Confidence in the local police

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1. Main facts and figures

  • in the year ending March 2020, 74% of people aged 16 and over in England and Wales said they had confidence in their local police
  • in every year shown, a lower percentage of Black Caribbean people had confidence in their local police than White British people
  • in the 3 years from April 2017 to March 2020, a higher percentage of people in the Asian, White, and Other ethnic groups had confidence in their local police than Black people

2. Things you need to know

What the data measures

This data shows the percentage of people aged 16 and over who said they had confidence in their local police.

Estimates in the charts and tables are given to the nearest whole number.

Not included in the data

The survey does not include:

  • people living in communal establishments, such as care homes, university accommodation and prisons
  • crimes against commercial or public sector bodies

Estimates based on fewer than 50 respondents are not shown because they are not reliable.

The ethnic groups used in the data

In the analysis By ethnicity over time, data is shown for the 18 ethnic groups listed in the 2011 Census.

Elsewhere, data is shown for 5 aggregated groups:

  • Asian
  • Black
  • Mixed
  • White
  • Other

This means estimates are shown for these groups as a whole. This is because the number of people surveyed was too small to make any reliable conclusions about any of the 18 ethnic groups.

The data does not include people whose ethnicity was not known.

Methodology

Read the detailed methodology document for the data on this page.

In the analyses by ethnicity with gender, age and socio-economic group, data for the 3 years April 2017 to March 2020 has been combined to make sure estimates are reliable. You can read more about combining multiple years of data and some of the issues involved.

The figures on this page are based on survey data. Find out more about:

In the data file

See Download the data for:

  • estimates rounded to 1 decimal place
  • estimates for the most recent 3-year period by police force area
  • confidence intervals – read how we use confidence intervals to judge the reliability of survey estimates

3. By ethnicity over time

Location:
England and Wales
Time period:
April 2013 to March 2020
Source:
Crime Survey for England and Wales, year ending March 2020
Percentage of people aged 16 and over who had confidence in their local police, by ethnicity over time
2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20
Ethnicity 2013/14 % 2013/14 Sample size 2014/15 % 2014/15 Sample size 2015/16 % 2015/16 Sample size 2016/17 % 2016/17 Sample size 2017/18 % 2017/18 Sample size 2018/19 % 2018/19 Sample size 2019/20 % 2019/20 Sample size
All 76 35,075 76 33,015 78 34,922 78 34,767 78 34,293 75 33,704 74 33,363
Asian 79 1,805 78 1,626 79 1,770 80 1,927 80 1,980 78 2,046 77 2,042
Bangladeshi 71 137 82 122 77 133 72 165 81 177 77 211 81 191
Chinese 77 168 77 134 80 171 79 180 78 163 87 177 81 195
Indian 83 759 81 665 81 712 81 757 82 783 79 776 76 799
Pakistani 72 397 71 385 75 425 76 492 76 491 73 505 69 482
Asian other 82 344 81 320 84 329 85 333 85 366 83 377 84 375
Black 70 946 71 894 73 882 71 999 76 943 70 913 64 950
Black African 75 555 77 523 79 518 76 611 77 567 76 576 69 587
Black Caribbean 62 346 60 314 62 303 60 311 71 315 56 277 54 295
Black other withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 45 65 57 62 61 69 77 82 61 61 60 62 68
Mixed 72 336 64 304 72 359 72 369 71 371 68 369 71 409
Mixed White/Asian 75 80 73 87 76 93 85 105 68 86 76 89 76 116
Mixed White/Black African withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 46 withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 44 withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 44 76 56 81 61 withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 48 74 55
Mixed White/Black Caribbean 69 118 68 98 66 132 59 120 67 120 58 122 66 123
Mixed other 74 92 59 75 72 90 72 88 71 104 69 110 67 115
White 76 31,725 76 29,917 79 31,627 79 31,093 78 30,658 75 30,046 74 29,613
White British 75 29,836 75 28,209 78 29,685 78 28,831 78 28,420 75 27,718 74 27,365
White Irish 81 319 80 295 80 286 76 292 84 294 82 303 74 255
White Gypsy/Traveller withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 12 withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 10 withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 15 withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 21 withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 15 withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 10 withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 11
White other 81 1,558 81 1,403 85 1,641 83 1,949 83 1,929 81 2,015 82 1,982
Other 77 232 77 231 81 241 76 345 82 298 77 278 75 273
Arab 79 88 82 82 80 86 77 140 82 100 80 94 68 109
Any other 76 144 73 149 81 155 76 205 81 198 76 184 80 164

Data withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable

Download table data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV)

Summary of Confidence in the local police By ethnicity over time Summary

The data shows that:

  • 74% of people had confidence in their local police in the year ending March 2020
  • people from the Asian (77%), White (74%) and Other ethnic groups (75%) were more likely to have confidence in their local police than Black people (64%)
  • in every year shown, a lower percentage of Black Caribbean people had confidence in their local police than White British people
  • other differences between ethnic groups or years are not reliable because of the smaller number of people surveyed

4. By ethnicity and gender

Location:
England and Wales
Time period:
April 2017 to March 2020 (3 years combined)
Source:
Crime Survey for England and Wales, year ending March 2020
Percentage of people aged 16 and over who had confidence in their local police, by ethnicity and gender
All Men Women
Ethnicity All % All Sample size Men % Men Sample size Women % Women Sample size
Asian 78 4,759 78 2,366 79 2,393
Black 70 1,978 68 799 71 1,179
Mixed 70 782 67 348 72 434
White 76 68,454 75 31,188 77 37,266
Other 78 661 75 320 81 341

Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and gender’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and gender’ (CSV)

Summary of Confidence in the local police By ethnicity and gender Summary

The data shows that, in the 3 years to March 2020:

  • a higher percentage of White women (77%) than White men (75%) had confidence in their local police
  • Asian men (78%) were more likely to have confidence in their local police than men from the White (75%), Mixed (67%) and Black (68%) groups
  • women from the Asian (79%) and White (77%) ethnic groups were more likely to have confidence in their local police than Black women (71%)
  • differences between men and women in other ethnic groups are not reliable because of the smaller number of people surveyed

5. By ethnicity and age

Location:
England and Wales
Time period:
April 2017 to March 2020 (3 years combined)
Source:
Crime Survey for England and Wales, year ending March 2020
Percentage of people aged 16 and over who had confidence in their local police, by ethnicity and age group
Asian Black Mixed White Other
Age Asian % Asian Sample size Black % Black Sample size Mixed % Mixed Sample size White % White Sample size Other % Other Sample size
All 78 4,759 70 1,978 70 782 76 68,454 78 661
16-24 76 457 63 179 73 155 79 4,127 75 71
25-34 79 1,090 69 330 67 190 77 9,518 78 157
35-44 78 1,436 73 495 66 173 76 10,059 80 202
45-54 76 759 71 456 68 119 74 11,060 80 114
55-64 82 479 70 265 72 87 73 11,299 75 61
65-74 84 336 73 128 withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 39 74 11,625 withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 35
75+ 85 202 76 125 withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 19 82 10,766 withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 21

Data withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable

Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and age’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and age’ (CSV)

Summary of Confidence in the local police By ethnicity and age Summary

The data shows that:

  • White people aged 75 and over (82%) had the highest percentage of people with confidence in their local police out of all ethnic and age groups
  • among 16 to 24 year olds, a lower percentage of Black people (63%) had confidence in their local police than White people (79%) and Asian people (76%)
  • among 25 to 34 year olds, a lower percentage of people from the Black (69%) and Mixed (67%) ethnic groups had confidence in their local police than White people (77%) and Asian people (79%)
  • among 35 to 44 year olds, a lower percentage of people with Mixed ethnicity (66%) had confidence in their local police than White people (76%) and Asian people (78%)
  • among 55 to 64 year olds, a lower percentage of White (73%) and Black (70%) people had confidence in their local police than Asian people (82%)
  • among 65 to 74 year olds, a lower percentage of White people (74%) had confidence in their local police than Asian people (84%)
  • other differences between age and ethnic groups are not reliable because of the smaller number of people surveyed

6. By ethnicity and socio-economic group

Location:
England and Wales
Time period:
April 2017 to March 2020 (3 years combined)
Source:
Crime Survey for England and Wales, year ending March 2020
Percentage of people aged 16 and over who had confidence in their local police, by ethnicity and socio-economic group
Asian Black Mixed White Other
Socio-economic classification Asian % Asian Sample size Black % Black Sample size Mixed % Mixed Sample size White % White Sample size Other % Other Sample size
All 78 4,759 70 1,978 70 782 76 68,454 78 661
Managerial and professional occupations 77 1,667 69 603 69 285 78 25,860 77 197
Intermediate occupations 76 910 63 275 66 129 75 15,933 79 108
Routine and manual occupations 80 1,222 75 773 67 228 74 22,784 76 182
Never worked and long-term unemployed 86 540 72 139 withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 37 71 1,608 83 81
Full time students 77 350 65 151 76 94 83 1,702 78 85
Not classified 74 70 withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 37 withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 9 72 567 withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable 8

Data withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable

Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and socio-economic group’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and socio-economic group’ (CSV)

Summary of Confidence in the local police By ethnicity and socio-economic group Summary

The data shows that, in the 3 years to March 2020:

  • a higher percentage of White students (83%) had confidence in their local police than Black students (65%)
  • among people in ‘routine and manual jobs’, a higher percentage of Asian people (80%) had confidence in their local police than people from Mixed (67%) and White (74%) groups
  • among people in ‘intermediate occupations’ (including clerical, sales and service jobs), a higher percentage of people from the Asian (76%) and White (75%) ethnic groups had confidence in their local police than Black people (63%)
  • among people in ‘managerial and professional jobs’, a higher percentage of White people (78%) had confidence in their local police than people from the Black and Mixed ethnic groups (both 69%)
  • among long-term unemployed people, a higher percentage of Asian people (86%) had confidence in their local police than Black (72%) and White (71%) people

7. Data sources

Source

Type of data

Survey data

Type of statistic

National Statistics

Publisher

Office for National Statistics

Publication frequency

Yearly

Purpose of data source

The main aims of the Crime Survey for England and Wales are to:

  • measure people's experience of crime
  • give reliable estimates about changes over time

The survey does not include all crimes. It excludes 'victimless' crimes (like possession of drugs) and crimes that victims cannot report (like murder).

The survey aims to give a clearer picture of the extent of crime than police statistics. It can do this by including crimes that are not reported to the police or recorded by them.

It can also provide a better indicator of long-term trends because it is not affected by changes in how crimes are reported or recorded.

8. Download the data

Confidence in the police data - Spreadsheet (csv) 130 KB

This file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, year, gender, age, socio-economic status, police force area, value, standard error, confidence intervals (upper bound, lower bound)

Publication release date: 12 May 2021

full page history
  1. Updated with the latest available data.

From: Office for National Statistics

Previous editions:
  1. Edition published on 30 September 2020
  2. Edition published on 14 May 2019
  3. Edition published on 14 August 2018
  4. Edition published on 23 February 2018
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