Public confidence in Nottinghamshire Police has been falling – but there are plans to improve officer visibility in response.
New figures show public confidence in 2023/24 sat at around 52 percent, and the force expected it to rise to 55 percent by September this year.
However the target was missed, with public confidence now even lower at 50.4 percent.
The data comes from the latest police and crime survey, from which the three main areas of concern all related to public confidence in the force.
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During a Nottinghamshire police and crime panel meeting on Monday (November 17) the worsening confidence in the police was discussed.
Cllr John Wilmott (Ash Ind) said: “It is all about public confidence in the police, and it has unfortunately continued to fall over the past year.
“Can you elaborate on the work being undertaken to address the continued depressed level of public confidence of the police?”
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“We are not seeing the uplift we were hoping to see at this stage of the year”
Dan Howitt, head of strategy and performance at the Office for the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC), said the force had “not been seeing the uplift we were hoping to see at this stage of the year”.
“We are somewhat at the mercy of negative media articles, more often than not involving the Metropolitan Police service, which also no doubt has an impact on general perceptions and public confidence locally,” he said.
“Particularly given 77 percent of those that respond to this have had no direct contact with the police over the last year.”
The perception that police are visible in areas of greatest need has also fallen from 34.6 percent to 31.7 percent, and had a target of 37 percent.
Similarly the perception the force has been tackling issues of local concern has dropped from 40.7 percent to 36.7 percent, not meeting the target of 43.7 percent.
Mr Howitt added: “We really are doing all we can in terms of our work with the force to, A: improve visibility, and B: have a little more control over the narrative as part of the media strategy to address the misinformation and disinformation of levels of risk.”
The meeting was told the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), Gary Godden (Lab), was represented at a board that discusses public trust and confidence in the police, which has been working to get a “grip”.
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There are also a number of planned high visibility operations, including Operation Sceptre, part of a nationally-run campaign to tackle knife crime.
Angela Kandola, the deputy PCC, said the force had reported that serious violence was down by 21 percent, hospital admissions for sharp object injuries were down by 10 percent, possession offences up two percent, and county lines crimes down from 25 percent to eight percent.
The survey also found the quality of investigations “is very positive”, and the proportion of crime where a suspect is identified has increased which is “all very positive”.
Strategic Objective 1: Putting Communities and Victims First
Public Confidence & Satisfaction
Overall confidence in police: Declined to 50.4% (down 1.1% pts year-on-year; baseline: 52.0%).
Perceived police visibility: Declined to 31.7% (from 42.6% baseline, a drop of 2.9% pts).
Satisfaction with police service (PCS): Slight increase to 57.2%.
Perception that police “do a good job”: Down to 45.7% (from 47.6%).
Neighbourhood Policing Resources
Neighbourhood Officer Strength: Up 39.5% to 296.9 FTE.
PCSOs: Down 13.9%.
Special Constables: Down 11.8%.
Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB)
Recorded ASB incidents: Decreased by 25.6%.
Perception of experiencing ASB: Increased to 66.2% (+6.2% pts).
Drug Offences
Recorded drug offences: Increased by 1.9% year-on-year.
Victim Services
Victim satisfaction (PCS): Up to 52.8% (+3.7% pts).
Victim support interventions: Up 8.9% from the new baseline.
Strategic Objective 2: Working in Partnership for a Safer Nottinghamshire
Crime Trends
All recorded crime: Down 2.1% from baseline.
Victim-based crime: Down 2.2%.
Residential burglary: Down 7.9%.
Violent knife crime: Down 2.1%.
Criminal Justice & Youth Justice
Youth Justice First Time Entrants (County): Down 17.1%.
Juvenile reoffending (City): Stable at around 28.6%-29.3%.
Juvenile reoffending (County): Frequency rate up to 3.0, but binary rate shows volatility.
Domestic Abuse
Domestic abuse crimes: Up 10.6%.
Evidence-led prosecutions: Down 50.3%.
DV Protection Orders: Up 67.4%.
Sexual Violence (RaSSO)
Total RaSSO offences: Up 11.6%.
RaSSO (Adult): Up 24.1%.
RaSSO (Child): Down 2.7%.
Knife Crime & Serious Violence
Possession of weapons offences: Up 8.3%.
Modern slavery offences: Up 44.5%.
Strategic Objective 3: Effective & Resilient Policing
Emergency & Non-Emergency Contact
999 calls answered in target: Holding at 89%.
Abandoned 101 calls: Improved to 1.4%.
Online reporting: Increased by 35.0%.
Workforce & Resources
Officer strength: Slight decline of 1.4%.
Police Cadets: Increased by 59.6%.
Volunteers: Dropped significantly by 67.1%.
Investigations
Positive outcomes (all crime): Improved to 17.3%.
Positive outcomes (victim-based): Up to 14.3%.
Identified suspects: Up to 38.4%.
Investigation quality index: Improved to 8.6 (target >8.5).
