One in two Brits not confident police would turn up if their home was burgled

EMBARGO: 00.01 Thursday 2 January 2025

• Poll reveals almost one in two adults would not be confident the police would turn up if their home was burgled or they were the victim of a car theft
• Some Brits are putting off calling the police because they worried it will take too long for them to arrive or they won’t take the incident seriously
• Lib Dems warn of “crisis in confidence” in police and call on government to restore public trust in policing

Nearly half of people say they are not confident that the police would turn up and properly investigate if they were the victim of crimes such as burglaries or car thefts, shocking new polling by the Liberal Democrats has revealed.

46% of adults reported that they were not confident that the police would turn up and properly investigate if their home was burgled. This was even higher among those who were 65 or older, with 54% saying they were not confident. 

Meanwhile, one in two (49%) said that they would not be confident that the police would turn up and properly investigate if they were the victim of a car theft. Two in five (41%) said they would not be confident if they had experienced an assault in the street.

The polling also revealed that Brits are putting off calling the police even when they should due to a lack of confidence. 8% of people said that in the past two years, they had needed to call 999 for the police but didn’t do so. Of these, one in four (23%) said it was because they thought the police would take too long to arrive. Over a third (36%) did not call the police as they thought the police would not have the time or the resources to take the incident seriously.

The Liberal Democrats, who commissioned the polling, described the results as “scandalous” and a direct consequence of the previous Conservative government’s poor legacy on tackling crime. This includes their decision to take over 4,500 Police and Community Support Officers (PCSOs) off the streets since 2015. 

The party is calling on the new government to restore the public's confidence in the police with a return to proper community policing - where officers are visible and trusted, with the time and resources to focus on tackling local crime. 

Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson, Lisa Smart MP said:

“These findings are scandalous - but with unsolved crime rates remaining sky-high, it is difficult to find them shocking.

“This crisis in confidence is a direct consequence of years of neglect and mismanagement from the previous Conservative government. They decimated frontline policing and left our communities to pay the price. 

“People deserve to feel confident that if they do fall victim to crime, the police will turn up and properly investigate. The new government must act urgently to restore the public’s trust in policing. That requires a return to proper community policing - keeping our communities safe and reducing crime with more bobbies on the beat.” 

ENDS