Victimisation rate at lowest level since 2015 – Garda Public Attitudes Survey Q1 2019
- 4.4% victimisation rate – the lowest since Q1 2015
- 16% believe local crime is a ‘serious’ or ‘very serious’ problem – equalling the lowest level since Q1 2015
- Over half of people surveyed (55%) do not worry about becoming a victim of crime, this figure has been steadily increasing since Q1 2018
- 90% of survey respondents have a mid to high level of trust in An Garda Síochána.
- 95% agree that Gardaí would treat them with respect if they had contact with them for any reason – the highest agreement level with this statement over the last four quarters
The victimisation rate of 4.4% for Q1 2019 was the lowest since the quarterly Garda Public Attitudes Survey began in 2015.
In addition, according to the Q1 2019 survey results, 16% of respondents believe local crime is a ‘serious’ or ‘very serious’ problem – equalling the lowest percentage since Q1 2015.
Over half of people surveyed (55%) do not worry about becoming a victim of crime, a figure that has been steadily increasing since Q1 2018. 35% also reported having no fear of crime in general, an increase of 4% from Q4 2018.
The percentage of people who viewed national crime as a ‘serious’ or ‘very serious’ problem decreased by 3% from Q4 2018 to 71%.
Trust in An Garda Síochána at 90% continues to remain high.
The majority of respondents (94%) agreed that members of An Garda Síochána were friendly and helpful, and 95% agreed that Garda members would treat them with respect if they had contact with them for any reason.
Perceptions of Garda presence in local areas being at the right level stood at 42%, the highest percentage recorded since Q1 2015. 79% of survey respondents said they were either ‘very satisfied’ or ‘satisfied’ with the service provided by An Garda Síochána to their local communities.
75% agreed that Gardaí in their area can be relied upon to be there when needed and 84% agreed that Gardaí listen to the concerns of local people - an increase of 5% and 4% respectively from Q4 2018.
Commenting on the survey results, Deputy Commissioner Policing & Security, John Twomey, said: "These survey results demonstrate the great work being done in communities to keep people safe. Low victimisation rates, a general lack of fear about crime locally, and high satisfaction with the service we provide shows our strong connection with communities. We will continue to focus on strengthening that connection.”
The main findings of An Garda Síochána’s Public Attitudes Survey for Q1 2019:
Perceptions of Crime
71% of survey respondents considered national crime to be either a ‘very serious’ or ‘serious’ problem, a decrease of 3% from Q4 2018. This figure has remained relatively stable over the last number of attitude surveys.
Conversely, 16% of respondents perceived crime in their local area to be a ‘very serious’ or ‘serious’ problem – equalling the lowest percentage on record since Q1 2015 recorded in Q4 2018.
Victimisation
The Q1 2019 victimisation rate was 4.4% which represents the lowest quarterly rate of its kind since the survey was relaunched in Q1 2015.
85% of victims stated they had reported their most recent crime incident to An Garda Síochána. Apart from Q3 2018 (76%), reporting of crime by victims has been over 85% since Q4 2017.
Satisfaction among victims of crime (who reported their crime to Gardaí) stood at 66%, up from 59% in Q4 2018.
56% of victims felt the right amount of information had been provided to them – this figure has been trending upwards since Q3 2018.
Fear and Worry about Crime
The proportion of respondents who do not worry about becoming a victim of crime has been steadily increasing since Q1 2018. In Q1 2019, the figure stood at 55% - an increase of 9% since Q4 2018.
65% of people surveyed reported that their fear of crime had no impact on their quality of life – an increase of 2% from Q4 2018 and 5% from Q3 2018.
Garda Visibility
38% of respondents were aware of Garda patrols in their local area during Q1 2019 – no change from Q4 2018.
42% of respondents considered the level of Garda presence in their local area to be ‘about right’, which is an increase of 3% from Q1 2018.
Satisfaction with An Garda Síochána
79% of survey respondents said they were either ‘very satisfied’ or ‘satisfied’ with the service provided by An Garda Síochána to their local communities, a figure that has remained relatively stable over the last three quarters.
75% agreed that Gardaí in their area can be relied upon to be there when needed and 84% agreed that the Gardaí in this area listen to the concerns of local people - an increase of 5% and 4% respectively from Q4 2018.
41% of respondents agreed that Gardaí are not dealing with things that matter to people in their community and 36% agreed that community relations with the police are poor.
Equality of treatment
95% of respondents said they felt members of An Garda Síochána would treat them with respect if they had contact with them for any reason, the highest agreement level with this statement over the last four quarters.
When asked if Gardaí in their area treat everyone fairly regardless of who they are, 81% of people agreed, an increase of 4% from Q4 2018.
Perceptions of the Garda Organisation
During Q1 2019, the majority of survey respondents (94%) agreed that members of An Garda Síochána are friendly and helpful. This figure has remained consistently high over the last number of surveys.
72% of respondents felt that An Garda Síochána is community-focused; the proportion who considered it modern and progressive, and effective in tackling crime stood at 67% respectively. 41% thought An Garda Síochána provides a world class service and 54% agreed that the organisation is well-managed.
The Public Attitudes Survey, commissioned by An Garda Síochána and conducted by Amárach Research, asks a nationally representative sample of 1,500 people each quarter their views on a range of issues relating to An Garda Síochána. The Q1 2019 survey was conducted between January and March 2019.
The Q1 2019 Public Attitudes Survey Bulletin is available from www.garda.ie or on request from the Garda Press Office.
Note:
It is important to note that as analysis is done on smaller proportions of the sample the margin of error increases. This should be taken into account when examining quarterly victims of crime samples.
The Garda Public Attitudes Survey was re-launched in November 2014 with annual 2015 results published at the end of that year. Quarterly Bulletins have been published since Q1 2017. Previous to this, An Garda Síochána conducted large scale annual surveys from 2002 to 2008.
