MPD Satisfaction Survey

            What do you think about the police? Are your attitudes mostly positive of negative? If you need the police, would you call them? Have you ever been stopped by the police and if so, how did the interaction go? These are some of the questions that people ponder almost every day across the city. Recently a police satisfaction survey was completed, the first since 2019. The survey shows people feel less safe in the city and people feel less satisfied with the police. The survey also shows that racial gaps are being replaced by generational gaps. Lastly racial gaps in police stops could be receding. Most people want to police in their neighborhoods but want to be treated fairly. The police and citizens both need each other to help control our crime issues.

            Many people say the police are not visible in their neighborhoods. They want at least a presence to help deter crime. Also, many are unhappy about the long wait times on the phone when they call the police. There is a shortage of 911 operators while the call volume is going up. Community-orientated policing with positive contacts should help the overall situation. The police really need to interact with the neighbors that they patrol. One example is District 5 “Coffee with Cops” that they host once a month at a community restaurant. I plan on attending this event in the near future. But the people that come for lunch or breakfast talk and share food and drink with officers. There is no better way of having a better relationship than having a meal together.

            It appears that minority members reported they feel a little better about police stops now compared to 2019. We all know the history of the department members disproportionately stopping and searching people of color without justification. But now things appear to be getting better. The satisfaction level of minorities did not drop as much as whites in the survey. Researchers stated they think that better training from the stop and frisk lawsuit may have helped. That being said officers are still disproportionately stopping people of color, and failing to document the justification, on many occasions, as recently as 2022. Police officials said they would perform additional analysis to determine what systemic police actions might be affecting the disparities.

            Residents say they feel less safe and are not seeing any progress on reckless driving or violent crime. Many people say the feel safe in their actual neighborhoods. In the last survey enforcing traffic laws was number one in satisfaction from many people. Now that dropped to last when looking at your 3 top concerns. In addition, there was a 10% increase in people who said they were victims of crime the past 12 months. Although some people think police can handle the crime situation themselves, the answer is no we are all in this together; it will take us all to make our neighborhoods, and city safer.