What you said – results of the local confidence survey
The Government has set every force a target to raise public confidence that the police and local council are dealing with the anti-social behaviour and crime issues that matter locally.
The proportion of people surveyed in each of the following areas agree that the police and local council are dealing with the anti-social behaviour and crime issues that matter in their area.
| Area | Proportion |
| Allerdale & Copeland CDRP | 62.9% |
| Carlisle & Eden CDRP | 66.3% |
| Barrow in Furness CDRP | 66.6% |
| South Lakeland CDRP | 65.1% |
These are the results of a telephone survey that was conducted in these areas which asked local people whether they agree that:
“The police and local council are dealing with the anti-social behaviour and crime issues that matter in this area”.
Care should be taken in making comparisons in local indicators that have used different survey techniques. This survey is based on a quota sample of people in the local area. The use of a quota sample seeks to ensure the results are broadly representative of the local population. Quota samples may inadvertently introduce unknown sources of statistical bias.
About the Results
Why is public confidence in policing so important to the Police Authority and Constabulary?
Ensuring that the public is confident in the service they receive from the police and other agencies is a priority for the Police Authority and Constabulary. People rightly expect the services they pay for to deal with issues that concern them. They need to be confident that they will receive a good service if they are to make use of the services that are there to help them. For policing, this is particularly important as we want victims to report crimes and antisocial behaviour and people to come forward with information about incidents to help us solve them.
What we are going to do with the results?
The Constabulary is in the process of developing Neighbourhood Policing Team profiles using a range of information from this survey and police information about crime and antisocial behaviour levels in communities. The profiles will enable greater understanding of what affects confidence and more importantly how to improve our services to the public.
The baseline profiles are due to be completed and implemented across the Constabulary by the start of the financial year 2010. These will support specific action to improve confidence levels where they are lowest, whether in specific places or with groups of people.
The information will also be incorporated into our tasking processes, so that resources are deployed to activities that will provide a better service and improve confidence in our services.
Findings will be shared with our partner agencies, be reported to Cumbria Police Authority and made available to the pubic via the Police Authority website.
The Authority is monitoring the changes in confidence and the public’s experience of the police service through a variety of ways: through surveys such as this, by meeting the public and holding Police Community Liaison Forum meetings to get their feedback and by ‘reality checking’ police services through unannounced visits to police stations and police public meetings. It aims to provide the public with confidence in the police force by ensuring that the Constabulary is taking appropriate action to improve the quality of its services, including issues identified by the public.