Earlier in the summer, Conservative shadow justice minister Robert Jenrick made waves by accosting fare dodgers on the London Underground.
The video by the Tory MP kicked off debate once again about the prevalence of low-level criminality in Britain today, and the authorities’ failure to do enough to tackle it.
The results of a new YouGov survey show that few Britons have confidence that offenders who perpetrate less serious crimes will ever be punished for their misdeeds, or indeed that the police would try and investigate minor crimes properly.
For instance, few Britons believe that those who steal bikes (6%), snatch mobile phones (7%), or conduct phone or internet scams (8%) are likely to be caught, found guilty, and sentenced in court. More than eight in ten (82-87%) think those who commit such crimes are unlikely to face justice.
Similarly, only a minority of Britons are confident that other acquisitive crimes like shoplifting (15%), theft (19%), and burglary (29%) will result in an offender being punished, with 31% saying likewise for minor violent assault.
At the other end of the scale, Britons have the most confidence that murderers will be caught and brought to justice (89%), followed by those who commit serious violent assault (77%), knife crime (67%) and rape (62%).
How many Britons believe the police will attempt to investigate crimes?
The first step in a criminal facing justice is an investigation by the police. But what if the police don’t even attempt to investigate crime?
Police Scotland, for instance, announced last year that they would no longer investigate every low-level crime if there are no witnesses or CCTV footage. And reports abound of aggrieved bicycle owners finding the police have closed their case even when able to provide tracking data for its whereabouts.
Our survey finds there is similarly low confidence that police will even attempt to investigate the less serious crimes on our list, including 9% for fare-dodging, 11% for bicycle theft, and 18% for shoplifting.
Confidence levels across the two questions are similar to the last time we asked in August 2022. Where there have been changes, the difference is typically slightly more positive now, with the most notable changes being a nine-point increase in belief that police will try to investigate burglaries and eight-point increases in the perception that those who commit serious violent assault and knife crime will face justice.
Women less confident than men that sex criminals will face justice
If we compare answers across the two questions, the biggest disparity between expectations that the police will investigate a crime and belief that it will result in someone being sentenced for that crime comes with the two sex crimes from our list.
There is an 18pt gap between the number who expect the police will investigate sexual assault (76%) and that the criminal will be brought to justice (58%), with a similar 17pt gap when it comes to rape.
While men and women typically have similar views on the likelihood that criminals will face justice, on the two sex crimes listed women are noticeably less likely to have positive expectations than their male counterparts.
Older Britons are more confident sex criminals will face justice; young Britons have higher expectations that the same applies to thieves
Breaking down the results by age reveals a couple of trends between young and old. Older Britons prove to be more likely than their younger counterparts to expect that sex criminals will be brought to justice: 73% of 65 year olds say so of rape, and 69% of sexual assault, compared to 57% and 44% respectively among 18-24 year olds.
In turn, young adults are more likely to think that theft-based crimes will result in the offender being brought to justice than older Britons do. For instance, while 51% of 18-24 year olds think burglars are likely to face the full weight of the law, only 24% of the over-65s do.
How likely do you think it is the police would investigate if you were a victim of a minor crime, what do you think of the issue of policing and justice more generally, and everything else? Have your say, join the YouGov panel, and get paid to share your thoughts. Sign up here.
Photo: Getty
