Summary
This report presents the findings of the 2008 Public Attitudes Survey in relation to public perceptions of the QPS, as well as trends in perceptions since the first survey was conducted in 1991. Overall, it is evident that public perceptions of the police in Queensland remain positive. Police behaviour is perceived to have remained relatively steady over the past few years and the majority of respondents believed that the police behave generally or mostly well. There were also generally favourable perceptions of police integrity, the public tending to believe that most police are honest and that the police generally have a good image in Queensland. Although a reasonable proportion of respondents reported having had recent unsatisfactory experiences with police, fewer respondents reported having had these experiences in the preceding 12 months, and it is pleasing to note that the reasons for dissatisfaction were not related to matters of official misconduct. Moreover, for the first time in 2008, we assessed satisfying or pleasing experiences with police and found that a significant proportion of respondents reported having had a satisfactory experience with a police officer, many within the preceding 12 months. There was also some potential evidence of improvement since the last survey