4 Why do these perceptions matter?
Our research findings show that trust influences people's willingness to collaborate with police investigations, including sharing crucial forensic evidential materials that may be critical to resolving the case. This is supported by similar research findings in other jurisdictions (Kaplan-Damary et al, 2025; Ingemarsson et al., 2024). Non-participation and non-sharing can severely impact case investigations and outcomes.
Members of seldom-heard communities showed the lowest confidence in the police, lawyers, the interpretation of evidence, and court procedures. Many don’t fully understand how the CJS operates, and yet are disproportionately exposed to and affected by it, often as victims. For those who ‘understand’ the system because of their previous interactions, the reason for distrust was due to how they were treated in the past and perceived bias towards them. They were moderately willing to help police by providing evidence to support investigations, because they feel it’s the right thing to do; however, they are often worried about doing so in case it negatively impacts their relationship with their community and is seen as a betrayal.
When presented with a video of a person sharing footage of a crime they have witnessed with the Digital Forensics division to help investigate a crime, the majority of participants (87%) supported this act, although 12% rated in the middle. Yet, when asked about how likely they would be to let the police access their phone in varying ways to help investigate this type of crime, the majority of participants were unlikely to allow access to their phone, but were highly likely to email police relevant photos and videos.
These findings reflect the reality of not having enough evidence, or evidential difficulties, in criminal investigations across England and Wales. Official crime outcomes recorded in England and Wales show that the proportions of victim-based (i.e., where there is a victim) and non-victim-based offences (i.e., illegal activity involving a perpetrator and consenting adults) resulting in a charge/summons outcome have both followed a long-term downward trend between 2016 and 2022–2023 (victim-based: from 11.1% to 4.6% and non-victim-based 28.8% to 10.3%), but have begun to rise in 2024 (5.5% for victim-based and 12.4% for non-victim-based). More statistics can be found at the GOV.UK statistics website.
Evidential difficulties (comprising cases where a suspect has been identified and the victim does support action; and cases where the suspect is identified and the victim does not support or withdraws support for investigation) continue to hamper effective investigation. There are several factors that can contribute to these difficulties, including lack of forensic evidence and an unwillingness of witnesses to come forth with potential evidence that may contribute to the resolution of the case.