WS - E - Conducting Community Surveys

safety initiatives. An example of this utility is often heard in discussions of community policing. Many police leaders believe that reported crime will first rise when community policing initiatives are implemented, as residents become more willing to report offenses. Victimization surveys may provide evidence for this hypothesis, revealing that as actual victimization declines reported crime rises. Without victimization information, police will be hard pressed to document this explanation of community policing impact and will be able only to provide anecdotal support for the hypothesis that crime is actually declining. So, thinking through the survey goals is a necessity for conducting good survey research. This step ensures that the survey accomplishes the following: Makes most efficient use of resources by selection of appropriate sample size Provides the most meaningful information for local needs Assists with development of an analysis plan Plans for future information needs. What do you really want to know from the survey? In practical terms, the answer to this question may be affected by knowing what kinds of things you can learn from a community survey. Among the possible objectives of a police department using the standardized CVS including the community policing section are the following: ù Victimization & differences between reported offenses and actual victimization by individual characteristics such as race, gender, age and income ù Comparison of local victimization rates with those of other jurisdictions ù Measures of citizen willingness to report crime ù Indicators of citizen fearfulness ù Analysis of crime and disorder problems ù Measures of police performance: survey measures citizen knowledge and attitudes, satisfaction reflects how well the police are doing their job from the citizens' perspective ù Measures of public information efforts ù Comparison of a jurisdiction's community policing efforts & and impact on victimization and fear & with those of other jurisdictions 8 A Practical Guide for Police