GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The city of Grand Rapids collected survey data from residents on their view of the police department from July 1 to Sept. 30. Mainly, the survey focused on the community sentiment on public safety and trust in the Grand Rapids Police Department.
The quarterly results show that Grand Rapids residents generally trust the police and feel safe in their neighborhoods, the city said. The survey uses a scale of 0 to 100 and it found the current trust score is 68 and the current safety score is 69.
"The trust and safety scores fall in line with other cities that use the digital polling tool," the city said in a press release.
The data is being collected through a digital polling tool called Elucd, which the department has been using since 2018. Grand Rapids Police is one of several agencies across the country that uses the technology. However, Grand Rapids is the first city to commit to releasing data on a regular basis.
"This is a tool to help us better understand our community’s needs and measure trust in our department – something we haven’t been able to do with reliable data in the past,” Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Payne said. “We can gauge how residents feel about the safety of their neighborhoods and the trust they have in our officers."
The city published cumulative data as well as a breakdown of results from each of the five neighborhood service areas: central, east, north, south and west. In looking at this data, it shows the trust score increased in the south and east service areas from July to October, but it dropped in the central, north and west areas. In all service areas, the safety score dropped during the same time period.
The city and the Grand Rapids Police Department are using this data to support the city's strategic plan, which outlines data sharing and problem solving.
“These preliminary scores affirm our ongoing efforts to strengthen relationships in the community and prevent and reduce crime,” Payne said. “We know we have much more work to do and we look forward to continuing to partner with residents and other community stakeholders.”
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