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CPD seeks community input
Town residents will again have the opportunity to tell town police how well they serve and protect.
For the third time, the Culpeper Police Department plans to send a survey to every address in the town asking for an assessment of how they perform.
“If they have had an encounter with the police, they can comment in an anonymous way,” Sgt. Jason Deal said. “If the police helped you sometime, this is a way to say thank you. This is also your way to say something else.”
The 12-question survey asks three more questions than the previous surveys conducted in 2002 and 2005. This year, police hope to gather demographic information such as age, race and sex. However, police stress, this survey is completely anonymous and not targeting a specific group of citizens. There is no tracking data to determine who filled out the survey. All citizens are urged to participate by returning the completed survey in the provided postage paid envelope.
Filling out the one-page survey will take just a few minutes and provide police with a wealth of information, said Sgt. Deal.
The department will tabulate the responses gleaned from the survey and look for trends. Next, the responses will be forwarded to the chief of police and the department’s supervisors. From, there the information may result in action plans to deal with a publicly perceived problems or incorporated in the department’s policies and procedures, which govern how officers perform their duties.
Questions invite citizens to rate the competence and courtesy of the town’s officers. Residents are requested to respond about how safe they feel while at home, in town parks and in the business district.
One section of the survey prompts citizens to check topics of major concern from a list.
“This is a chance to be heard,” said Capt. Ricky Pinksaw.
The survey gives the police a better understanding of how the public views their performance.
The citizen survey was begun by former Police Chief Dan Boring. The survey is not one of the required standards set by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies. However, it is listed as a “best practice” process to achieve international accreditation by CALEA, said Capt. Pinksaw.
The Culpeper Police Department received its reaccreditation from CALEA last month during a town council meeting. The department remains internationally accredited for another three years. The town is just one 15 Virginia police departments accredited by CALEA.
Sgt. Deal urges citizens to take the few minutes it takes to fill out the survey and put it in the postage paid envelope.
“We want to know what citizens think,” Capt. Pinksaw, the department’s accreditation manager, said. “We don’t know.”
With a large number of completed surveys, police will know what the public thinks.
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