Exclusive: Victims of crime less likely to trust Kent police
It's according to a new survey being released later today by Kent's Police and Crime Commissioner.
Last updated 24th Jan 2025
Greatest Hits Radio can exclusively reveal that victims of crimes such as anti social behaviour are less likely to trust Kent police.
It's ahead of a survey being released later today by Kent's Police and Crime Commissioner, Matthew Scott. It asked residents to score their trust level on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being not at all and 10 being very much.
63% scored their trust as 6 or more, with 25% rating it a 4 or under - an improvement on last year, However, victims of crime rated their trust at 5/10 and this theme continued when participants were asked how well they thought Kent Police were performing.
Overall, people thought the force performed 'OKAY', with a rating of 5.8 out of 10, yet victims of crime scored police performance a 4.4/10 while non-victims scored it 6.6/10.
And PCC, Matthew Scott. told us they need to work hard to create this trust, he said: "Some of this is about communication and not getting the regular updates from the officers about the progress of an investigation and sometimes it's about not getting the outcomes people want either.
"They expect when they report a crime that there will be an investigation and that there will be an outcome and in too many cases there haven't been.
"And it's ridiculous we are taking a 20th century approach when there are so many 21st century solutions and we are going to be investing in technology which will improve the communication between victims and the police.
"It will also allow them to track the progress of investigations and make direct contact with the officers involved in it rather than just have this old fashion approach to communication which is not leaving people with much confidence."
Other parts of the survey revealed that over half of the population had been a victim or a witness to anti social behaviour with inconsiderate behaviour, littering, vehicles nuisance, drugs and off-road motorcycles being the most common complaints but only 35% reported these incidents to the police or a relevant authority.
Elsewhere, Medway and Gravesham were the town centres where people in Kent felt least safe, with residents scoring their feeling of safety at 4.9 out of 10 in Medway and a 4.5 out of 10 in Gravesham.
However, across the county, people did report feeling safer where they live, with an average score of 7/10 compared to 6.3/10 last year, thought this does again decrease for victims of antisocial behaviour who scored their feelings of safety slightly less at 5.6/10.
On this, Matthew Scott said: "We have done a lot of work in Medway and Gravesham over the last few months, who have had particular problems in their town centre such as with shop lifting and we are starting to see the results.
"I was out in Gillingham only a few weeks ago and businesses in both places have told me they have started to see a difference so there a signs for optimism but I won't be getting complacent."