Over 75% of people satisfied or very satisfied with Garda service to their local community – Q2 2018 Garda Public Attitudes Survey.
- In Q2 2018, 77% of respondents said they were either very satisfied or satisfied with the service provided by An Garda Síochána to local communities.
- 74% agreed that Gardaí in this area can be relied upon to be there when you need them.
92% of respondents in the Q2 2018 survey said they felt members of An Garda Síochána would treat them with respect if they had contact with them for any reason. - Victimisation rate increases to 7.9% during Q2 2018 with 85% of victims interviewed stating they had reported their most recent crime incident to An Garda Síochána.
- 59% of victims who reported their crime were satisfied with the service provided by An Garda Síochána.
- The public’s trust in An Garda Síochána remains high.
- The vast majority of respondents continue to have positive views about the capability of An Garda Síochána to be friendly and helpful, community focused, and modern or progressive.
Over 75% of people are satisfied with the service provided by An Garda Síochána to local communities, according to the Garda Public Attitudes Survey for Q2 2018.
The survey also found that 74% of survey respondents agreed that Gardaí in their area can be relied upon to be there when you need them.
In addition, the vast majority of respondents believe Gardaí would treat you with respect if you had contact with them for any reason, and the public’s trust in the organisation remains very high at 88%.
In Q2 2018, 22% considered crime in their local area to be a very serious or serious problem. This compares to 75% of respondents who perceive national crime to be a very serious or serious problem.
The vast majority of people - 66% - say that fear of crime has no impact on their quality of life.
Between the last two survey sweeps (i.e. Q1 2018 and Q2 2018) there has been an increase in the proportion of respondents reporting they had no fear about the level of crime in general, that they did not worry about the likelihood of becoming a victim of crime, and that their fear of crime had no impact on their quality of life.
The victimisation rate for Q2 2018 stood at 7.9%, the highest since Q2 2016. The number of people reporting their crime to Gardaí was at 85%.
Satisfaction among victims of crime continues to fluctuate, however the low sample size means these fluctuations should be interpreted with caution. The proportion of victims reporting that they felt the right amount of information had been provided to them stood at 54% during Q2 2018. This is down 2% from Q2 2017, but has increased over recent quarterly surveys.
During Q2 2018 the majority of respondents had positive views about the capability of An Garda Síochána to be friendly and helpful (90%), community focused (73%), modern or progressive (70%) and effective in tackling crime (61%). Forty-three per cent of respondents said the organisation is well managed and the same percentage said that it provides a world class police service.
Commenting on the survey results, Deputy Commissioner, Policing & Security, John Twomey said: “It is very welcome that over 75% of people are satisfied with the Garda service provided to them locally and that there is a comparatively low level of concern about crime in their area. The continued high levels of trust in the organisation and individual members locally is testament to the work done by our people every day to protect and support communities. However, it is clear from the survey that we must continue to focus on reducing the number of victims of crime and providing crime victims with the right information and supports.”
The Public Attitudes Survey is an important focus for measuring progress against some of the key priorities for the Garda organisation in terms of the service provided to communities.
The main findings of An Garda Síochána’s Public Attitudes Survey for Q2 2018 are:
Perceptions of Crime
- In Q2 2018, 75% of people perceived national crime to be either a very serious or serious problem, compared to 22% of respondents who considered crime in their local area to be a very serious or serious problem.
Victims of Crime
- In Q2 2018, the victimisation rate was 7.9%. This compares with a rate of 5.7% for the same quarter last year.
- Satisfaction among victims of crime who reported their crime to An Garda Síochána stood at 59% during Q2 2018. This is down 2% on Q2 2017.
- During Q2 2018, 85% of victims interviewed said they had reported their most recent crime incident. This is 2% lower compared to Q2 2017.
- 54% of victims felt the right amount of information had been provided to them. This is down 2% from Q2 2017, but has been increasing over recent quarterly surveys.
Fear and Worry about Crime
- More than one in three respondents (36%) reported that they had no fear about crime in general, down from 41% during Q2 2017.
- 66% of people reported that their fear of crime had no impact on their quality of life – down from 73% in Q2 2017.
- During Q2 2018 49% of respondents said they did not worry about becoming a victim of crime whether that is of a crime involving personal injury, property theft or damage, or indeed both– this has remained stable compared to Q2 2017.
Garda Visibility
- In Q2 2018, 39% of respondents were aware of Garda patrols in their local area, an increase of 3% compared to Q2 2017.
- In Q1 2018, 37% of respondents considered Garda presence in their local area to be at about the right level, down 8% when compared to Q2 2017.
Satisfaction with An Garda Síochána
- In Q2 2018, 77% of respondents (71% when don’t knows are included) said they were either very satisfied or satisfied with the service provided by An Garda Síochána to local communities.
- 74% agreed that Gardaí in this area can be relied upon to be there when you need them.
- Approximately 1 in 3 (37%) believed that community relations with police are poor and 45% agreed that police are not dealing with the things that matter to people in this community.
Trust in An Garda Síochána
During Q2 2018, 88% of respondents stated they had a mid to high level of trust in An Garda Síochána.
Equality of treatment
- 92% of respondents in the Q2 2018 survey said they felt members of An Garda Síochána would treat them with respect if they had contact with them for any reason.
- When asked if Gardaí in their area treat everyone fairly regardless of who they are, 81% of people agreed. This drops to 65% when don’t know responses are included.
Perceptions of the Garda Organisation
In Q2 2018, 90% of respondents agreed that members of An Garda Síochána were friendly or helpful (unchanged from Q2 2017), 73% agreed that the organisation was community focused (up 4% from Q2 2017), 70% thought the organisation was modern or progressive (up 4% from Q2 2017), 61% said it was effective in tackling crime (unchanged from Q2 2017), 43% said it was well managed (down 1% from Q2 2017), and 43% thought An Garda Síochána provides a world-class police service (up 4% from Q2 2017).
The Garda Public Attitudes Survey, which is conducted by Amárach Research on behalf of An Garda Síochána, asks a nationally representative sample of 1,500 people each quarter their views on a range of issues relating to An Garda Síochána. The Q2 2018 survey was conducted between April and June of this year.
The Q2 2018 Public Attitudes Survey Bulletin is available from Garda.ie or on request from the Garda Press Office.
Note:
It must be noted that as analysis is done on smaller proportions such as victims of crime – for instance 119 respondents to the survey experienced victimisation in the previous 12 months – the margin of error increases, therefore such changes should be interpreted with caution.
