Discussion – Survey Research
Community surveys in law enforcement are one of the important practices by law enforcement agencies that ensure the population’s safety. It is important to note that police can rarely solve all public safety problems alone; thus, community policing encourages interactive partnerships with the stakeholders. In most cases, community policing by law enforcers employs survey research to gauge the level of certain safety aspects in society. The administered surveys are not uniform or standard, but they vary depending on the objectives of the implementers. This report compares several examples of community surveys done by the police department in the American community on various safety issues. The report would later discuss the best practices that should be adopted during the surveys to achieve satisfaction.
Police Agency Survey Research Examples
Example 1: Favorite. Durham Police Department Community Survey. Link: https://www.theiacp.org/sites/default/files/2018-08/2013DurhamPDCommunity Survey.pdf
Durham Police Department Community Survey stands out among the rest as the favorite survey because it is comprehensive in that it touches on many aspects of safety in Durham. The survey examines individual safety, including home safety, driving safety, children safety, dumping, noisy neighbors, citizen police experience, and more. The survey was detailed in that it touched on nearly every aspect of the security that affects every resident of Durham.
Example 2: Lexington Police Department Public Safety Survey. https://www.theiacp.org/sites/default/files/all/k-m/Lexpubsafety.doc
Lexington police survey on public safety was conducted to determine the degree of public safety within Lexington. This survey had different questions that touched on various security aspects, including property theft, illegal drugs, litter, organized gangs assaults, burglary, and more. This survey would help the law enforcers formulate ways to prevent some of the security issues.
Example 3: The U.S. Department of Justice community survey on public safety and law enforcement. https://www.theiacp.org/sites/default/files/2018-08/cops-w0743-pub.pdf
The U.S. Department of justice was surveyed to examine public safety and check the law enforcement. During the survey, it examined all aspects that threaten the population’s security and also checked how the law enforcers had enforced the law to some of the incidences. The purpose of the survey was to determine whether the law enforcers were doing their job rightly or not. The survey also sought to ascertain the levels of security risks in the American community.
Example 4: San Francisco Police Department Foot and Bike Patrol Survey. https://www.surveymonkey.com/results/SM-Z8TFH55Z7/
The Sam Francisco police survey on and bike patrol purposed to find out the level of safety among the San Francisco residents who walk on foot and those who use bicycles within the city. The survey was conducted because a large population of San Francisco walks on foot within the city, and a large percentage use bicycles. There have been several accidents incidences involving bicycle riders and pedestrians on the streets of this city. Thus, a survey means to know the degree of the risks of these people so that solutions can be found to make the city safer for them.
Example 5: Least favorite. 2007 Community Satisfaction Survey Town of Geddes Police Department.https://www.theiacp.org/sites/default/files/2018-08/GeddesCommunitySurvey.pdf
Community Satisfaction Survey in the Town of Geddes by Police Department survey is less comprehensive and insightful since it is short and has little information. This survey purposed to ascertain the degree of community satisfaction with safety matters. The survey aimed to identify areas in which the community is not satisfied or feeling unsafe. Solutions could be sought to fix such areas to make the inhabitants of Geddes feel safe and comfortable.
Best Practices and Improvement in Survey Research
When carrying out community surveys, law enforcers are supposed to understand and exercise the best practices of surveys. Community surveys conducted while best practices are being observed tend to be comprehensive and, thus, give the best results that the researchers need (AAPOR.Org, 2019). Therefore, law enforcers need to learn about the best practices that could be applied in the field to be useful.
One of the best practices that should be observed when conducting community surveys is letting the respondents know about the survey’s mission. Before any survey is conducted in a community, the researchers must have a purpose for conducting the survey. The surveys are meant to achieve something, and thus, when the researchers are in the community conducting their research, they must inform the respondents of the purpose of the survey (Verma, 2020). This implies that the researchers need to inform the respondents in advance about the significance of the surveys.
It is important to inform the respondents about the purpose of the survey because informing them in advance would help them fill up the survey forms with proper information. They should explain why they are carrying out the survey and how important it would be to the community. In addition, informing the respondents about the importance and purpose of the survey would make them motivated. Once the respondents realize that a study is being carried out about a community problem and the results of the study would help in solving the problem, then the respondents will be motivated to participate in the survey, knowing that, after all, they are the ones who are going to benefit from it when the solutions are found.
The second best survey practice that the researchers should display is incentivizing the survey. Even if the researchers explain the purpose and importance of the survey to the respondents, many participants may not feel motivated enough to fill out the survey forms accurately. To motivate them, the researchers need to consider giving the respondents small incentives for filling out the survey. Some of the incentives that can be offered to the participants are monetary incentives, gift cards, merchandise, and more (AAPOR.Org, 2019). The purpose of the incentives is not only to motivate the participants to participate fully in the survey but also to act as an appreciation to the participants for spending their precious time participating in the survey. When the participants realize that the researchers appreciate their contributions, they become committed to the tasks and cooperate well with the researchers (Verma, 2020). The cordial cooperation between the participants and the researchers leads to a quality survey.
