Public satisfaction with Police remains high

Results from this year’s citizens’ satisfaction survey show trust and confidence levels in New Zealand Police remain high and stable at 78 percent.

Mark Evans Deputy Chief Executive Strategy says the results from the 2015 survey, which has been run annually for the last seven years, reflect the huge commitment the Police have made to improving the way they deliver services to the public.

“The Policing Excellence and Prevention First operating model have made us more mobile, visible, efficient and effective than ever before and our communities safer places to live, work and play”, Mr Evans said.

“We know from the survey results, for example, that the proportion of people who said that they felt ‘very safe’ or ‘safe’ in their local neighbourhoods after dark has been steadily climbing. At 77%, this year’s result is the highest since the survey started seven years ago.

“In addition, the fact that 94% said they felt ‘very safe’ or ‘safe’ in their local neighbourhood during the day, is a great result.”

The independently-run survey asks people their views about Police, feelings of safety and what their service experience was like if they recently had contact with police. This year 9,200 people throughout the country took part in the research.

Amongst other findings from the survey, 82% of people who had recent contact with Police were very satisfied or satisfied with the overall quality of that service. Mr Evans said that 89% of people said that their service experience met or exceeded their expectations.

The most common reason people gave was that the police officer had a positive attitude.

"New Zealand Police’s reputation is everything.
No matter how well we do as an organisation, there is a requirement to do better.

The survey shows us areas in which we can make improvements and, of course, there are also variations between different districts.
“We also acknowledge that trust and confidence in Māori is lower than we would like it to be.

However, it is interesting to note that Māori in general trust the police and health system more than other institutions according to Statistics New Zealand research.

“Overall, the results highlight the good work of our staff and it’s great to see their commitment being recognised through the survey. We know that we can’t take it for granted and will continue to work hard to maintain the trust and confidence of New Zealanders.

“At the same time Police also recognise that working in partnership is increasingly important in delivering effective citizen-centred services.
"The survey gives members of the public the opportunity to tell us how we are doing, and we thank those who took the time to participate in the survey,” Mr Evans said.

You can view the full report and the executive summary here: http://www.police.govt.nz/about-us/publication/citizens-satisfaction-survey-reports

ENDS

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