Only half of Britons trust the police, survey reveals

 
Police stand guard outside the family home in Liverpool, of hostage Ken Bigley following a Middle East TV station report that he had been killed by his captors, Friday October 8, 2004. British diplomats were urgently investigating the reports on Abu Dhabi Television. His brother Paul said he was praying the claim was not true. But the Foreign Office in London said: "We are trying urgently to corroborate reports that Mr Bigley has been killed, but have not yet done so. See PA story DEFENCE Iraq. PA photo: Phil Noble.
Staff|Agency16 January 2014
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More than a quarter of Britons do not trust the police, a new poll has revealed.

But half of those surveyed said they still have faith in officers, according the ComRes survey for ITV.

In response to the statement "I trust the police", 26% said they disagreed, while 50% said they agreed.

The findings come in the wake of a series of public controversies involving the police in recent months, including claims officers lied over the 'Plebgate' affair, and anger over the shooting dead and subsequent inquest of suspected gangster Mark Duggan.

A jury found earlier this month that Duggan was lawfully killed when he was shot dead by armed officers in Tottenham, north London, in August 2011, sparking riots across England.

But his family claimed he had been "executed" by officers and have criticised the jury's verdict as "perverse" because they had also concluded he did not have a gun when he was shot.

The poll of 2,079 people found that most Britons (57%) want to see police guidelines tightened in the wake of the shooting so officers can only use deadly force if they have personally seen the suspect hold a weapon.

Just a quarter of those polled (24%) disagreed.

It also revealed a widespread belief that police have become more forceful, with 40% reporting that they believe officers are quicker to resort to force on suspected criminals than they were ten years ago.

Less than a third (29%) said they disagreed with this statement.

Yet the nation appears to hold mixed views over whether more forceful policing should be embraced.

A third of those surveyed said officers are too quick to use force on suspects, whereas nearly half (43%) disagreed with this statement.

And while controversy continues to rage over claims police unfairly using their 'stop and search' powers on ethnic minorities, just 31% of the British public think these groups are unfairly targeted.

However, opinions are heavily divided along race lines.

The majority (57%) of Britons from black or minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds think these groups are unfairly targeted, whereas just half as many white Britons (28%) agree.

The British public is also deeply divided over whether they think it is right for police to target their criminal investigations on certain ethnic minorities because they are statistically more likely to commit a type of crime.

A sizeable proportion of the public (40%) agree that officers should be allowed to do this, while almost exactly the same proportion (41%) said they opposed the policy.

But again race heavily influences how people view this question.

Nearly two thirds (62%) of those from BME backgrounds disagree with the policy, whereas just 39% of white Britons are against it.

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