“Strikingly and Stubbornly High”: Investigating the Paradox of Public Confidence in the Irish Police

Abstract

While levels of public confidence in the police have declined internationally, the Republic of Ireland appears to have bucked this trend with confidence levels that remain “strikingly and stubbornly high.” This situation appears all the more puzzling given the wave of scandals to have hit the force in recent decades, ranging from police corruption in Donegal in the late 1990s to a more recent whistleblower scandal that has resulted in the resignation of a slew of Ministers and high-ranking officials. Such developments beg important questions as to the factors sustaining public confidence over this tumultuous period. Drawing on international and domestic data, this article aims to probe this “paradox” of public confidence in the Irish police. It argues that although confidence is high, there is more to the dynamics of confidence in the police in Ireland than this initial appraisal suggests. Indeed, it advances the Irish case as an illustration both of the dimensionality of the public confidence concept and of the complexity of the pathways to trust in the police.

Beyond rhetoric: Emplotting the life course of criminal justice narratives

“…Accordingly, studies of criminal justice narratives at different times could produce different results, reflecting the dominant priorities and concerns of that era. It is important therefore to recognise the salience of specific historical moments when seeking to examine the rationales underpinning criminal justice policy and practice (see also Hamilton and Black, 2019; Barton and Beynon, 2015). To this end, researchers must understand the ‘dilemmas’ (i.e., new ideas and developments) that introduce tension into the landscape, particularly for practitioners, and require resolution either through inclusion, accommodation or abandonment of existing beliefs or traditions (Annison, 2018: 311).…”

‘Strikingly and stubbornly high’: Investigating the paradox of public confidence in the Irish police

“…In particular, the 44% of respondents indicating 'high' levels of trust in the same survey compares very favourably with the 16% of respondents in the 2003-2004 British Crime Survey who rated the job being done by their local police as 'very good' (cited in Bradford, 2011: 186). 13 Returning to the reasons for this resilience, as noted above, perceptions of procedural justice, or the argument that fair and respectful treatment of the public by the police is a key element in building trust, now represents the dominant seam of theorising in the criminological literature on confidence/trust in the police (Tyler et al, 2007;Hamilton and Black, 2019). An initial survey appears to support the argument in an Irish context also.…”

“…Returning to the reasons for this resilience, as noted above, perceptions of procedural justice, or the argument that fair and respectful treatment of the public by the police is a key element in building trust, now represents the dominant seam of theorising in the criminological literature on confidence/trust in the police (Tyler et al, 2007; Bradford et al, 2009; Hamilton and Black, 2019). An initial survey appears to support the argument in an Irish context also.…”

“…In short, ‘public trust makes the life of a police officer considerably easier’ (Schaap, 2020b: 28). Moreover, as noted by Hough et al (2013: 43) ‘encounters with the most public-facing element of the CJS [criminal justice system] – the police – can inform ideas about other elements of the system (especially the courts and prisons), and about its fairness as a whole’ (see also Hamilton and Black, 2019; Hough and Roberts, 2004; Indermaur and Roberts, 2009).…”

Crime, justice and criminology in the Republic of Ireland

“…A key piece in the infrastructure of the new Irish state, and somewhat unique in its history and function, An Garda Síochána, operates as a national police force with responsibility for national security and regulatory functions as well as domestic policing (Manning, 2012). The Irish police have continually enjoyed very high levels of public support and surveys report levels of satisfaction in excess of 90% (Hamilton and Black, 2019). Perhaps paradoxically, these ‘strikingly high’ levels of support have persisted in the absence of robust accountability bodies and in the face of a system of policing characterised by a high degree of informalism and discretion (Hamilton and Black, 2021; Mulcahy, 2016).…”