Community Attitudes Survey (Hansard, 28 June 1995)

§ Sir John Wheeler

I have today arranged for a copy of the full report to be placed in the Library. The report details results from field work completed between November 1993 and October 1994 involving a representative sample of adults aged 16 and over living in Northern Ireland. As most of the survey was conducted before the declaration of the two paramilitary ceasefires in August and October 1994, many of the results reflect the security situation in Northern Ireland before the ceasefire. A third round of the survey, which omits a number of questions on security matters which have ceased to be relevant following the ceasefire, is currently underway.

Among the key findings of the survey are: The majority of people believe that crime, particularly crime against the person, is relatively uncommon in their area and that they are unlikely to be a victim. In particular, 90 per cent. believed that it was unlikely, that they would be a victim of terrorist violence. The majority of people consider that the police are polite (81 per cent.) helpful (78 per cent.) and fair (72 per cent.) In each of these aspects Protestants gave higher ratings than Catholics. (Protestants: polite 83 per cent; helpful 81 per cent.; fair 77 per cent.—Catholics: polite 78 per cent.; helpful 75 per cent;. fair 63 per cent.) Taking everything into account, most (77 per cent.) thought that the police in their 712W area did a good job, while fewer than one in 10 (9 per cent.) thought that they did a poor job. Almost one third (30 per cent.) of respondents had not heard of the Police Authority for Northern Ireland. More than half of those who had heard of PANI (56 per cent.) thought it to be part of the police. Protestants tended to be better informed than Catholics. Over one third of respondents (35 per cent.) did not know who was responsible for looking into complaints made against the police. The preferred means (63 per cent.) of making a complaint about a police officer was by contacting the local police station. This was by far the most favoured means for both Protestants (68 per cent.) and Catholics (54 per cent.) While most respondents (63 per cent.: Protestants, 68 per cent.; Catholics, 57 per cent.) believe the police try equally hard to recruit from both sections of the community, most (57 per cent. Protestants, 48 per cent.; Catholic, 72 per cent.) thought there were too few Catholic members of the police. The most common reason given for Catholics not joining the force was fear of intimidation or attack on them or their relatives. The great majority (93 per cent.) disagreed with the use of force or violence by paramilitary groups, either for political ends or in retaliation for attacks by other paramilitaries. Only 3 to 4 per cent. agreed that it was justifiable. Most people considered the police to be polite (80 per cent.) and fair (77 per cent.) in dealing with the security situation. As before, Protestants gave a higher rating than Catholics. The Army as also considered by most to be polite (70 per cent.) and fair (68 per cent.), again with higher ratings form Protestants. Ninety-two per cent. of respondents felt is was important to understand the way in which the courts work, although only 33 per cent. felt they did understand. Seventy-five per cent. expressed confidence in the criminal justice system, although nine out of ten agreed that miscarriages of justice could occur. Almost 70 per cent. of respondents felt that penalties handed out by courts should be stiffer that at present although Protestants felt this more strongly (82 per cent.) than Catholics (48 per cent.). Almost four in ten thought that those sentenced to life imprisonment should spend the rest of their lives in prison (Protestants; 46 per cent., Catholics; 28 per cent.).