Overwhelming majority of the public trusts the Gardaí, despite drop in survey figures

An overwhelming majority of people fully trust An Garda Síochána, it is claimed in a new survey that was carried out on behalf of the force.

Some 89 per cent of the public said they trust the police organisation, according to the latest research – but the figure is down on similar surveys that were carried out over recent years. The report reveals that the concerns and most common crimes listed by people include sex abuse, domestic violence, criminal damage, burglary, assault and online fraud.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris stated on Tuesday that he is “pleased to see all of the positive feedback” and claimed the “independent study” results reflect the “consistent hard work of Gardaí nationwide”. But the new trust figure of 89 per cent for 2023 is lower than in 2022, 2021, and 2019. A poll was not held in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The figure for 2022 was 90 per cent, while it was 91 per cent in 2021, 91 per cent in 2019, and 89 per cent in 2018.

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The overall figures drop under categories such as satisfaction with the service provided and views on the extent of its community focus, plus others on human rights, effectiveness in tackling crime, and being modern and progressive. In the latest survey, which is for 2023, sex offences and domestic abuse are the two issues given most priority by people, with at least 90 per cent of those surveyed calling for these matters to be the top policing priorities.

Human trafficking, assaults, drug offences and illegal weapons all featured significantly, according to the new Garda Public Attitude Survey 2023. It was carried out by Ipsos B&A on behalf of An Garda Síochána and interviewed 7,682 adults and 835 young people, aged 16 and 17, between February and December 2023.

A spokesperson for the new research said: “People’s perception of An Garda Síochána’s work in their community remains positive in the Garda Public Attitudes Survey for 2023. Some 89 per cent of respondents trust An Garda Síochána. A vast majority of young people trust An Garda Síochána (90 per cent) while 87 per cent say they would be treated with respect by Gardaí.

“Some 73 per cent of adults are satisfied with the service provided by An Garda Síochána and over 90 per cent find Gardaí friendly or helpful. The number of people that believe An Garda Síochána listens to and addresses the concerns that matter to the community has remained high.

“More people now feel that An Garda Síochána is human rights focused (82 per cent) and agree that it is representative of the diverse communities it serves (56 per cent). The public’s views about Gardaí and the Garda organisation across demographic categories generally remained positive in 2023. The survey indicates that those aged 65 years and older, and non-Irish nationals, hold the most positive views of the organisation.

“Similar to the last four surveys (2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022), public trust in An Garda Síochána is high at 89 per cent. The organisation’s emphasis on a community-based approach to policing is reflected also, with 75 per cent of respondents agreeing we are community focused. Satisfaction with Garda service to local communities remained high in 2023, at 73 per cent, though this is a 2 per cent decrease from 2022.

“Sexual offences continued to be the greatest issue among the majority of respondents (91 per cent) when asked to consider what should be the top policing priority for An Garda Síochána. This was the case regardless of gender, age or nationality.”

The spokesperson added: “Domestic abuse was also rated as a high policing priority by 90 per cent of respondents, second only to sexual offences. Human trafficking, assaults, drug offences and illegal weapons all featured significantly across all demographics in terms of priorities for An Garda Síochána.

“Some 82 per cent agreed in 2023 that An Garda Síochána is focused on human rights. This is an increase on 2022 when it stood at 79 per cent. Other perceptions in 2023 show the majority agreed that An Garda Síochána is effective in tackling crime (64 per cent) and both modern and progressive (69 per cent). There has been a notable increase in the proportion of respondents that agree the organisation is representative of the diverse communities it serves – increasing to 56 per cent in 2023 from 53 per cent in 2022.”

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris vowed to “listen and take on board” the public’s views, “particularly in the area of keeping victims informed” because there are “always areas in which we can strengthen our work”. He promised that the force of 18,000 personnel is working towards the “common goal of keeping people safe”.

Commissioner Harris said “there is much for us to take away from this survey to ensure” that An Garda Síochána improves its “vital service”.

While some 89 per cent of people trust the guards, 73 per cent are very satisfied or quite satisfied with the service from Gardaí, and over 60 per cent confirmed that they believe Gardaí are effective in tackling crime. Regarding Garda visibility at a national level, 41 per cent said they had an awareness in 2023 of Garda presence in their local area. The proportion of respondents who felt that Garda presence was about right in their local area currently stands at 42 per cent.

Close to 70 per cent of respondents continue to either agree or strongly agree that the Gardaí in their area can be relied on to be there when they are needed. Some 92 per cent of respondents were of the belief that An Garda Síochána treats people with respect if you had contact with them for any reason. Some 61 per cent of those surveyed disagreed that “community relations with the Gardaí are poor”.

82 per cent agreed that An Garda Síochána is focused on human rights, with 75 per cent stating that An Garda Síochána is community focused, and 64 per cent agreed that the force is effective in tackling crime. Amongst the key findings of the Garda Public Attitudes Survey 2023, the report found that the victimisation rate for 2023 is 5.9 per cent, which is an increase of 0.5 per cent on the 2022 survey.

Of the 7,682 respondents in the 2023 study, 75 per cent had reported their most recent crime to Gardaí. For the second consecutive year, 53 per cent were satisfied with how their case was handled. Most respondents (53 per cent) reported having "no fears” or "very few fears” about crime.

Over half of people surveyed stated that fear of crime had little or no impact on their quality of life and 42 per cent do not worry about becoming a victim of crime. But 44 per cent do worry that someone they know could become a victim of crime. National crime was seen as more of a problem than local crime in 2023 with people stating that national crime is a “serious” or “very serious” problem.

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