Policing by consent the principle that police authority flows from public trust, not coercion has underpinned British policing for nearly two centuries. Yet the latest State of Policing in England and Wales report highlights the foundations of consent are under strain.
Confidence in local policing has fallen from 76 per cent to 67 per cent over the past decade, while high-profile misconduct scandals have damaged perceptions of police integrity. Against this backdrop, a central question emerges: does policing by consent still hold, and what does it now demand?
At its core, consent means that officers earn legitimacy through fairness and restraint using force only as a last resort, and exercising power in ways the public recognise as just.
Although policing is not devolved in Wales and remains reserved to Westminster, Welsh police forces operate within distinct communities, political priorities and partnerships that make Wales a valuable case study.
This article examines why policing by consent still matters, what the evidence says about trust and confidence, and how integrity failures undermine legitimacy.
What the data shows: declining confidence and visibility
Official crime survey data points to a long‑term decline in public confidence across England and Wales:
- 49 per cent of respondents rated their local police as good or excellent in the year ending March 2025, down from 62 per cent a decade earlier.
- 67 per cent said they had confidence in their local police, compared with 76 per cent in 2015.
- Police visibility has fallen sharply: just 11 per cent of people saw officers on foot at least weekly, down from 39 per cent at its 2011 peak.
- Victim satisfaction dropped to 51 per cent, compared with 70 per cent in 2015.
The College of Policing’s evidence review charts 20‑year declines in satisfaction, trust and visible neighbourhood policing, with particularly steep falls in perceived fairness since 2019/20.
According to a YouGov poll conducted in October 2025, Wales has the lowest overall trust compared with other regions surveyed (London, Rest of South, Midlands, North, Scotland and Wales) 8 percentage points below the GB average.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct’s (IOPC) Public Perceptions Tracker adds important nuance. While around half of the public feel positive about the police overall, 48 per cent do not believe complaints are handled fairly. This gap highlights a core challenge for consent: frontline policing can perform well, yet trust still erodes if accountability systems lack credibility.
Confidence, performance and rising demand
Public confidence is closely tied to police performance and performance is increasingly shaped by demand. In March 2025, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) reported surging workloads and rising complexity, from cybercrime to safeguarding and vulnerability. Inspectors found workloads too high to sustain quality investigations, concluding that effective investigations are central to how safe people feel.
It emphasised that policing is no longer solely about crime control. Officers routinely respond to mental-health crises, welfare checks and public health incidents, diverting capacity from traditional neighbourhood policing.
It was noted that the steep decline in confidence may be levelling off and it places neighbourhood policing at the centre of rebuilding trust. At the same time, it documents serious challenges: public disorder during summer 2024, an inexperienced workforce (with 35 per cent of officers having under five years’ service), and uneven investigative quality.
In response, the UK Government has committed to strengthening neighbourhood policing through named local officers and additional neighbourhood personnel —reinforcing the link between community safety and public trust. A white paper on police reform is also expected.
Integrity failures and the fragility of consent
Integrity is central to policing by consent. When it fails, trust erodes not only in individual officers but in the institution itself. National scandals have had far-reaching effects.
On 8 January 2026, the Metropolitan Police published Operation Jorica revealing that thousands of officers and staff recruited between 2013 and April 2023 were not properly vetted.
Earlier, the Casey Review—commissioned after the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving officer—documented institutional racism, misogyny and homophobia within the Met, alongside systemic failures in discipline and supervision.
Welsh forces have faced their own integrity challenges:
- In 2024, Gwent Police disciplined officers for sharing racist, misogynistic and homophobic messages.
- South Wales Police saw an officer resign after leaking confidential data.
- In 2025, Dyfed-Powys Police dismissed a chief inspector for repeated misogynistic behaviour that created a toxic workplace.
- North Wales Police removed a senior inspector following a drink-driving conviction and dishonesty about the incident.
Each case tests a fundamental element of consent: public confidence that wrongdoing will be identified, addressed and prevented from recurring.
Racial disparities and legitimacy in Wales
Trust and consent are also shaped by perceptions of fairness. In Wales, racial disproportionality remains a prominent concern. In evidence to the Senedd’s Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee, Dr Robert Jones of Cardiff University cited Home Office data showing higher stop-and-search rates per 1,000 population for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people than for White residents, alongside over-representation in police restraint and Taser use.
The Senedd Equality and Social Justice Committee’s report, Action, not words: towards an anti‑racist Wales by 2030, recommended a new system for reporting and monitoring racist incidents in criminal justice settings, noting that current accountability arrangements leave minority communities vulnerable to injustice.
Similarly, the Institute of Welsh Affairs has argued that despite comprehensive anti‑racism policies, racial inequality particularly in stop and search has persisted and, in some areas, worsened, pointing to a ‘profound lack of independent accountability’.
Accountability, reform and the role of technology
The accountability landscape is itself changing. In November 2025, the UK Government announced plans to abolish Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) from 2028, transferring powers to mayors or council leaders, with bespoke arrangements anticipated for Wales. Whether this reform strengthens or weakens consent will depend on whether new structures enhance local voice and scrutiny or dilute them.
Meanwhile, HMICFRS has refreshed its Police Effectiveness, Efficiency and Legitimacy (PEEL) inspection framework for 2025–27, embedding victim service assessment into a new Quality Service Review, and foregrounding vulnerability and leadership.
Technology presents both opportunity and risk. UK Parliamentary briefings highlight benefits from data analytics, facial recognition, body-worn video and digital communications, but warn of risks around accuracy, bias, privacy and oversight.
Wales’s Evidence-Led Response
The State of Policing report shows that Wales faces trust challenges similar to those in England fewer officers visible in communities, delays in investigations, and scandals that undermine confidence. However, Welsh institutions are shaping a distinct response.
The All-Wales Policing Academic Collaboration brings together the four Welsh forces and universities to fund research explicitly aimed at rebuilding trust covering public perceptions of stop and search, trauma-informed policing and generational confidence gaps and translating findings into practice.
In October 2025, Universities Wales launched new funding focused on increasing public trust, with practical impact built into project design. Welsh forces are also engaging communities through evidence-based policing networks.
What policing by consent requires in practice
Independent inspectors and policing bodies are clear that public consent is secured by what people experience day to day. HMICFRS consistently finds that trust grows when policing is visible, fair and responsive. They say that officers who are seen regularly on foot, who treat people with respect, and who keep victims informed about what is happening in their case make a measurable difference to how safe people feel and how willing they are to co-operate with the police.
Accountability is equally central. The IOPC reports that public confidence is weakened not only by misconduct itself, but by perceptions that complaints are handled behind closed doors or without consequence.
Together, these findings point to a simple conclusion: policing by consent is not a slogan; it is a living social contract that can be renewed or eroded through everyday practice. When people see officers regularly, are treated fairly, kept informed about cases, and know complaints are handled openly, confidence grows and so does consent.
Article by Sarah Hatherley, Senedd Research, Welsh Parliament
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