Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2024/25: 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 2024/25. This is a decrease from 61% when the question was first asked in 2012/13, however has remained the same since 2023/24.

The proportion of people saying the police were doing a poor or very poor job remains small but has increased over time: from 8% in 2012/13 to 13% in 2024/25. Meanwhile over one-third (36%) thought the police were doing a ‘fair’ job.

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 2024/25.

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

Variable: QRATPOL.

The only demographic difference identified for those who thought the police were doing an excellent or good job was by age, with aged 60 years and over less likely (40%) to agree the police were doing a good or excellent job compared with younger adults aged 16–24 (53%) and 25–44 (49%).

Since 2012/13, confidence in the police has decreased across all demographic groups covered by the survey, with the exception of the 16-24 age group. The largest decline was observed among those aged 60 and over, down by 24 percentage points from 64% in 2012/13 to 40% in 2024/25. Other groups experienced declines ranging from approximately 10 to 18 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 are only discussed 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 2024/25. Fewer than half of adults (43%) were very or fairly confident in the police’s ability to prevent crime.

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

All six measures that were introduced in 2008/09 have remained stable since last year. The measure ‘support victims of crime’ has increased by 4% points since 2023/24 but is unchanged from when it was introduced in 2021/22.

The ability to prevent crime consistently received the lowest confidence rating, peaking at 57% in 2014/15 before falling to 42% in 2023/24, where it remains at a similar level in the most recent survey year.

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 2024/25.

Variables: QPOLCONF_01 – QPOLCONF_07.

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

Respondents[1] were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with eight statements about the police. 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).

For those who agreed with the statements introduced in 2009/10, most have remained at a similar position and showed no changed over this period. The exception is for ‘police in this area are not dealing with the things that matter to people in this community’ which has decreased by 7 percentage points (i.e. has improved) since 2009/10 but is unchanged in recent years. Three measures have decreased since 2019/20 – although these changes mostly took place between 2019/20 and 2021/22. All of these measures have been stable since 2023/24.

In terms of the three questions added in 2021/22, all three measures are unchanged between 2023/24 and the most recent survey year. However, when compared with when these questions were first introduced in 2021/22, two have increased (police are friendly and approachable, and police are involved in activities in the local community), while one (police are 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

The Scottish Crime and Justice Survey collects information on the demographics of respondents. More information on how views on policing vary by age, sex, deprivation and rurality are available in Annex Tables A13 to A15.

Police presence and public awareness

Over two-fifths of adults (44%) thought police presence was “about right”, while half (49%) felt it was insufficient. The proportion thinking it was “about right” was higher than in 2009/10 (38%), but has been stable in recent years. Perceptions of police presence varies:

• adults who were not disabled (49%) were more likely to believe the police presence is “about right” compared to those who were disabled (32%)
• those aged between 16 and 24 (70%) were more likely to believe the police presence is “about right” compared to those aged 60 and over (28%)
• the most common reason for believing police presence was insufficient was not seeing officers on foot (67%) or rarely seeing police at all (50%)
• those satisfied with police presence most often cited low crime levels (61%) or seeing police patrolling in cars (39%)

Almost two-fifths (38%) of adults were aware of police patrols in 2024/25. This declined from 52% in 2009/10, but is unchanged from last year.

Figure 7.5: The proportion of adults who were aware of regular patrols has fallen from a peak in 2012/13 but is unchanged in recent years.

Proportion of adults who said they were aware of regular police patrol in their area, 2009/10 to 2024/25.

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 worse than 2018/19 but that year had more positive estimates than other years so may be an outlier.

For people who had interaction with the police for any reason:

• 60% were satisfied with the way the police handled the matter - unchanged from recent surveys and 2012/13, however has fell from 70% since 2018/19
• 95% of respondents found the police polite, which is the same as last year
• 86% thought they were treated fairly by the police, which is unchanged from last year
• most people (72%) said their interaction with police did not change their view of the police at all. 11% had a less favourable view, and 17% had a more favourable view - both of which are unchanged from previous survey years

For victims of violent or property crime where police came to know about it, three in five (58%) respondents were satisfied. Satisfaction is unchanged from the first survey in 2008/09 and recent surveys in 2021/22 and 2023/24.

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

• 76% 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
• 69% agreed that the police dealt with the respondent fairly
• 57% agreed that overall the police dealt with the case fairly

Fewer than half (46%) received information or assistance from the police about the investigation (and the case). Though unchanged in recent years the latest figure remains 10 percentage points lower than the highest recorded figure in 2017/18 (56%).

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 related topics. The latest report, the ninth wave of polling, was published in March 2026. In this survey, respondents are asked how much trust and confidence they have in the police on a scale from 0 (‘no confidence/trust at all’) to 10 (‘completely confidence/trust’). The latest survey found that:

• trust in the police in Scotland overall was 6.05. This is down from the previous wave (November 2025), which recorded scores of 6.44
• confidence in the police in Scotland had an average rating of 5.23, also down from 5.69 in the previous wave
• 30% of respondents believed the police were doing a good job keeping their local community safe, down from 39% in November 2025

Police Scotland’s Your Police Survey and Local policing user experience survey (as part of their wider User Experience Surveys) indicate general satisfaction with police responses, aligning with SCJS findings.