Public lacks confidence in the law and order system

The results show that while there is relatively higher trust in the people performing key law and order duties, there is substantial negativity towards the performance of the system more broadly.

For example, 62% of people in England and Wales say they trust ordinary police officers and judges to make the right decisions, this falls to 48% for senior police officers, suggesting greater public scepticism towards those seen as more responsible for the overall performance of the law and order system.

There's a perception of senior officers as lacking direct experience within open ended responses of the survey, being disconnected or "out of touch" with frontline work, and having inappropriate internal cultures or promotion practices.

Concerns about leadership ability in senior positions, as well as transparency and competence, also come through strongly in these responses.

  • "Because the most senior police officers don't have any real experience of policing." – 75, female, Yorkshire and Humber
  • "Too many Chief Constables, boys club internally and little support for front line officers." – 68, male, East of England
  • "Because of numerous reports of inappropriate people in senior policing roles." – 62, male, East Midlands
  • "Police force is totally hampered by things that are not as important as the crimes committed against law abiding citizens. Top echelon police are all self important and out of touch." –77, female, East of England
  • "Because competent people in senior positions is fundamental to establishing the right culture and operational efficiency and effectiveness the whole police service." – 87, male, South East
  • "Woke Senior Officers." – 81, male, Yorkshire and Humber
  • "Because too many police are giving up early and they are recruiting youngsters to higher positions with little experience." – 59, female, London
  • "There are too many criminals hiding behind police uniforms from the top and throughout the ranks." – 70, female, Wales

When it comes to performance more specifically, a relatively low 53% of people have confidence in the police to investigate even major crimes when reported, falling to a paltry 14% for minor crimes.

Likewise on the justice system side, the 51% who trust the courts to at least deliver the right verdict falls to only 37% who think appropriate sentences will be given.

In all four examples given, a mere 4-8% of residents in England and Wales say they have “a great deal” of confidence in the system.

Faith in the prison system is lower still. Following a spate of high-profile accidental releases, it is no surprise to see only 39% have confidence in the system even to keep people locked up properly; barely one in eight are confident in the prison and probation system to reform prisoners and keep them from reoffending (13%).

Policing is where the public would prioritise law and order spending

With confidence lacking in the wider law and order system, where would people in England and Wales direct funding as a priority?

The most common choice, at 43%, is the police, with this answer more than twice as popular as second-placed probation and rehabilitation (18%). A further 15% would earmark extra spending for prisons, with courts the least likely to be prioritised, at 12%.

Policing comes top for almost all social groups. The most notable exceptions are the youngest adults and Green voters, who tended to favour probation and rehabilitation (36-37%).

When we asked respondents to tell us, in their own words, what they would do to improve the police, ‘resources and staffing’ topped the list, at 24%.

Many respondents feel that stretched resources mean lower-level crimes often go uninvestigated:

  • "They are over-stretched and this is why so many minor crimes are not fully investigated - they have to prioritise. That shouldn’t be happening." – 44, female, South West
  • "There are too many crimes and not enough police officers to investigate them, as a result too many ‘minor crimes’ get pushed to one side. This affects public confidence in the police and encourages crime." – 61, female, Yorkshire
  • "Because most offenders begin with lower-level crimes, and if they can be stopped at that stage and properly rehabilitated, it would prevent a lot more major crimes in the future." – 56, male, East Midlands
  • “People have been saying for years that they want to see more police out and about in their communities. Interacting with people and not just when they are questioning or arresting them.” – 66, female, North West
  • Because if something of mine is stolen: bike, wallet, car, phone etc, they simply note the report with number so I can get an insurance payout, but I still want my original item and someone to be brought to justice – 20, male, South East

A desire for more visible policing was also a common theme (21%), with a clear emphasis on the link to the community (14%):

  • "Visibility deters crime. And more police on streets helps them build links with local communities." – 62, male, Scotland
  • "The police need to be part of the community, talking to people, friendly with people, not just turn up when something bad has happened." – 55, male South West
  • "Police on the beat get to know and understand the communities in which they're based, which increases trust and confidence in the police and helps to lower petty crime." – 51, female, East Midlands
  • "Police seem anonymous at the moment." – 46, male, South East

The public think the police are doing a bad job at their core functions

With only half of adults in England and Wales confident in the police’s ability to investigate major crimes, and fewer still for minor crimes, it is no surprise to see that just 37% of the public believe the police to be doing a good job of investigating crime and catching suspects.

Fewer still (25%) think the police are doing a good job of reducing crime, and likewise there are limited numbers who think the police are doing well at addressing the issues of racism (22%) and sexism (18%) in the force – although large numbers answer “don’t know” on these aspects.

The area in which the public are most likely to say the police are doing badly is in “having a visible presence in the community”, on which measure 72% of adults in England and Wales think the service are performing poorly.

Our research finds that one in five people in England and Wales (20%) say they saw police in their local area in the last week; overall, a majority say they have seen police locally in the last 3 months.

By contrast, for one in eight adults (12%) it’s been at least a year since the last time they saw the boys in blue. A further quarter (26%) say they can’t recall their last sighting of a police officer.

People living in urban areas are slightly more likely to say they saw police officers in the last week (21% vs 15% in towns and the same number in rural locations). Likewise, those in these less populated areas are more likely to say it’s been a year since they saw the police (16% in both cases) than their city-dwelling counterparts (11%).

How much confidence do people have in their local police force?

YouGov tracker data beginning in mid-2019 shows that public attitudes in Great Britain towards the police started to decline in 2020, and have been net negative since 2022.

A merge of this data from July 2025 to February 2026 allows us to build a large enough sample to break results down by police force area.

The results show that Cumbria, Cheshire and Dyfed-Powys police forces come top, although only at net scores of +1 to +3, meaning that residents are effectively evenly split between those who have confidence in their local police and those who do not.

By contrast, the police forces representing major urban areas come very bottom of the list. The Metropolitan Police and City of London Police both receive net scores of -19 among those who live in their respective police force areas, while West Midlands Police come next on -17, followed by Greater Manchester Police on -16.

The public support police use of AI

While attitudes towards artificial intelligence in general tend to be negative, previous YouGov research has shown that fighting crime is one of the areas in which Britons tend to have a more optimistic outlook.

This is reflected by further findings from this study that most people in England and Wales support the police use of AI for analysing data (65%), crime mapping (65%) and live facial recognition (55%).

However, when asked more generically about “police day to day functions in general” the public are divided 42-40%.

PCCs and force mergers: public reaction to structural changes in policing

Two major structural changes taking place in policing are the abolition of Police and Crime Commissioners and the mergers of police forces.

Approximately four in ten residents in England and Wales (41%) support each change. In the case of the latter, this represents a small lead over the number opposed (34%), while for PCCs the greater number answering “don’t know” makes for a larger lead against opponents (23%).

Indeed, despite the hopes that their introduction would increase the visibility and accountability of the function, average turnout at the most recent elections in 2024 was just 23.2%. Our research finds few people in England and Wales are aware of their local policing boss: asked to write the name of their PCC, 94% of respondents answered “don’t know”.

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Policing and crime in England and Wales: the public view

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