Victim satisfaction with police hits all-time low

VICTIM satisfaction with how police handle crime in England and Wales has dropped to a historic low, a new survey has suggested.

- PRESS ASSOCIATION REPORTERS

The number of people reporting seeing officers regularly on the beat in their neighbourhood is also at its lowest level since records began while confidence in the criminal justice system is continuing to decline.

The findings have been published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) using data from its long-running annual crime survey of people aged 16 and over.

Some 51% of respondents who had been a victim of crime in the 12 months to March 2025 said they were either very or fairly satisfied with how the police handled the matter. This is down from 55% in the previous year and is the lowest figure since this question was first asked in 1992.

Satisfaction rose steadily between 2006/07 (58% of victims) and 2013/14 (a peak of 75%) but has since been on a general downward trend.