A new survey has shown that the public have a significant amount of trust in An Garda Síochána.

According to the Garda Public Attitudes Survey 2017, 89% of respondents had mid to high levels of trust in the Gardaí.

It was shown how 84% of victims report their crime incidents to the force, a figure up from 75% in 2015.

Burglary was the most commonly reported crime in 2016, followed by robbery (from a property) and theft of a car. The most common reason for non-reporting was a belief that Gardaí could not do anything.

The survey also identified a notable gap between perceptions of crime levels locally and in the country as a whole. While 74% of people said national crime was a serious or very serious problem, 20% said local crime was a serious or very serious problem.

Levels of fear of crime, worry about victimisation and the effect of fear of crime on respondents’ quality of life all decreased between 2016 and 2017.

Overall, 58% of victims were satisfied with how Gardaí handled their case in 2017, largely the same as last year. More victims felt that sufficient information was provided to them in 2017 (53%) compared to 2016 (48%), and 2015 (46%).

The survey, published this week, found that there was a 2% drop in the victimisation rate recorded in 2017 when compared to 2016, and a 5% fall from 2015.  According to respondents to the survey in 2017, 6% said they were victims of crime during the year.

The nationally representative survey contains views of 6,000 people. The survey is conducted quarterly by Amárach Research on behalf of An Garda Síochána with a nationally representative sample of 1,500 people per quarter. The survey measures changes in public sentiment towards An Garda Síochána from 2015 to 2017.

Deputy Commissioner, Policing and Security, John Twomey said:

“It is very welcome that the survey found that the victimisation rate has continued to fall. The increase in crime reporting is also encouraging. It is also good to see concerns about crime at local level remain low and most people have few or no fears about crime.

“These results demonstrate the value of our approach to protecting and supporting communities through crime prevention and enforcement. They are also a testament to the commitment and professionalism of Garda members around the country.

“The high levels of trust in An Garda Síochána and satisfaction with the service provided to local communities is positive. We do recognise though that there are areas for improvement such as keeping victims properly informed and visibility in the community, and we are working on measures to address these.”

To find out the full survey results you can visit www.garda.ie.