WSICOP--Research

Executive Abstract & Highlights

Findings from the 1994 Spokane Police Department Citizen Survey: Final Report.

As part of COP implementation in the City of Spokane, S.P.D. has worked collaboratively with the Washington State Institute for Community Oriented Policing to assess public attitudes toward police services. Accordingly, citizen surveys undertaken in 1992 and again in 1994 have proven useful in this regard. This report summarizes results from 1994 and, where it is possible to do so, provides comparisons with data collected in 1992.

Comparisons of Findings in 1994 Versus 1992

Although many of the responses to questionnaire items asked in both 1992 and 1994 appeared consistent over time, differences over time were observed for several key areas of interest which reflect favorably upon the efforts of S.P.D. to implement COP. These included:

Compared to data from 1992, a greater proportion of 1994 respondents (31% versus 40%, respectively) of the respondents who had been in contact with S.P.D. indicated that they had contacted the department to report a crime.
The 1994 data show improvement over time in terms of quality of service rendered. Six percent more of the respondents surveyed in 1994 gave good to excellent marks concerning the quality of police service. Conversely, those judging police service quality as poor fell from the 8 percent indicated in 1992 to 4 percent in 1994.
Another notable difference in survey results comparing 1994 data with data from 1992 concerns the fear of criminal victimization. Spokane residents appear to feel safer from crime in 1994 than they did in 1992. Forty-six percent reported feeling safe or very safe walking alone around their neighborhood at night, indicating a 7 percent increase over the proportion of responses observed 1992 for these same response categories.
Similar to the above, the proportion of citizens reporting feeling very unsafe or unsafe declined sharply from 1992 to 1994, from 43 percent to 24 percent, respectively.
Less than one-quarter of the respondents (24%) reported being the victim of a crime during the last six months, which represents a decrease of seven percent since 1992. Furthermore, there were substantial decreases in 1994 in every category of criminal victimization with the exception of vandalism, which remained unchanged from 1992.
Just under two-thirds of the of respondents (63%) who were victims of crime reported the offense to the police. This represents a six percent increase in reporting over 1992 and compares favorably with rates of victims reporting crime nationally.
Respondents stated overwhelming support for the police in their efforts to improve the quality of life in their neighborhood. Nearly three-quarters (72%) were willing or very willing to assist by going to meetings or making phone calls, while only 3 percent appeared unwilling or very unwilling to do 80.
Similar to 1992, the majority of 1994 respondents did not consider drug or alcohol abuse serious problems within their own neighborhoods. Sixteen percent stated that illegal drug use was a problem or serious problem in their neighborhood which amounts to a 3 percent reduction from data collected in 1992. Three-quarters of respondents stated that the drug problem was either not a serious problem or no problem at all. This figure reflects an improvement of 6 percent comparing 1992 responses.
Responses varied widely when citizens were asked if they were familiar with COP programs. Roughly three-quarters of the respondents (77%) stated that they were familiar with Block Watch and 74 percent acknowledge familiarity with the DARE program. Similarly, sixty-three percent said that they were familiar with COP Shops. However, a much lesser number reported being familiar S.P.D.'s Bicycle Patrol (27%), 17 percent knew of the Police Department's Open House and School Resource Officers. Only one-in-ten respondents knew of the Neighborhood Resource Officers and Citizen's Academy. Twenty-six percent of the respondents stated they had participated in one or more of these programs.
Only six percent of the respondents agreed with the statement "only the police can control crime in Spokane" (a decrease of 3% from 1992). Similarly, 80 percent of the respondents agreed that a "good officer maintains peace by using creativity to solve problems" in comparison to only twelve percent who agreed that a "good officer maintains peace by making arrests.
Over one-half of the respondents agreed (59%) that the police show concern when asked questions by the public. A smaller percentage (45%) agreed with the statement "police seem content staying in their patrol cars rather than interacting with the citizens. n Interestingly, both these indicators have changed since 1992, with an increase of four percent in respondents agreeing that police show concern, and a decrease of nine percent for those agreeing that officers prefer to stay in their patrol cars.
From 67 to 79 percent of the respondents indicated that Spokane police are honest, fair, and courteous. These numbers reflect improvements of 6 percent for those items compared to data collected 1992.
Although the public supports investigation of serious crime, over two-thirds (68%) disagreed that the police should concentrate on catching criminals rather than working with the public. This figure increased by five percent from responses recorded in 1992.
Nearly all of the respondents (98%) agreed that community policing is a good idea if it leads to reduced crime. Similarly, 96 percent agreed that citizens must take more responsibility for the safety of their neighborhoods and recognized that the police alone cannot solve the crime problem.
Eighty-nine percent agreed that COP sounds like the direction all police will have to take to reduce drugs, gang activity, and crime (an increase of 4% from 1992) and only 10 percent see COP as another word for coddling people on welfare and criminals.
In 1992, two-thirds of the citizens believed the City Council should hire more police even if other essential city services have to be cut. This number increased another five percent in 1994.
When asked about increasing the number of police on the street if it meant reducing other police services such as traffic control, crime analysis, volunteer services and other non-patrol services, the number of respondents in agreement with this decreased to 56 percent.

