The Estevan Police Service is embarking on a community survey to gather the public's thoughts on the work of the EPS, and those who are contacted should take advantage of the opportunity.
According to a news release issued by the EPS last Monday, the survey will seek the public's feedback on such topics as police effectiveness and responsiveness, visibility and presence of police, fear of crime, and trust and confidence in police.
Beginning Sept. 6, Prairie Research Associates has been gathering the survey data by randomly selecting Estevan residents' phone numbers, both via landlines and mobile phones.
These initiatives can be valuable for an organization as it tries to measure its effectiveness and its public perception. And since the EPS receives taxpayer dollars, it needs to listen to the people.
But our support does come with some caveats.
First and foremost, this has to be affordable. If the EPS is going to funnel a bunch of money at this project, then you're going to have a lot of angry people before the results are announced. In this instance, the cost is shy of $20,000 for data collection, analysis and the final report.
People need to give honest answers that will allow for reasonable results. Hopefully, people won't just give the worst possible rating for every question because there's a disdain for police. At the same time, hopefully, they won't give the best possible ranking for every query because they believe police can do no wrong. Thoughtful answers are important.
People also need to take the time to answer to the survey. We get it – you're busy. You have better things to do than spend several minutes on the phone, answering questions from someone you've never met, representing an agency you've never heard of. And if you're legitimately too busy, then politely let them know.
But if you say no, and then you spend several minutes on a social media site complaining about the phone call you received, or if you spend lots of time on social media in general, well, then maybe you're not as busy as you want people to believe.
And the EPS needs to take the responses to the survey, pay close attention to them and see if there's anything that can be done to improve. Sometimes people will spout off without coming up with viable solutions, and sometimes a concern will be brought up that doesn't have an answer.
Often the concerns will be those that we know are issues already. We're sure lots of people will talk about the amount of drugs in the community.
But there will be some things brought forward that can be addressed, and perhaps some issues will be higher on the public's priority list than expected.
We've said before that Estevan has a pretty good and dedicated police force, but we all know that there is always room for improvement.
It's been several years since the EPS last participated in a public survey. A lot has changed since then, including the chief and some of the officers. The needs and issues facing the community have also changed.
Hopefully, people will participate if given the chance. We often hear complaints there aren't opportunities to provide feedback in this community. But when given the chance to share opinions in a legitimate forum, and to do so anonymously, they pass.
Estevan city council receives few, if any responses from the public when given the opportunity to sound off on the city's budget. Turnout has often been low for community engagement sessions. Maybe people think Facebook comments are suitable.
The time people take to answer these questions will have more bearing on the direction of the EPS than thousands of social media posts.