The third best survey practice that should be considered by the researchers when taking a community survey is making a follow-up with the participants. Regular practice follow-up exercise is known to be the best practice that can help improve community survey response. Studies have shown that follow-ups help in increasing the probability of participants completing the survey by over 50% (AAPOR.Org, 2019). Not all the respondents who received the survey form completed the forms and returned the theme. When there is no follow-up, there is a chance that only half of the respondents will fill out and return the survey forms. However, when the researchers followed the participants, over 70% of them filled out and returned the survey forms (Verma, 2020). Follow-up activities include sending emails asking them to complete the survey, reminding the respondents about the survey deadline on social media, sending text message reminders when the survey deadlines are approaching, and making calls to remind them to complete the surveys. Making a follow-up to the participants shows them that you are serious about what you are doing.
The fourth best practice that the researchers should consider when carrying out community surveys by the researchers 0or the law enforcers are employing the customer relationship management system (CRM) to store and organize the responses. The researchers should note that whether they are collecting the responses online or offline, they must store them in one central repository for easy access and analysis. Some researchers use spreadsheets, which provide the chance for making errors during data entry. Using CRM will help greatly in eliminating such issues (Verma, 2020). Another important thing is that when choosing the CRM to store the responses, the researchers should ensure that the CRM integrates with the survey tool. The CRM automatically creates reports based on the responses. The CRM must also be able to ease the categorization of the data.
The last best survey practice that should be practiced during the community survey by the researchers is considering alternative data beyond the survey. It is a known fact that the survey may not compare all aspects of the study; this means that some important information may be left out and not compared (AAPOR.Org, 2019). Therefore, the researchers should consider alternative data outside the survey’s scope. This data would enable the researchers to have enough information to make concrete conclusions about the study.
Conclusion
Community surveys are common practices carried out mostly by law enforcement agents to ascertain the prevalence of certain social aspects in the community. Surveys vary depending on the research topics and the researchers’ knowledge. To attain quality surveys that provide solutions to social problems, the researchers need to know the survey’s best practices. Some of the known survey best practices that the researchers can adopt are telling the respondents about the purpose and mission of the survey, making follow-ups on the respondents, incentivizing the survey process, adopting the CRM for data storage, and considering alternative data beyond the survey.
References
AAPOR.Org. (2019). Best Practices for Survey Research. Retrieved from https://www.aapor.org/Standards-Ethics/Best-Practices.aspx
Kurz, D. (2018). Durham Police Department Community Survey. https://www.theiacp.org/sites/default/files/2018-08/2013DurhamPDCommunitySurvey.pdf
Surveymonkey.com. San Francisco Police Department Foot and Bike Patrol Survey. https://www.surveymonkey.com/results/SM-Z8TFH55Z7
The Iacp. (2018). 2007 Community Satisfaction Survey Town of Geddes Police Department. https://www.theiacp.org/sites/default/files/2018-08/GeddesCommunitySurvey.pdf
The Iacp. (2018). Community Survey on public safety and law enforcement. https://www.theiacp.org/sites/default/files/2018-08/cops-w0743-pub.pdf
The Iacp. (2018). Lexington Police Department Public Safety Survey. https://www.theiacp.org/sites/default/files/all/k-m/Lexpubsafety.doc
Verma, N. (2020). How To Conduct A Community Survey Successfully? (With Best Practices). Retrieved from https://callhub.io/community-survey
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Question 
Discussion – Survey Research
In this activity, your task is to collect at least 5 different examples of surveys used by local police agencies. Using these examples, write a 4-page report comparing the different examples. In your report, provide at least 5 examples associated with best practices or examples that you believe could be improved. Supply a ranking of the different surveys, and show your favorite and least favorite survey, again supplying an explanation.
The specific steps are as follows:
1. Conduct independent research and find at least 5 different examples of surveys used by local police agencies.
As an example, here is a survey used by the Virginia Police Department.
2. Compare each of the surveys, finding your favorite and least favorite survey.
Supply at least a 1-page explanation of your selections.
3. Using your research examples, find at least 5 examples of best practices or areas that could be improved.
Dedicate at least 3 pages to this section.
Reference
Virginia Police Department. (2017). 2017 body worn camera survey Virginia PD. http://www.virginiamn.us/department/police_department/docs/2017%20Body%20Worn%20Camera%20Survey%20Virginia%20PD.pdf