Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2023/24: Main findings

Public perceptions of policing

High level summary

Public views on the overall performance of the police in their local area and their effectiveness across a range of measures show mixed results – many remain broadly positive but they have been falling in recent years. Views on whether the police treat people fairly or focus on issues important to the community are at similar levels to 2009/10 but have generally fallen since 2019/20.

What did the public think about the overall performance of the police?

Fewer than half of adults in Scotland (45%) believed the police in their local area were doing an ‘excellent’ or ‘good’ job in 2023/24. This is a decrease from 61% in 2012/13[1] and from 49% in 2021/22.

Over one third (36%) thought the police were doing a ‘fair’ job in 2023/24, whilst over one in ten (13%) said the police were doing a ‘poor or very poor’ job. Of these two categories, ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’ and ‘excellent or good’ are both significantly different from 2021/22. The proportion of people saying the police were doing a poor or very poor job increased slowly over time: from 8% in 2012/3 to 14% in 2023/24.

Figure 7.1: Fewer than half of adults in Scotland believed the police in their local area were doing an ‘excellent’ or ‘good’ job in 2023/24.

Views on the overall performance of the police in the local area.

Variable: QRATPOL.

Unlike in previous years, there were no differences detected for any other demographic group or area characteristic such as sex, age, disability, rurality or level of deprivation.

Since 2012/13, confidence in the police has decreased across all demographic groups covered by the survey. The largest decline was observed among those aged 60 and over, from 64% in 2012/13 to 43% in 2023/24. Other groups experienced declines ranging from approximately 10 to 17 percentage points over the same period.

Further details of these changes in confidence levels over time can found in Annex Table A13.

How confident were people in the ability of the police?

This section examines public confidence in the police’s effectiveness across seven key areas, referred to as ‘effectiveness measures’:

• preventing crime
• responding to calls and information
• dealing with incidents as they occur
• investigating incidents
• solving crimes
• catching criminals
• supporting victims of crime

The measure of confidence in the police’s ability to support victims of crime was introduced in 2021/22, so data is only available from that year onward. As a result, trends over the longer term can only be shown for the six other measures introduced in 2008/09.

As shown in Figure 7.2, a majority of adults in Scotland were confident in the ability of the police across six of the seven effectiveness measures in 2023/24. Fewer than half of adults (42%) were very or fairly confident in the police’s ability to prevent crime.

Four out of seven effectiveness measures have fallen significantly since 2021/22 (prevent crime, dealing with incidents, investigating incidents and supporting victims) while three have remained unchanged (responding quickly, solving crime and catching criminals).

Figure 7.2: The majority of adults were confident in the police across six of the seven effectiveness measures.

Proportion of adults who were confident in the ability of the local police to carry out various aspects of police work.

QPOLCONF_01 – QPOLCONF_07.

As shown in Figure 7.3, when looking over the longer term, views of confidence in the ability of the police generally:

• increased between 2008/09 and 2012/13
• decreased between 2014/15 and 2023/24, with all measures decreasing since the pre-covid position in 2019/20
• two measures (dealing with incidents as they occur and solving crime) have now returned to 2008/09 levels and three are lower than 2008/09 (prevent crime, investigate incidents after they occur, catch criminals). Only one measure is higher: respond quickly to appropriate calls and information from the public.

The ability to prevent crime consistently received the lowest confidence rating, peaking at 57% in 2014/15 before dropping to 42% in 2023/24, the lowest since the survey began.

Figure 7.3: Confidence in the ability of the police has decreased in recent years.

Proportion of adults who were very/fairly confident in the ability of the police to perform certain functions, with selected categories highlighted, 2008/09 to 2023/24.

Variables: QPOLCONF_01 – QPOLCONF_07.

Did the public feel the police conducted their work fairly and were engaged with their community?

Respondents were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with eight statements about the police.[2] These are grouped into three categories: ‘fairness’ (how fair the police are when carrying out their duties), ‘community engagement’ (how engaged the police are with the local community) and ‘accountability’ (are the police held to account for the services they provide).

Most of these measures were introduced in 2009/10, with three included for the first time in 2021/22 (therefore comparisons can only be made with this year), these are:

• are the police friendly and approachable, included in community engagement
• are the police involved in activities in the local community, included in community engagement
• are the police held to account for the service they provide, included in a new accountability group

Of the measures which were introduced in 2009/10, most have remained relatively stable and show no change compared to either 2009/10 or 2021/22, except ‘police in this area are not dealing with the things that matter to people in this community’ which has decreased by 6 percentage points (i.e. has improved) since 2009/10 but is unchanged since 2021/22. Since the pre-covid position in 2019/20, four of these measures have moved to a more negative position (treat with respect, can be relied on, not dealing with things that matter to the local community and treat everyone fairly) while one remains unchanged (listens to concerns of local people).

In terms of the three questions added in 2021/22, two have increased in 2023/24 (are police friendly and approachable and are police involved in activities in the local community) while one (are police held to account for the service they provide) has shown no change over this period.

