If you get a phone call asking you what you think about Regina police: it is not a crank call, it’s part of a survey.
Police began the public perception surveys in 2011 to find out what areas they need to work on and how the public perceives them.
The survey examines things like fear of crime as well as trust and confidence in police. Police have seen improvements in all of the categories except the fear of crime, which has gone up over the last few years.
Over the next two weeks, about 500 Regina residents will be surveyed to get the latest sampling. The numbers will be used to put together the next report, which will be released in about five months.
The survey helps police do a better job, said Elizabeth Popowich, police department spokeswoman.
“It’s one more resource that really helps us guide where we put our resources,” she said. “It helps us to understand what the community sees as the priorities for their police service.”
In the last survey – done in 2013 – nearly 80 per cent of respondents ranked the quality of the Regina police services as very good to excellent. On trust and confidence, the numbers ranged from a low of 70 per cent from aboriginal respondents to a high of 84 per cent for non-aboriginals. Fear of crime is also still an issue. It increased between 2011 and 2013.
Popowich says while fear is up, crime is actually down.
“You can have a situation where the crime rate is actually decreasing but people’s perception of safety and crime in their city may not follow that trend. So it’s important for us to pay attention to what people perceive,” she said.
In the 2013 survey more than 16 per cent of respondents said they felt unsafe in their neighbourhoods and nearly 18 per cent said the fear of crime kept them from doing things they liked to do.
Unsurprisingly, the area of the city with the highest crime rate is also the area with the highest fear of crime. In addition to that title, Regina’s North-Central Neighbourhood has the highest aboriginal population. In the 2013 survey only about 4.5 per cent of survey respondents were aboriginal. Researchers hope to get a higher percentage this time around.