Survey Says...You're Satisfied With Police

Thursday, March 15, 2007 04:01 AM

A satisfaction survey conducted by the Department of Criminology and Justice with the University College of the Fraser Valley shows (of the Prince George residents who responded) most are satisfied with the job RCMP are doing.

1200 questionnaires were sent out last October, 1151 connected with residents, and 540 were filled out and returned.

Here are some of the highlights:

89% say they feel safe in their homes, neighbourhood and community during the day

Although most didn't see any change in their feelings of personal safety in their neighbourhood over the past year, 34% said their feeling of safety in their neighbourhood is worse now than it was five years ago.

30% see Prince George as less safe than other communities.

23% had indicated they had been a victim of cime in the past year. Of that percentage, 18% involved property crime, 3% were victims of violent crime, and 3% said they had been victim to at least one property crime and one violent crime. Of those who had been a victim of crime, 80% said they were satisfied wih the police response.

Overall, 91% said they were satisfied with the RCMP in Prince George, but some suggested there were other issues that needed to be dealt with. 47% wrote in there should be more attention to traffic concerns and 38 % citied drug related ussues as needing more attention.

The study also indicates that numbers from all eoight jurisdictions surveyed, suggest if there are more police officers, the public may "feel"safer.

"A strong correlation was found between feeling satisfied regarding the number of officers on the street and feeling satisfied regarding the officers’ ability to prevent crime. These results suggest that by increasing police visibility in the community, for instance by increasing the number of police on the streets, police may be able to increase the public’s perception of their ability to prevent crimes which may subsequently impact citizen satisfaction with the police and reduce even further their fear of crime."

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Posted on Thursday, March 15, 2007 04:01 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: Gofaster on March 15 2007 5:49 AM

I would sure like to know who they ask on these surveys.
Are they completed on guess work fueled by rumour?
Do they even leave their offices?
I have been in town 35 years and have yet to be asked to partake.

Posted by: Gofaster on March 15 2007 5:49 AM

For the record I too am happy with the police!

Posted by: owl on March 15 2007 6:57 AM

"The study also indicates that numbers from all eoight jurisdictions surveyed, suggest if there are more police officers, the public may "feel"safer."

Actually it does not indicate that at all if the next paragraph is one of the indicators.

What it says it that it is the number of "visible" police which will make the public feel safer. So, if we have 120 officers, by increasing them to 125, it deos not change the perception.

By taking 5 of the 120 and adding them to the highly visible public areas, such as walking, riding on the sidewalks/streets, that would increase the perception of being safer.

I don't think riding around in a car does that to any great extent, nor taking a break at Timmy's.

Posted by: Gofaster on March 15 2007 7:40 AM

i agree Owl...for the most part...
we used to have a visible presence in the down town core but some one or a group of someones decided that our RCMP bicycle patrol should be disbanded....now, not that I really wanted to be there before, downtown is no definitely a place I don't want to be or take my family!
Take heed downtown revitalization.....
this would be a very good place to start...

Posted by: ammonra on March 15 2007 8:39 AM

People's perceptions about feeling safer are always interesting, for a few moments. Of longer lasting value is whether they are actually safer in reality. In other words, is the real situation the same as the feeling.

For instance, is there any information as to how much an increase in police officers translates into an increase in charges laid, or drug peddlers caught. If there is, what would it be for, say, 10% more RCMP in an area?

I would suggest that actually being safe is better than feeling safe.

Posted by: Palopu on March 15 2007 8:42 AM

The police need to be in cars because if they were walking all the hardware they pack would wear them out.

(1) Revolver
(2) Bullet Proof Vest
(3) Billy Club
(4) Flashlight
(5) Taser
(6) Handcuffs
(7) Phone
(8) Safety Boots

Did I miss something???

Posted by: caranmacil on March 15 2007 9:47 AM

If vancouver police can ride on bikes and walk the streets then so canours. Besides, i walk several kms a day with more on my backthan that for my job.

Posted by: lmorg on March 15 2007 10:44 AM

Only 540 surveys were returned out of 1200. I dare say that this does not give us an accurate portrayal of whether or not Pg is satisfied with the police service.

