• Criminal Justice
• WSICOP
• WRICOPS

Executive abstract & highlights

An Assessment of Public Perceptions about the Poulsbo Police Department

• Fifty-nine percent of respondents indicated that they either "agree" or "strongly agree" with the statement that the Poulsbo Police Department (PPD) does a good job at providing both quality and levels of service in the community.  Only a small minority (9.0%) were inclined to "disagree" or "strongly disagree."

• The most frequently reported problems Poulsbo area residents confront in their neighborhoods are traffic problems, followed by vandalism and drunk driving.

• Sixty-seven percent of participants indicated that they either "strongly agree" or "agree" with the statement that the Poulsbo police are usually courteous.

• Nearly 80 percent of respondents claimed to "strongly disagree" or "disagree" with idea that only the PPD can control crime.

• Less than one percent of residents stated they worry about their personal safety "often," while 13.6 percent reported "sometimes."

• Over 62 percent of survey respondents indicated that they were "willing" or "very willing" to assist the PPD in efforts to improve the quality of life in area neighborhoods.

• Over 88 percent of residents either "agreed" or strongly agreed" that Community Oriented Policing is a good use of resource; while only 3 percent of those responded with "disagree" or  "strongly disagree."

• Business community focus group participants overwhelmingly perceived the PPD in a positive manner (82%).

• Focus group data obtained from high school students showed that 14 percent of students perceived the PPD in a positive manner, 28 percent hold neutral perceptions, and 57 percent view the PPD more negatively.

• Ninety-five percent of North Kitsap High School student focus group participants indicated that they believe the PPD does not treat all citizens equally.