How safe is Jersey?

Sunday 17 July 2016

The Jersey Opinions and Lifestyle Survey now includes questions on the effectiveness of the States Police, concerns around cyber-crime and hate crime, and the overall perceived safety of living in Jersey.

Formerly the Jersey Annual Social Survey, the new section of the questionnaire has been put together by the Jersey Police Authority and the Home Affairs Department.

In its last survey carried out in 2015, the JPA set out to gauge what the public thought should be the highest and lowest priorities for the police and almost 600 Islanders gave their opinions. The survey, which was based on the types of questions posed by the UK National Crime Survey for England and Wales and using data from the Office of National Statistics, found that the vast majority of respondents think that the States of Jersey Police do a good job “all or most of the time” and would expect to be treated fairly if they ever had to deal with the police.

The survey was advertised and promoted widely and the respondents represent a cross-section of Islanders in terms of age, gender, parish of residence and length of stay. You can complete it here.

The Chairman of the Jersey Police Authority, Advocate Jonathan White, said that the information gathered in the survey was an important tool in terms of public engagement and understanding perceptions of policing in Jersey.

He said: “The main aim of the survey was to interact with the local community and to ask them how they felt the States of Jersey Police were performing and to ask what they knew about our police service and their operational priorities.

“As representatives of the community and government in overseeing policing in Jersey, the JPA is well placed to achieve a true opinion. Our aim is to ensure that the public have a strong voice in the way they are policed across their Island. 

“It is encouraging to note that many of the questions being asked about SOJP in this year’s Opinions and Lifestyle survey have come from the 2015 JPA survey and the public opinions and comments from those results were also considered in the production of the JPA 2016 Policing Plan. We look forward to building on our earlier results and ensuring we regularly and accurately consider the opinion of Islanders.”