Posted by: Jigga on March 15 2007 11:43 AM

540 out of 1200 for a survey is actually a pretty high success rate. The only question I have is how did a person come into contact with this survey? Was it randomly selected people or what??

Posted by: metalman on March 15 2007 2:17 PM

What survey? Anyway, what blinking use is a random survey of supposedly 1200 persons, supposedly in this city, and besides, 540 respondents? How can anyone come to a conclusion about the perceptions of 50,000 adult citizens by asking 540 of them? Utterly ridiculous.
I, for one, and I know I am not alone, do not believe the police aree doing a good job, and am NOT happy or generally satisfied with their performance. I am referring to the entire justice system, and most especially about the drug problem we have in our city. When the members on the street know the pushers, and where they deal out their filth and misery, but have their hands tied, both by the revolving door of "justice" and by the personal rights of criminals coming before the rights of the law abiding, tax paying citizens. That's my beef.
metalman.

Posted by: charles on March 15 2007 8:28 PM

I would have to agree with the survey. I am very satisfied with the performance of the Prince George RCMP. These guys and gals really earn their money having to deal with the criminal element in Prince George.

However I am not satisfied with the performance of our federal and provincial politicians when it comes to providing the citizens of this country with a reasonable justice syatem (and backing up the efforts of the police in this country). The sentences are too low, and there should be more jails built.

I have a question for opinion250.com.

I was on this site a little after supper yesterday when a news story was posted about a missing person. Why was this story removed from your site?

Posted by: snappi on March 15 2007 10:14 PM

I too have been in PG for years and nobody has ever asked my opinion on a survey. If they would like my opinion I would gladly fill it out for them.
Hey Charles, If the missing person posting is the one I'm thinking of, they may have pulled it out as the lady was found ..safe..yeah!

Posted by: supertech on March 15 2007 10:29 PM

I'm with metalman. Handing out speeding tickets from unmarked cars does little to make me feel safe. Yesterday and today there were speed traps everywhere I drove. That's a very visible police presence, and they are ticketing the bad as well as the good. We pay dearly for this service. I sure feel safer knowing that the bad guys get speeding tickets too.
Charles hit the nail on the head--what justice system? The efforts of the police are useless if the charter protects the bad guys. I have read that charter many times and I'm gonna be sick now.

Posted by: owl on March 15 2007 11:28 PM

" For instance, is there any information as to how much an increase in police officers translates into an increase in charges laid, or drug peddlers caught."

You bet there is, but we never see those. Not only that, but does catching more in the action of committing crime actually reduce crime? If you think so, you must think that there is a finite number of criminals out there.

Give me some information that tells me that? Give me some information that tells me that putting more criminals in jail and putting them there for longer, and putting them there under harsher conditions, etc., etc., reduces crime.

Like anything else, if there is a shift in the equilibrium, it will be temporary and find its way back again. Punishment is not a 100% deterrent. The worse social conditions are, the less punishment remains as a deterrent.

Posted by: owl on March 15 2007 11:35 PM

"Did I miss something???"

Timmy's mug?

Police in Kamloops walk the beat.

I got some pictures of Vancouver police on horseback I took a couple of weeks ago while they were riding along the new waterfront walk in the uppity area of Burrard inlet next to the the Bayshore. I am sure they enjoy their $100,000 or so jobs .... :-)

Posted by: owl on March 15 2007 11:44 PM

"How can anyone come to a conclusion about the perceptions of 50,000 adult citizens by asking 540 of them?"

Its black magic ..... actually it is based on the view that given 72,000 people out there, including 5 day olds and 99 year olds that the population is homgeneous enough that a sample of 540 will give you a good prediction of what the actual percentage would be if you asked every single person whether they preferred blue or red.

So, as someone indicated, the most common fault in a survey is that the author of the survey did not undertstand that the population is actually not randomly distributed.

Posted by: owl on March 15 2007 11:50 PM

"The efforts of the police are useless if the charter protects the bad guys."

Are you referring to the clause about those convicted of a crime having special status?

I am sure the Australian Charter has that in it since Australia was a criminal colony.

;-)