Survey

Comparative Analysis of Police Department Surveys Your Name Subject and Section Professor’s Name November 5, 2024 Questionnaire (or Survey) research is one of the essential approaches to getting feedback from the community since criminal justice agencies can use it to understand the public's perception, assess a department's performance, and develop areas that need to be changed. However, not all surveys work efficiently in attaining the above goals. In this report, I examine five surveys utilized by different police departments: the Durham Police Department Community Survey, the Geddes Police Department Community Satisfaction Survey, the Lexington Police Department Police Employee Survey, the Lexington Public Safety Survey, and the LAPD Chief of Police Community Survey. This report compares the five surveys by focusing on the strengths and weaknesses of the design and content of each Survey, the extent to which each Survey meets critical best practices, and other corresponding factors to rank the surveys and make suggestions. Finally, based on this comparative study, an added value is associated with clear, brief, and contingent survey construction for improving the quality of results and respondents' participation. Survey Selections and Initial Impressions Every Survey used in this study has its intended purpose, ranging from ascertaining community safety perception to considering the choice of a police leader. The Durham Police Department Community Survey comprises 29 questions and extends to public safety concerns and community satisfaction with police responsiveness. However, the sample survey instrument used in this study is simple, encompassing only the Geddes Police Department Community Satisfaction Survey, which targets satisfaction with police services and officers' behavior. The Lexington Police Department Police Employee Survey is an organizational climate survey completed in-house to get feedback about the employees' organizational performance and well-being. The Lexington Public Safety Survey, on the other hand, helps in determining the perception that the community had toward the safety and performance of the police. Last, the LAPD Chief of Police Community Survey stands out because the research aims to establish public perceptions of the leadership expected from the next Chief of Police. Regarding preference, the "LAPD Chief of Police Community Survey" ranks my favorite due to its focused approach and precise alignment with a specific, impactful goal (Carroll et al., 2020). Its structure is simple, convenient, understandable, and functional, making it highly successful in publicly sharing the process of choosing the police chief. Conversely, my least favorite is the "Geddes Police Department Community Satisfaction Survey" due to its overly simplistic structure and limited scope, which restricts the depth of insights it can generate on community-police relations (Enang et al., 2022). Analysis of Best Practices and Areas for Improvement To evaluate these surveys, I identified five best practices and areas for improvement, focusing on clarity, relevance, length, variety in question types, and user engagement. 1 Clarity and Simplicity 1 Best Practice Example: Regarding clarity, the Geddes Police Department Community Satisfaction Sur...