COVID 19 Poll: Massive jump in trust in police forces across India

The level of trust Indians across the country place in the police forces as an institution has increased drastically in 2020 to an all-time high of 69.9%. Amidst the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, Team CVoter conducted a series of surveys to find out the level of trust Indians placed in several institutions, including the Central/State government, police, army, hospitals and several others. The trust in police has seen a dramatic increase in light of the ongoing nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of the Coronavirus.

Trust in police at an all-time high

The C-Voter survey carried out between 23–30th April revealed that while 69.9% of respondents said they have a lot of trust in the police 20.6% said they have some trust in the police. This is a drastic increase from 2018 when a mere 29.9% of the respondents said they had a lot of trust in the police, and 28.4% said they had no trust in the police. In fact, from 2010 to 2020, the trust in the police has increased by 60.3% and the rank of police forces (out of the 18 institutions surveyed about) has increased from 18 in 2010 to 4 in 2020.

This all-time high increase in police trust comes during the nation-wide lockdown announced on March 25th, forcing 1.2 billion people to stay at home to contain the spread of the COVID-10 virus. The lockdown was announced with stringent police action against violators, including hefty fines and prison time. It would appear that the police handling of the lockdown has revived the image of the police amongst Indians.

Who trusts the police the most?

There has been a substantial increase in the level of trust respondents have in the police across demographics including age, social, income groups from 2018 to 2020. In 2018, there was a significant difference in trust males and females had in the police, with only 29.2% of males stating they trusted the police as compared to 41.5% of females. This gap has reduced drastically with 67.7% of females trusting the police in 2020 and 71.9% of males.

Across education groups, there is a high level of trust for the police, with around 70% of respondents with low, medium and high education placing a lot of trust in the police. Meanwhile, around 10% of respondents with low education stated they have no trust in the police. The percentage of people who reported having no trust in the police lowers as education levels rise, with only 4.7% of respondents with higher education stating they don’t have any trust in the police.

When comparing police trust across income groups, we observe that the level of trust in the police rises as income rises with 67.5% of those with low income, 69.9% with medium income and 77.8% with high income stating they have a lot of trust in the police. Additionally, out of those with higher income, only 2.8% said they don’t have any trust in the police. Overall, more educated, higher-income earning respondents are more likely to have a higher level of trust in the police.

Out of all social groups, Upper Caste Hindus (76.4%) and Muslims (71%) place the highest level of trust in the police in 2020. Even in 2018, in terms of social groups, Muslims had the highest percentage of trust in the police 43.6%. Similarly, in 2020, trust for the police is high across all age groups, with 90%+ respondents stating they have some or complete trust in the police. Older respondents (60+ age) have the highest level of trust in the police, with 98.4% of them responding they have some or a lot of trust in the police.

While the trust in the police has been recorded at an all-time high in 2020, it will be important to review whether this was just a public reaction to the nation-wide lockdown and its enforcement or a sustained improvement in the relationship between the citizens and the police.

Read the infographic here in Hindi and English

-Shreya Maskara/New Delhi
From Polstrat, a non-partisan political consultancy which aims to shift the narrative of political discourse in the country from a problem-centric to a solutions-oriented approach. All survey findings and projections are based on the Team CVoter “Trust in Institutions” survey carried out in 2010, 2018 and 2020 among 18+ adults statewide, including every major demographic. Team CVoter (Center For Voting Opinions and Trends in Election Research) is a leading international stakeholder research organization with its roots in India.

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