Public trust in the police has plummeted by a third in 12 months leaving Brits feeling unsafe walking home and more worried about being a victim of a crime than five years ago.
Just 26 per cent of people now say they have a positive view of the police in Great Britain compared with 40 per cent saying they feel negatively towards them, polling has revealed.
The results mark a significant change from May last year when 25 per cent of people said they had a negative view of the police and 38 per cent backed them.
The figures come in the wake of a damning report into the Metropolitan Police which uncovered sexism, misogyny, homophobia and racism and sparked calls for radical reform.
Followings the findings, a majority of adults said they agreed the police force should be disbanded with some of its responsibilities taken over by other organisations.
The polling, carried out by Redfield & Wilton Strategies on behalf of i, found a quarter (24 per cent) of the 1,500 voters polled do not feel they live in a safe space.
Half (50 per cent) said they would feel unsafe walking alone at night, including 58 per cent of women, compared with less than a third (30 per cent) who feel secure.
More than half (55 per cent) of Brits said they were more concerned about a crime being committed against them now then then they were five years ago.
And a majority of peopled polled (63 per cent) said they would rate their level of trust in the Met at zero or one out of three.
Asked on Wednesday, the day after the Casey report into the Met was made public, whether the police force was fit for purpose 45 per cent said no comparted with 27 per cent who thought it was.
Just over half (51 per cent) believe the force should be disbanded with another law enforcement agency tasked with addressing national crimes such as terrorism or corruption.
Baroness Louise Casey was commissioned to review the Met in the wake of the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer.
She said there was a “discriminatory culture” across the force with “institutional racism, institutional sexism, institutional misogyny and homophobia”.
And she told MPs the force should be completely reformed if it cannot change.
Responding to the report, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said trust in the Met has been “hugely damaged” and called for a “change in culture and leadership”.
