We carried out research to understand the current level of public confidence in the police and the perceptions residents hold about police visibility in Cambridgeshire.
Cambridgeshire Constabulary commissioned Social Change UK to conduct insight research in order to understand public confidence and perceptions of police visibility held by both internal staff and Cambridgeshire residents. Recommendations would be provided to highlight what Cambridge Constabulary can do to improve public confidence and perceptions of visibility as part of the campaign.
We carried out scoping, quantitative and qualitative research to understand local issues surrounding confidence in police and police visibility. This included both an online survey and two focus groups. Attitudes towards police visibility, perceptions of community safety and the relationship between the constabulary and local communities were explored both with the public and internal staff.
The results.
Insights from the research showed that residents want the police to be more involved and build relationships with the community, but Cambridgeshire constabulary felt that they had a lack of resources to be able to do this. Based on these insights, we made recommendations ahead of the #EveryonesBusiness campaign, suggesting that the constabulary focus on improving local relationships and communication.