Findings by Sector and Neighborhood

Findings reported by sector and neighborhood also are included in this report (Chapters 3 and 4) to help further distinguish how citizen perceptions of police services vary by geographic region of the City in 1994. Some of the key findings observed include:

Respondents in Baker sector, the northeast section of the City, and David sector, the downtown and surrounding westside neighborhoods, reported higher levels of fear than did respondents from Adam sector, the northwest section of the City, and Charlie, the south side of Spokane.
Declines in victimization were observed across all four police sectors.
Traffic problems were rated the most serious neighborhood problem in Adam, Baker, and Charlie sectors. Illegal drug use was rated the most serious problem by David sector respondents.
Respondents from Baker and David sectors were less familiar with community oriented policing (COP) programs than were residents of Adam and Charlie sectors.
There appears to be solid support for COP principles across the four police sectors. Furthermore, David sector respondents, who were more critical of the police in the 1992 survey, did not appear to be so in the 1994 survey.
West Central, East Central, and Downtown Central neighborhood respondents, the three neighborhoods with the longest presence of formal COP activity, were more likely to report the police to be visible in the neighborhood. East Central respondents were the most likely to report knowing an officer working in the neighborhood.
The highest levels of fear of crime were reported by Downtown Central respondents. Residents of Browne's Addition, West Central, Logan, Nevada-Lidgerwood, Cannon Hill, East Central, and Garry Park also reported higher levels of fear.
Traffic problems emerged as the most serious neighborhood problem in Indian Trail, Shiloh Hills, Lincoln Heights, Manito, and Latah Creek.
Traffic and burglary were considered the most serious neighborhood problems in Hillyard, Logan, Nevada-Lidgerwood, and North Hill.
Vandalism was rated the most serious neighborhood problem in Browne's Addition and Cannon Hill.
Traffic and vandalism were considered the most serious neighborhood problems in Emerson-Garfield and Shadle Park.
In Downtown Central the most serious neighborhood problems included illegal drug use, teens harassing, robbery, drinking in public, drunk drivers, youth gangs, assault, vandalism, and physical decay.
West Central respondents rated vandalism, illegal drug use, burglary, physical decay, child abuse and neglect, and drinking in public as serious neighborhood problems.
East Central respondents stated that the most serious neighborhood problems were illegal drug use, physical decay, and traffic.
Drunk drivers, illegal drug use, noise, and inadequate City services were rated the most serious problems by Garry Park respondents.
Downtown Central and West Central respondents, although rating a number of crime and disorder problems as serious, gave positive ratings to the police response to neighborhood problems and were the least likely to state the crime problem is getting worse.
Emerson-Garfield, West Central, Nevada-Lidgerwood, East Central, and Garry Park respondents were most likely to have talked with their neighbors about crime control. North Hill, Logan, Browne's Addition, and Downtown Central were least likely to have done so.
Downtown Central respondents were considerably less likely to have employed self-protection measures such as special locks and the use of a timer on lights.
Downtown Central, West Central, East Central, Garry Park, and Browne's Addition respondents rated the neighborhood drug problem more serious than did respondents from other neighborhoods.
Respondents from the West Central neighborhood stood out as being more familiar with, and having participated in more, COP activities.
Browne's Addition respondents were somewhat more critical of the police on several dimensions yet they were also the most likely to call for more police on the streets.