Concern over organised crime and paramilitary activity rises in Northern Ireland, survey finds

Northern Ireland Crime Survey: Public concern about organised crime and paramilitary activity has increased in Northern Ireland, according to new official statistics published by the Department of Justice.

The Northern Ireland Safe Community Survey 2024/25, released on Friday 9 October, found that one in five respondents believed organised crime was widespread in their local area, while the proportion who felt paramilitary activity was widespread also increased.

The findings come despite the proportion of adults reporting that they had experienced crime remaining broadly unchanged.

Organised crime concerns increase

The survey found that 20% of respondents believed organised crime was very or fairly widespread in their local area, compared with 17% in 2022/23.

The increase was statistically significant.

Meanwhile, 28% believed organised crime had increased in their area over the previous 12 months, up from 22% in 2022/23.

When asked how members of the public could help tackle organised crime, 56% identified reporting information to police or other law enforcement organisations.

More people believe paramilitary activity is widespread

The proportion of respondents who believed paramilitary activity was widespread in their area increased from 11% in 2022/23 to 14% in 2024/25.

Among those who believed paramilitary activity occurred in their area, 48% felt the groups exercised some or a lot of influence, compared with 40% in the previous survey.

Of those respondents, 55% described that influence as negative, while a further 27% considered it more negative than positive.

The findings reflect respondents’ perceptions and do not, by themselves, establish that the actual level of organised crime or paramilitary activity has increased.

Confidence in local policing

Overall public confidence in the police and police accountability arrangements stood at 79%, compared with 80% in 2023/24.

When asked specifically about policing in their local area, 52% rated the police as doing an excellent or good job, unchanged from the previous year.

However, 66% said they had confidence in their local police when taking everything into account, compared with 68% in 2023/24.

The proportion who believed police and other agencies sought people’s views about local crime and antisocial behaviour issues was 27%, compared with 29% the previous year.

Just 33% felt those issues were being dealt with, down from 37%.

Both measures have declined over several years. In 2020/21, the equivalent figures were 42% and 50% respectively.

Northern Ireland Crime Survey outlines public perceptions

The survey estimated that 4.4% of adults or households experienced at least one of the crimes measured during the 12 months before interview.

This was similar to the 4.5% recorded in 2023/24.

An estimated 71,000 incidents of crime occurred during the survey’s 12-month recall periods.

However, perceptions of crime differed considerably depending on whether respondents were considering their local neighbourhood or Northern Ireland as a whole.

While 23% believed crime had increased in their local area over the previous two years, 68% believed crime had risen across Northern Ireland.

The latter figure was unchanged from the previous survey.

Drugs and litter among biggest local concerns

Seven per cent of respondents believed antisocial behaviour was high in their local area, unchanged from 2023/24.

People using or dealing drugs was the issue most commonly identified as a local problem, at 28%.

Rubbish or litter lying around followed at 26%.

The survey also found that 8% of respondents reported a high level of worry about violent crime, while 7% were very worried about becoming victims of burglary.

Among vehicle owners, 5% were very worried about vehicle-related crime.

How the survey was conducted

The Northern Ireland Safe Community Survey is designed to measure experiences of crime, public attitudes towards crime and confidence in policing and the criminal justice system.

The latest findings are based on 3,407 completed interviews with people aged 16 and over living in private households across Northern Ireland.

Fieldwork took place between April 2024 and March 2025, with respondents interviewed either face to face or by telephone.

The survey covers crimes experienced by respondents regardless of whether they were reported to police.

The Department of Justice said the survey is an official statistics publication, produced independently under the Code of Practice for Statistics.

View the official report, infographic and data tables

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