Report Summary
This report provides members of the Policing Performance Committee with highlights and insights arising from routine public polling conducted in August 2025.
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Trust in the Police
Respondents were also asked how much trust they have in the police in Scotland on a scale of 0, 'No trust at all' to 10, 'Complete trust'. Again, respondents were given a definition of ‘trust’: ‘By trust, we mean how strongly you believe that Scotland’s police officers will treat you professionally, respectfully and fairly if you were to have contact with them.’ The graph below shows results from the last three waves of data collection.
This wave, under three in five (58%) rated their trust in the police in Scotland as high (7-10), while one in four (25%) rated their trust as medium (4-6) and one in seven (15%) rated their trust as low (0-3). These figures are essentially unchanged from the previous wave, although they vary substantially from previous waves, likely as a result of the addition of a definition to the question wording.
When examined by average (mean), the rating for trust in the police this wave was similar to that for the previous wave, at 6.44 compared to 6.41. However, potentially stemming from the addition of a definition to the question wording, these average trust ratings are much higher than those of January 2025, at 5.55.
