Police forces, and all the inter-related organisations responsible for dealing with crime and maintaining community safety, are under ever-increasing scrutiny in the UK and the wider world. Accountability is essential, and organisations across Community Safety Partnerships need robust and clear evidence of the effectiveness of their policies and activities, and insight into how and where services need to improve, or need increased investment.

Within our public sector team at DJS Research, we have specific, extensive experience in the areas of Policing, Crime and Community Safety. As well as working directly with police forces, we work with organisations across the Community Safety Partnerships framework, including Councils and Combined Authorities, and health partnerships. We work with areas where Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) are responsible for local policing decisions and accountability, as well areas such as Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire where these responsibilities sit with Deputy Mayors.

In the last few years, we have carried out a large number of projects focusing on experiences of crime and feelings of safety. For example, we have worked with Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and GM Police continuously since 2019 on a large-scale tracker – the Policing and Community Safety survey (PCS). This survey captures the views of 13,000 residents of Greater Manchester every year, and is demographically representative of the ten districts which make up the area. Results are shared with over 100 stakeholder across GMCA, GMP and other partners via a portal. 

Other examples of our experience in this field and organisations we have worked with include:

• Quantitative tracking research with those who have experienced crime, including detailed measures following the Victims’ Code of Practice (VCOP) framework
• Qualitative and quantitative research for a Police Force into the experiences and perceptions of safety amongst women and girls, to inform the development of the Force’s Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) framework. This work involved one-to-one depth interviews with victims of crime – our researchers are trained to manage interviews on sensitive and emotive content to ensure the best experience for both the respondent and our team member
• In-street quantitative research to track whether increased police presence in areas with higher risk of serious violence had impacted public perceptions of safety
• Statistical analysis of collected primary data to uncover drivers and demographic patterns behind trust and confidence in the police
• ‘Deep dives’ into specific demographic groups including students/ young people, and those with a disability, including unpicking drivers of satisfaction with the police amongst different disability types.

We also regularly include measures around feelings of safety within Residents’ surveys, particularly when these are tracking resident sentiment over time. Organisations for whom we have tracked community safety sentiment include Lambeth Council, Croydon Council and Leicester City Council. We benchmark these against comparable data from Local Government Association (LGA polling) to add greater depth of insight.

It is crucial that all parts of society are included and heard within research in this area. As well as delivering conventional methodologies, we recognise the need to be inclusive when understanding issues such as feelings of safety. Our in-house consumer panel Different Perspectives helps us reach voices which are often underrepresented, providing our clients with access to over 9,000 people who are facing vulnerable circumstances today. This includes invididuals who are experiencing economic hardship, health issues, and are negatively impacted by social and environmental factors

To find out more about our extensive experience conducting research on the speciallist areas of police, crime and community safety contact Research Directors Simon Driver sdriver@djsresearch.com and/or Matthew Bristow mbristow@djsresearch.com

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