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Half the public say public and social services, over police, prevent crime
The Runnymede Trust has published a major new report, Keeping Us Safe: Rethinking policing, harm and justice, which calls for a fundamental shift in how the UK approaches safety, harm prevention and justice. Drawing on nationally representative polling of 5,405 people in England and Wales alongside in-depth community-based qualitative research, the report finds strong public support for social investment over punitive enforcement when given nuanced choices.
Key findings from the report include:More than half (52%) think investing in public and social services would do more to prevent crime than increasing police powers (18% disagree, the rest are unsure).Half (50%) of the public believe investing in public and social services would do more to prevent crime than increasing the number of police officers (22% disagree, the rest are unsure).
Keeping Us Safe calls for a fundamental shift in how the UK approaches safety, harm prevention and justice. Through a series of community-based workshops across the UK, the report explores how communities are already building responses to harm rooted in care, accountability and prevention, and what it would take to scale these approaches.
Dr Shabna Begum, CEO of the Runnymede Trust, said, ‘For too long, safety has been narrowly defined as more police, more powers and more punishment. Our research shows that the picture is far more nuanced than political rhetoric suggests. When we asked people what actually prevents harm, they consistently chose social investment such as secure housing, youth services, mental health support over expanded policing. After listening to communities across the country, one message was clear: we cannot police our way out of poverty, inequality or trauma.
If we are serious about keeping people safe, we must invest in the social infrastructure that prevents harm in the first place. Community-led, trauma-informed and non-coercive approaches to justice are not utopian ideals, they already exist. The question is whether we have the political will to support and scale them. In the midst of colliding crises, this is a call to rethink and invest in what keeps us safe.’
