The vast majority of New Zealanders hold very favorable views of the police, according to a survey undertaken on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.
A series of questions, called the Police Module, was added to the 2021 New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey (NZCVS).
They sought to provide an understanding of people’s experiences with, and perceptions of, Police.
Assistant Commissioner Insights and Deployment Bruce O’Brien says the results of the NZCVS Police Module are extremely positive, and a huge tribute to how frontline Police go about supporting their communities.
“This survey shows that most of the public have a high level of trust and confidence in Police.
And that’s despite it being undertaken during a period when our people had to undertake many different tasks to normal policing roles because of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Superintendent O’Brien says.
To the question which of the following best describes the current level of trust and confidence you have in Police, 74% answered either full or a lot.
“What is also really pleasing to see is that the public’s rating of how we police – our professionalism overall and the service we provided when they needed us – is also very high across the board.”
In response to the statement: Police are professional when they are conducting their duties, 83% either strongly agreed or agreed.
While of the people who had contact with Police in the past 12 months, 74% were very satisfied or satisfied with the quality of service they received.
The NZCVS, which is conducted from around November to October each year, is based on face-to-face interviews with randomly selected New Zealanders.
The Police Module was added to the NZCVS in March 2021, and more than 4,000 people were surveyed between then and November.