Bigger expectation from govt in creating jobs and boosting economy than stopping and reducing crime - Ipsos Global Advisor Attitudes on Crime & Law Enforcement

The Ipsos global survey titled, Attitudes to Crime & Law Enforcement shows, urban Indians want govt to prioritize creating jobs and boosting the economy (49%) over stopping or reducing crime (32%) and protecting local citizens’ health and environment (27%). 

Global citizens too had similar views of expecting their govt to focus on creating jobs and boosting the economy (50%), over stopping or reducing crime (24%) and protecting local citizens’ health and environment (27%). Though in case of Chile (59%) and Peru (55%) more number of citizens expected their govt to prioritize stopping and reducing crime over everything else. Singapore (80%) and Indonesia (77%) had a vast majority of citizens exhorting their govt to prioritize creating jobs and boosting the economy over stopping and reducing crime or protecting citizens’ health or environment. 

Further, the survey captured the perceptions of citizens on crime.

Views were divided on the state of crime and violence in the neighbourhood in the past 12 months: For urban Indians, 26% said crime had increased, 37% said it was the same, while 19% said it had reduced. Chile (63%) and Peru (62%) had highest number of citizens claiming crime and violence had seen an uptick.    

Citizens were asked to provide their views on a host of law and order issues around their neighbourhood in the past 12 months and across the list of crimes, that were seen to fester and the Indian citizens who replied in the affirmative for issues were -  vandalism (26%) (though India was placed lowest on this issue across all 31 markets); illicit drug consumption (28%); burglaries (35%); drug trafficking (27%); violence against adult women (25%); violence against adult men (26%); gangs (25%); violence against children and adolescents (27%); and prostitution/ people prostituting themselves (23%).

“For a market like India with large inequalities and the glaring divide between the haves and have nots, it is inevitable that crime is a harsh reality one lives with; and it takes more than a robust law and order system, vigilance and crackdown by the law enforcers. Onus also rests with the citizens in terms of being aware and cautious of potential dangers. Interestingly, jobs and the economy is taking precedence for citizens over law and order in their expectation from the government,” stated Amit Adarkar, CEO, Ipsos India.                

 Confidence in Law Enforcement

A good law enforcement ecosystem is reassuring to citizens providing them both physical and mental peace. We assessed citizens on how confident they felt about law enforcement in their neighbourhood capturing views on different aspects. And interestingly, more number of citizens were happy with the services rendered by law enforcers, in fairness, capability and effectiveness. For instance, 76% Indian citizens said the law enforcers like the police in their neighbourhood was providing the same level of respect to all citizens; 76% Indians were satisfied with the capability of the law enforcers in finding and arresting the correct criminal after a crime; 77% citizens were satisfied with the ability of the law enforcers in stopping violent crimes from happening (India topped the global list on this attribute and the ability of our law enforcers);  and 77% citizens were satisfied with law enforcers’ ability of stopping non-violent crimes like burglaries, thefts from happening.

“Among citizens, there is fear of breaking the law and its implications. Likewise, the police, lawyers are respected by those on the right side of the law but dreaded by those who flout law. They are embodied with power to prosecute, jail and fine the offenders. That itself is highly reassuring for citizens and a deterrent,” added Adarkar.    

The survey delved deeper to unravel the primary causes of crime and corruption. And the causes that came to light were alarming, at the same time addressable. Citizens felt the causes for crime and corruption were multitude, like, poverty and unemployment (50%), drug and alcohol abuse (38%), lack of education (34%), corrupt political environment (31%), ineffective law enforcement (20%) and breakdown of traditional values (20%). 

“These factors are responsible for high crime rates; so apart from lifting the poor from their misery, the other factors cited that are fueling crime and corruption in our society should be addressed like unemployment, drug and alcohol abuse, breakdown of traditional values,” stated Adarkar.      

The survey also captured views on what is right and whether breaking the law under some circumstances was acceptable.    

At least 6 in 10 urban Indians (60%) held the view that citizens should always obey the law even when it interfered with their interest; 40% on the contrary held the view that sometimes one must ignore the law to do the right thing. 

These are the findings of a 31-country Ipsos global advisor survey titled Attitudes on Crime and law Enforcement Survey that tracks how people around the world see crime playing out in their communities, what they want governments to do, and how much trust they have in law enforcement, among other trends etc.       

Methodology

These are the results of a 31-country survey conducted by Ipsos on its Global Advisor online platform and, in India, on its IndiaBus platform, between Friday, March 22 and Friday, April 5, 2024. For this survey, Ipsos interviewed a total of 23,800 adults aged 18 years and older in India, 18-74 in Canada, Republic of Ireland, Israel, Malaysia, South Africa, Türkiye, and the United States, 20-74 in Thailand, 21-74 in Indonesia and Singapore, and 16-74 in all other countries. 

The sample consists of approximately 1,000 individuals each in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, and the U.S., and 500 individuals each in Argentina, Belgium, Chile, Colombia, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Thailand, and Türkiye. The sample in India consists of approximately 2,200 individuals, of whom approximately 1,800 were interviewed face-to-face and 400 were interviewed online. 

Samples in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, and the U.S. can be considered representative of their general adult populations under the age of 75. Samples in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, and Türkiye are more urban, more educated, and/or more affluent than the general population. The survey results for these countries should be viewed as reflecting the views of the more “connected” segment of their population.

India’s sample represents a large subset of its urban population — social economic classes A, B and C in metros and tier 1-3 town classes across all four zones. ​

The data is weighted so that the composition of each country’s sample best reflects the demographic profile of the adult population according to the most recent census data. “The Global Country Average” reflects the average result for all the countries and markets in which the survey was conducted. It has not been adjusted to the population size of each country or market and is not intended to suggest a total result.​

When percentages do not sum up to 100 or the ‘difference’ appears to be +/-1 percentage point more/less than the actual result, this may be due to rounding, multiple responses, or the exclusion of “don't know” or not stated responses.​

​The precision of Ipsos online polls is calculated using a credibility interval with a poll where N=1,000 being accurate to +/- 3.5 percentage points and of where N=500 being accurate to +/- 5.0 percentage points. For more information on Ipsos' use of credibility intervals, please visit the Ipsos website.​