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Public Confidence in Police DOWN - says GPA's own survey
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by PANORAMA reporter
It would appear the new Chairman of the Gibraltar Police Authority (GPA) Richard Garcia may have his work cut out to recapture the public’s confidence in local policing, all this so soon after taking office as the new chair of the GPA.
Latest figures collated in the yearly GPA public consultation survey and released by the Gibraltar Police Authority just a few days ago, clearly gives an unimpressive and a generally downbeat perception of the police service as perceived by a cross section of the general public.
The purpose of the survey is to solicit (at random) input from individuals including those who may have had contact with the Royal Gibraltar Police, or who have issues/concerns regarding public safety in Gibraltar. The survey in fact also provides an opportunity for respondents to express their personal opinion as to whether the police are effectively providing an all round service in conjunction with the policing priorities.
The GPA presented the result of the survey to the public in a graph-like format; it was accompanied with a skimpy five paragraph forward, but instead of highlighting those important areas of the survey which any Police Authority would wanted to draw attention too, the GPA instead highlighted other areas which really the public would have had little interest in!
The GPA instead, and in a blatant fashion, pointed out just two results. One - that highlighted that over 50% of respondents are satisfied and have confidence in the overall service of the RGP and Two - that 70% of respondents agree with all the priorities set out in the Policing Plan.
WHAT GAME ARE THEY PLAYING AT?
Just what is the GPA playing at; at this stage it is not known if the new Chairman had a hand in releasing this report, but if he did, then public confidence in local policing and the GPA’s participation of it, will undoubtedly, and in the eye’s of the public continue to fall even further, than the 40% of the public who said ‘that they do not have confidence in the police’ a negative figure that is up 5% from the previous year.
And whereas 57% expressed confidence in the Police last year, the figure is now DOWN to 53%! So, confidence in the Police is not going up, it is going down.
Yet, it has to be asked why the GPA is again attempting to portray a false sense that everything is well, this from a result of a public survey, the analysis of which comes across negatively from a police perspective, and one that will require close scrutiny in order to get matters right!
This kind of public statement from the GPA in an official publication gives a totally unbalanced view to the public concerning one the authority's most important functions as independent assessors of policing in Gibraltar. None of this really does the GPA’s reputation any good, particularly as an independent body who is there to inform the public about policing matters ‘As It Is and Nothing More.’
If this is the nature of the impartiality we can expect from the GPA, then policing in Gibraltar and most importantly public confidence in the police service will continue to dwindle.
Policing in Gibraltar is the last Public Service that can do without any level of spin!
SURVEY RESULTS
All the ‘Yes positives’ compared to last year are down in each question posed; these were important and specific questions. Although percentages may appear to have gone down in small amounts, they are important for a place the size of Gibraltar. And if only 53% of the public have confidence in the police service, this must be a concern?
29-03-11
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