Community Attitudes Survey Bulletin 2003

Author(s): Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA)
Document Type: Report
Year: 2004
Publisher: NISRA
Place of Publication: Belfast
Subject Area(s): Criminal Justice, Policing

Abbreviations: CAS - Community Attitudes Survey, NI - Northern Ireland

Background to the Research

  • The CAS aims to provide an objective assessment of public perceptions and views on crime, law and order and policing issues in NI.

Research Approach

  • The sample for the CAS is 2,400 addresses randomly selected from the Valuation and Lands Agency list of private addresses.One adult (aged 16+) was then selected randomly from within each household to participate in the survey.
  • A total of 1,570 interviews were obtained.

Main Findings

Perceptions of the level of crime

  • The majority of respondents thought vandalism (73%), car crime (72%), burglary (71%) and illegal drug use (63%) were not common in their local area and only 4% thought that people in their area were likely to be attacked and have things stolen from them in the street.
  • While 57% of respondents thought the level of crime in their area was the same as two years ago, 30% thought that the level of crime had increased.
  • In NI overall, respondents wanted the police to pay most attention to paramilitary activity (32%), organised crime (14%) and illegal drug use (13%).

Community Policing

  • Over three-quarters (79%) of respondents thought it was important for local people to have a say in the way in which they are policed.
  • Just under half of all respondents (48%) thought that there were too few Catholics in the police force in NI while 49% thought there were too few women.
  • Nearly two-fifths of respondents (37%) had initiated contact with the police during the previous two years, mostly to report a crime or other incident (71%).
  • Of these respondents, 61% were satisfied with the way the police handled the matter.
  • Around two-thirds of respondents (65%) thought that the police in their area did a good job.

The courts and criminal justice system

  • Only 13% of respondents had had any contact with the courts in the two years before the interview.
  • Half of all respondents thought the system was effective in bringing people who commit crimes to justice.
  • Nearly two-thirds (65%) of respondents thought the police were doing a good job, while 42% thought that judges and magistrates, adult courts (40%), prisons (40%) and the probation services (40%) were doing a good job.
  • 60% of respondents believed the criminal justice system in NI was fair.
  • Just over one quarter (29%) thought the criminal justice system was effective in dealing with young people accused of crime, while just over a quarter thought the youth courts were doing a good job (26%).
  • However, 71% thought the way the police and the courts deal with juvenile offenders was too lenient.
  • The majority of respondents (69%) thought that if two people from different religious backgrounds were found guilty of the same crime they would both receive the same sentence.
  • However, 54% thought that if a man and a woman were found guilty of the same crime, the man would receive a tougher sentence.
  • Over three-quarters (77%) of respondents thought the sentences handed down by the courts were too lenient.

 


 

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