All news

Nation’s confidence in Russian police hits record high — survey

According to the survey’s results, the level of willingness to assist police officers in a certain situation is quite high

MOSCOW, November 9. /TASS/. Two-thirds of Russians (67%) trust police officers, which is a 20-percent increase compared to 2016, a survey conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center showed on Thursday.

"Two-thirds of Russians polled have faith in their local police in 2017 (67%, a record high figure), while in 2015 and 2016 this figure stood at 46-47%. Consequently, the level of distrust decreased to 27%," the pollster said. High marks for police performance have nearly doubled over the past year reaching 46% (compared to 24% in 2016).

Communication between citizens and traffic patrol officers has improved from 20% to 33% since 2012 and with local police inspectors - from 15% to 22%. The level of citizens’ trust in police inspectors is higher among those who are familiar with their local police inspectors. "While 22% of our fellow countrymen are familiar with the local inspectors, 26% know who holds this position (the survey was conducted among adults). The total share of these answers has grown to 49% over the past year (from 36% in 2016)," the pollster noted.

According to the survey’s results, the level of willingness to assist police officers in a certain situation is quite high. A total of 90% of those polled said they would clarify the details of the incident they witnessed, while 74% noted they would agree to act as witnesses. The Russian public ascribed orderliness (77%), politeness (66%), amiability (66%), decency (65%), gallantry (65%), competence (64%) and wiliness to help (64%) to police officers.

"It is necessary to continue enhancing the performance of such police departments as the State Road Traffic Safety Inspection (which has the highest level of distrust among the Russian Interior Ministry’s departments), the narcotics control and migration directorates," Konstantin Abramov, Director General of the Russian Public Opinion Research Center Foundation, said commenting on the survey’s results.

The pollster interviewed 1,800 Russians on November 3-5, 2017. The maximum margin of error does not exceed 2.5% with a probability of 95%.