The report card, if you will, overall B+, drug enforcement C and Traffic Safety B. Looks like the NPD could boost some of its drug enforcement efforts. The Advocate reports:
When neighbors were concerned about her well-being, Joan Dale got a call from the police. When she didn’t immediately respond, an officer showed up at her Cranbury doorstep.
Dale, 42, gives Norwalk police high marks for their responsiveness.
“My experience was very positive,” Dale said.
She’s not alone.
In a recent Sacred Heart University survey, Norwalk residents overwhelmingly approved of the city police officers’ overall job performance.
According to survey results, 92 percent or more of respondents said Norwalk police officers were professional, respectful, knowledgeable and handled a situation appropriately.
The lowest marks came for the department’s drug enforcement and traffic safety efforts, which received 73 percent and 84 percent positive ratings, respectively.
Though the survey was mailed to 600 residents - 300 chosen at random and 300 who have had some interaction with police over the past year - only 50 people responded.
Police and the lead researcher said they had hoped for a larger sampling but said the results provide an adequate baseline measure of the public’s perception of the department.
“Even though the rate of return was small, scientifically, the methodology is very strong,” Deputy Chief Rosemary Arway said.
Based on the response, the survey has a 93 percent confidence level, or a margin of error of 7 percentage points. Arway said she was hoping for a confidence level of at least 95 percent.
The department plans to work with Sacred Heart again in the fall to repeat the survey.
The survey was conducted for free as part of Sacred Heart Professor James McCabe’s criminal justice classes. McCabe, a 20-year veteran of the New York Police Department, said the survey was conducted with the same approach used in New York City.“The satisfaction levels were higher than in New York,” McCabe said. “I was surprised how high it was.”
McCabe said that one of the few areas where respondents gave the department lower than 90 percent approval was for how quickly it responds to calls. He said the survey should help in reinforcing how quickly officers respond to calls.
“It’s a service business,” McCabe said. “Officers help the public and make sure problems are resolved the best they can and they just need to be mindful of that when they respond to calls.”
Police Chief Harry Rilling said the results confirm his belief that, overall, the community appreciates police and believe they do a very good job.
“It’s interesting here that we have questionnaires not only from those who called police, but also from people who were stopped,” Rilling said. “It verifies that officers acted with courtesy, respect and professionalism and the person that had the interaction felt the officer acted appropriately.”
Among the 14 respondents that had either been issued infractions, summonses or had been incarcerated, nearly 93 percent said they were satisfied with the way the situation was handled and satisfied with the overall performance of the police department.
source: Advocate, Survey: Residents approve of work by police, By Jonathan Lucas, 07/03/2008
