MEASURING PUBLIC PERCEPTION AND TRUST TOWARDS SECURITY AND JUSTICE INSTITUTIONS IN KOSOVO- KOSOVO SECURITY BAROMETER

"Measuring Public Perception and Trust towards Security and Justice Institutions in Kosovo- Kosovo Security Barometer" is a long-term project of KCSS which started in October 2012.

About Project

"Measuring Public Perception and Trust towards Security and Justice Institutions in Kosovo- Kosovo Security Barometer"  is a long-term project of KCSS which started in October 2012. The project is supported by National Empowerment for Democracy (NED) and is implemented by Kosovo Security Barometer Programme of KCSS.

The aim of this project is to measure the public perception and trust towards  security and justice institutions operating in Kosovo. Furthermore the project aims to measure the citizens perceptions also toward some crucial indicators of Kosovo's human and state security. The objective of this project is to diversify the  research methods used by KCSS research team and increase the relevance of their research products. Whereas, the  most important outcome product of this project in the Kosovo Security Barometer regular editions which are launched by KCSS in the annual bases.

Until now the KCSS have launched four editions of Kosovo Security Barometer (KSB) Regular Editions. Indeed, it worth mentioning that initially the first three editions of KSB survey were conducted on the biannual bases. However due to the fact that the results of these first three editions showed that changes in citizens perceptions are minimal if measured in the biannual bases the KCSS decided that it is more rational to carry on next KSB editions on the annual level. In the other hand, as indicated, thematically  Annual Editions of  KSB are relatively broad. It mainly contains results collected from the open ended questions however in certain cases also the open-ended questions are applied. The KSB regular edition contains mainly two chapters:

1. Chapter on trust towards security institutions which includes question also about the perception of citizens related to the presence of corruption into those institutions and interaction frequency. Among the institutions measured with chapter are: Kosovo Police, Kosovo Security Force, Firefighters, Kosovo Intelligence Agency, Kosovo Customs, Government, Municipalities, Private Security Companies and Municipal Community Safety Councils; Courts, Prosecution and Judges; KFOR and EULEX;  andReligious Institutions, Civil Society Organizations and Media.

2. The chapter on perception related to the human and state security contains questions related to the: internal and external risks and threats;  safety; natural hazards and catastrophes; social-economic security; foreign relations; gander as well as inter-ethnic representation; relationship with Serbia; religious tolerance; etc.

It worth mentioning that not all indicators measured by KSB are lauched through the regular Annual Edition. Many specific results collected by KSB are published through specific qualitative publications of KCSS or through launching them via Special Reports of KSB. To elaborate this, only from the KSB14 survey which have been conducted in October 2014 the KCSS have already launched KCSS two special editions. There is another special edition of KSB barometer on its way about the citizens perceptions towards safety and also at least another two other qualitative reports that are going to be publish within the frame of other project but which will contain result also unpublished results from the KSB (see the list of all publications containing the results from the regular edition of KSB).

In addition to the measuring of the citizen's perception another important aspect of this project is advocacy. Indeed, the KSB Annual Edition have become one of the most powerful instrument for advocacy which KCSS as a think tank and also as a non-governmental organization have efficiently used to challenge institutional policies in order to improve the overall performance of the security and justice institutions in Kosovo, and also the quality of their services toward citizens when it comes to providing them with security and safety.

Indeed, the KSB launching events have been regularly attended by up to hounded top senior domestic and international security and justice policymakers. The published results are being transmitted regularly  as the main headlines by all medias, including: national and local televisions, national radios, national newspapers and main online news portals. Indeed, many of the KSB have been reported the mainstream media from the neighborhood (Albania, Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro) as well as regional ones covering the region of Western Balkans or South-Eastern Europe. In addition to that, also the number of clicking in the KCSS official webpage goes multiplies each times the KSB results are published.  However it is even there is a great trend of referencing the KSB findings as reliable sources from the different policy making institutions. This means that the KSB is steadily progressing its impact when it comes also the to the policy making process which is the main goal of this project:

Publications containing KSB findings

So far the KCSS have published the following reports which contained the KSB results, listed by years and types of publications:

2014:

KSB14 Regular Annual Edition, launched on the 16th December 2014;

KSB14 Special Edition: "Public Perceptions on Kosovo’s Foreign Policy and Political Dialogue with Serbia", launched on the 16th January 2015

KSB14 Special Edition "Public Perceptions on Personal Data Protection", Launched on the 28th January 2015