Law & Order
Study on attitudes of people on burglary, the policing of burglary and the current state of the law on burglary
Technical details
MORI interviewed British adults aged 18+ by telephone between 20-21 April 2000. An '*' indicates a finding less than 0.5%, but greater than zero. Based on all unless otherwise stated. Data are weighted to the known population profile. Poll conducted by MORI on behalf of The Mail on Sunday.
Q1 Which of these best describes the area where you live most of the time?
| In the middle of a town or city |  33% |
| In a suburb | 35% |
| On the edge of the countryside | 24% |
| In the middle of the countryside | 8% |
Q2 Overall, to what extent are you satisfied with the way your area is policed?
| Very satisfied | 9% |
| Fairly satisfied | 44% |
| Neither satisfied or dissatisfied | 12% |
| Fairly dissatisfied | 21% |
| Very dissatisfied | 13% |
| Don't know/no opinion | 1% |
Q3 If you called the police in an emergency, how confident are you that they would arrive within 10 minutes?
| Very confident | 13% |
| Fairly confident | 37% |
| Not very confident | 24% |
| Not at all confident | 20% |
| Don't know | 6% |
Q4 If you found a burglar in your home, would you...
| Reason with them | 11% |
| Shout for help | 9% |
| Resort to physical violence | 24% |
| Hide and call the police | 36% |
| Other | 12% |
| Don't know | 8% |
Q5 To what extent do you agree that people should have the right to defend their property?
| Strongly agree | 72% |
| Tend to agree | 24% |
| Neither | 2% |
| Tend to disagree | 2% |
| Strongly disagree | *% |
| Don't know | *% |
Q6 To what extent do you agree that the law is too lenient on criminals who commit property theft?
| Strongly agree | 64% |
| Tend to agree | 22% |
| Neither | 4% |
| Tend to disagree | 5% |
| Strongly disagree | 2% |
| Don't know | 3% |
Q7 Under the current law if someone is found guilty of murder the judge must give them a life sentence. To what extent do you agree or disagree that judges should have more flexibility in the sentence they give to all those found guilty of murder?
| Strongly agree | 41% |
| Tend to agree | 30% |
| Neither | 6% |
| Tend to disagree | 7% |
| Strongly disagree | 12% |
| Don't know | 4% |
As you may know, a farmer in Norfolk , Tony Martin, was recently sentenced to life for shooting a burglar who broke into his home.
Q8 From what you know, to what extent do you agree or disagree that this was the right sentence for this crime?
| Strongly agree | 7% |
| Tend to agree | 11% |
| Neither | 7% |
| Tend to disagree | 22% |
| Strongly disagree | 48% |
| Don't know | 5% |
Q9 And would you say your sympathy was...
| Entirely with the farmer | 34% |
| Mainly with the farmer | 41% |
| Mainly with the burglar | 3% |
| Entirely with the burglar | 1% |
| With neither | 17% |
| Don't know | 4% |
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