Figure 7.4: Respondents generally had positive or not strong views around how local police conducted their work.

Attitudes towards the police.

Variables: POLOPREL – POLOPACC.

Figure 7.5: Views on how police conduct themselves in the local community has been stable over the longer term but has shown some reductions in recent years.

Proportion of adults who were very/fairly confident in the ability of the police, with selected categories highlighted, 2008/09 to 2023/24.

Variables: QPOLCONF_01 – QPOLCONF_07.

The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey collects information on the demographics of respondents. More detail on how views of policing vary by age, sex, deprivation and rurality are available in Annex Table A15.

Police presence and public awareness

The SCJS asks respondents about the visibility of police in their local area, specifically whether police patrol their area regularly, either by foot, bicycle or car and whether they consider this to be sufficient or not. In 2023/24, Around two in five adults (42%) thought police presence in their local area, was “about right”, while half (50%) felt it was insufficient. The proportion thinking it was “about right” was higher than in 2009/10 (38%), similar to most recent surveys, but lower than 47% in 2021/22. Perceptions of police presence varies:

• rural residents (50%) were more likely than urban residents (41%) to say the presence was “about right”, older respondents (33% for 60+) were less likely to agree than younger respondents (56% for 16-24), and disabled respondents (33%) were less likely to agree than non-disabled respondents (45%)
• the most common reason for believing police presence was insufficient was not seeing officers on foot (70%) or rarely seeing police at all (49%)
• those satisfied with police presence most often cited low crime levels (58%) or seeing police patrolling in cars (39%)

Around two-fifths (41%) of adults were aware of police patrols in 2023/24. This declined from 52% in 2009/10, but shows a small increase from 37% in 2019/20. Residents in the 15% most deprived areas were more likely to be aware of police patrols (55%) compared to the rest of Scotland (39%).

Figure 7.6: The proportion of adults who were aware of regular patrols has fallen from a peak in 2012/13 but is unchanged since 2021/22.

Proportion of adults who said they were aware of regular police patrol in their area, 2009/10 to 2023/24.

Variable: POLPATR.

How satisfied were people with their interactions with the police?

Most people who interacted with the police reported positive experiences, and most of these measures show little change since first asked in 2012/13. Some are lower than 2018/19, but that year had more positive estimates than other years so may be an outlier.

Of people who had an interaction with the police for any reason:

• 62% were satisfied with the way the police handled the matter - unchanged from recent surveys and 2012/13, but lower than 70% in 2018/19.
• 94% of respondents found the police polite
• 83% thought they were treated fairly by the police, unchanged from all previous surveys. 16% thought they were treated unfairly, which is unchanged from recent surveys and 2012/13, but higher than 11% in 2018/19
• most respondents (71%) said their interaction with police did not change their view of the police at all; and 12% had a less favourable view, unchanged from previous surveys. 16% had a more favourable view, which is below 20% in 2021/22 but similar to what was seen in 2012/13 and 2019/20

For victims of violent or property crime where police came to know about it, just over half (53%) of respondents were satisfied. This is not statistically different from people who interacted with the police for any reason. Satisfaction is unchanged from the first survey in 2008/09 and recent surveys in 2019/20 and 2021/22 but lower than 2018/19, when two in three (66%) were satisfied.

For other questions asked of these victims, most showed a positive view and no change from previous surveys since 2008/09, including:

• 81% agreed that police gave them an opportunity to explain what happened
• 48% agreed that the police gave them an opportunity to express views about how the case should be handled
• 77% agreed that the police dealt with the respondent fairly
• 58% agreed that overall the police dealt with the case fairly

Over half (52%) received information or assistance from the police about the investigation (and the case). Unlike other measures here, this shows a large increase from 2008/09 when less than one in three (31%) agreed.

Other public attitude surveys on policing

The Scottish Police Authority (SPA) also conducts regular polling of Scottish adults (aged 16 and over) on policing in Scotland and other related interests. The latest report, for the sixth wave of polling, was published in January 2025. Reports on previous polling can be found here. In this survey, respondents are asked how much trust they have in the police in a range of areas on a scale of 0 ‘do not trust at all’ to 10 ‘trust completely’. The latest survey found that:

• trust in local policing had an average rating of 5.71 with trust in Police Scotland overall at 5.55, and both of these measures down from the previous wave (August 2024) at 5.91 and 5.66 respectively
• confidence in local policing had an average rating of 5.71 with confidence in Police Scotland at 5.64 (also down from 5.84 and 5.75 since the previous wave
• 43% of respondents believed police in their local area were doing a good job policing in general, down from 46% in August 2024

Similar to the SCJS, they also provide breakdowns by demographic groups such as gender, age, deprivation and rurality.

Police Scotland’s Your Police Survey and User Experience Survey indicate general satisfaction with police responses, aligning with SCJS findings.