The results of the Northern Ireland Secure Telephone Survey 2021/22 have been published today.

The Department of Justice (DoJ) today published a research and statistics bulletin, Experiences of Crime and Perceptions of Crime, Policing and Justice: Findings from the Northern Ireland Secure Telephone Survey 2021/22. (NISCTS).

An official statistical publication, the bulletin focuses on the key modules contained in NISCTS related to:

• crime experience.
• ideas about crime.
• perceptions of police and justice.

The main conclusions

• NISCTS Results 2021/22. show that the majority of adults/families have not experienced the crimes asked about in the survey. According to the latest information, 3.8% were victims of at least one crime measured in the survey in the 12 months before the interview, up from 3.9% in 2020/21. An estimated 60,000 offenses occurred during the 12-month NISCTS 2021/22 recall period.
• Respondents in 2021/2022 were again more positive about crime trends in their area than at the regional level. A quarter, 25%, believe that local crime rates have increased in the previous two years, compared with 57% who believe that crime in Northern Ireland as a whole has increased.
• The data show that 7% of participants considered the level of anti-social behavior in their area to be high, similar to the figure in 2020/21, which was 6%. Litter or rubbish lying around (31%) and people using or dealing drugs (26%) were again most often identified as problems in the area.
• One in ten (10%) respondents expressed high concern about violent crime, with a similar proportion, 8%, very concerned about becoming a victim of theft. Of the car owners, 6% were very worried that they might become a victim of a car crime. None of these three indicators showed statistically significant changes compared to the previous year. 73% of respondents in 2021/2022 felt that fear of crime had minimal impact on their quality of life, compared to 73% in 2020/21.
• Overall public trust in the police and police accountability mechanisms (based on a combined seven-track measure) was 82% in 2021/22, down from 86% in 2020/21. Six of the seven indicators that make up the composite score showed statistically significant declines over the same period.
• For local policing, the results show that 55% rated their local police as doing an excellent or good job in 2021/22, up from 62% in 2020/21. When asked about overall trust in the local police, the proportion of respondents who said that, all things considered, they trust the police in their area fell from 75% to 72%.
• In terms of engagement with the community, there was also a decline in the proportion of those who agreed that the police and other agencies “find out what people think about anti-social behavior (ASB) and crime issues that matter”, falling from 42% to 38% between 2020/21 and 2021/22; the proportion of 2021/22 respondents who agreed that these issues are being addressed (47%) showed no statistically significant change compared to last year (50%).
• When asked about the Criminal Justice System (CJS), the proportion of respondents who were very or fairly confident that the CJS as a whole in Northern Ireland was effective was 64%, up from the 2020/21 rating of 67%. However, the proportion who believed that the CJS was generally fair fell between the two years of the study, showing a statistically significant decrease from 73% to 66%.