Crime 'uncommon' according to survey

NI people do not think crime is common in the province

Most people in Northern Ireland believe that crime is not common in their area and that they are unlikely to be victims of crime, according to new survey results.

A third of respondents to the survey named speeding as the crime they believed the police should focus their efforts on while 14% believed burglary to be the most pressing crime in their area.

The Community Attitudes Survey was commissioned by government to provide an objective assessment of public perceptions and views on crime, law and order and policing issues.

Across the province, people wanted the police to devote time to tackling illegal drug abuse, drinking and driving and assaults.

The survey also revealed that about three quarters of respondents felt that the police were polite and helpful when dealing with ordinary policing problems.

Areas police should concentrate on

Speeding 33%

Burglary 14%

Vandalism 11%

Drink-driving 11%

Illegal drug abuse 11%

Some of the key findings of the survey included perceptions of the level of crime, personal fear of crime, and personal precautions taken against crime.

The majority of people believe that crime is not common in their area.

The figures vary for different crimes and are 71% for burglary and vandalism, 68% for car crime and 64% for illegal drug abuse.

Only 5% of people thought they were likely to be mugged in their area.

Nearly two thirds of people thought that the level of crime in their area was the same as two years ago, with 28% saying they thought the level was higher.

Precautions

Respondents felt that, in their own area, the police should devote most attention to speeding 33%, burglary 14%, vandalism 11%, drinking and driving 11% and illegal drug abuse 11%.

Other areas examined in the survey included personal precautions taken against crime, with 79% of respondents mentioned having at least one home security measure, while 95% have some form of car security device. While a third of Protestant respondents had initiated contact with the police during the previous 12 months, only 24% of Catholic respondents had done so. During the same period 10% of respondents had been approached by the police.

Almost three quarters of those questioned felt the police dealt fairly with everyone and 69% thought that the police in their area do a good job.

Protestant respondents were more positive in their perceptions of the police in each of these areas than Catholic respondents.

Police recruitment

Responsibility for dealing with complaints against the police was taken over by the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman in 2000.

The survey suggests that 30% of respondents thought that the ombudsman was mainly responsible for looking into complaints against the police compared with 5% in 2000.

Just over half of respondents thought that the police try equally hard to recruit both Protestants and Catholics, however, 85% of Catholic compared with 57% of Protestant respondents thought that there were too few Catholic members of the police force.

Fear of intimidation or attack on them or their relatives and pressure from other Catholics not to join the police force were the two most common reasons given by respondents that they thought might deter Catholics from joining the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

More than 1,300 people were interviewed for the survey, which was conducted over a 12 month period between January and December 2001.