestants). 33% of Catholics and 13% of Protestants had little or no confidence in the police's respect for human rights.
• Just over half (51%) of all respondents said that they never let the fear of crime stop them from doing what they want to do, 38% said it occasionally stopped them and 10% said that fear often stopped them. Respondents who were under 25 years of age were most likely to say that a fear of crime has stopped them from doing what they wanted to do, as were more women than men. Those from rural areas were more likely than those from urban areas to say that fear of crime never stopped them from doing what they wanted to do.
• When asked about satisfaction with levels of police patrolling, 29% of respondents were satisfied with the levels of foot patrols, although older people were more likely to express dissatisfaction, as were those in urban areas.
• In relation to levels of mobile patrols, 41% were satisfied, although again older respondents and those in urban areas were more likely to say they were dissatisfied.
• Overall, the perception of the standard of policing was such that the proportion of respondents who thought that standards were falling was higher than the proportion who thought they were rising. Protestants were more likely than Catholics to say that standards were falling.