More than 90 per cent of community members said they were very satisfied or satisfied with York Regional Police's service, according to a survey earlier this year.
The online community survey was sent out to 12,000 randomly selected York Region residents. It had a 17.7 per cent response rate, which Jennifer Gotlieb, who presented the results to the York Regional Police Services Board, said was a "remarkable" number for a mail-out survey.
“We should be really proud of the fact that our community really participated,” she said.
The survey found that 92.1 per cent of respondents were very satisfied or satisfied with YRP's service, 92.3 per cent said they have confidence in the YRP, and 93.1 per cent of respondents agreed that the police service has the public's trust.
Twenty-one per cent of people who took part in the survey said they had interactions with York Regional Police in the last year, with 74.3 per cent of those respondents saying they were either the victim or a witness to a crime.
In regards to community impact, more than 91 per cent of respondents to the survey "have confidence in YRP to keep the community safe, agreed that YRP treats people with respect and has the trust of the public."
"These are very high ratings," Gotlieb said.
More than 89 per cent of community members surveyed said that the police service "provided the same quality of service to all citizens, has good knowledge of the community, and are committed to building partnerships with the community."
Ninety-one percent said they feel very safe or reasonably safe in their community and 80.9 per cent said they are very satisifed or satisfied with police visibility in their community.
However, one of the lowest response rates was in regards to online reporting, which the survey found knowledge of remains low. Only 27.1 per cent of respondents said they are aware that some crimes can be reported online.
The survey also looked at community members' priorities and concerns and how these have changed compared to previous years. It found that the top five policing priorities for residents were crimes against property, auto theft, fraud, traffic safety, and violent crime.
"What's interesting to note here is that auto theft and fraud are new to the top five this year," Gotlieb said. "What is moved away from the top five are guns and gangs, as well as drug enforcement. They're no longer evident in the top five."
Community members' top traffic concerns, according to the survey, are aggressive driving, speeding, distracted driving, impaired driving, and pedestrian safety.
The survey was part of a range of community consultations in the past year to help inform the force's business plan for the next two years, including a survey of York Regional Police members, a survey with 35 community partner representatives, a scan of the current political, social and economic environment, and a virtual public town hall in February 2022.
"We utilized live chats, as well polling questions across three different platforms simultaneously. During this town hall we had over 166,000 social media impressions during the session, so it was very wide ranging," Gotlieb said.
The town hall found that the community thinks YRP is good at community engagement, social media, community safety and protection, professionalism and respect, and quality service. It also found that residents think YRP needs to improve on road safety, increased transparency, officer visibility, training on mental health, public relations, de-escalation, and staffing and hiring.
In terms of YRP's top priorities, the town hall found that residents think road safety in residential areas, gun control, mental health training, illegal drugs, and community engagement and connection are top concerns. It also talked about opportunities for YRP to collaborate with the community, specially by having more officers dedicated to community policing initiatives, hosting sports activities, engaging in community events, social media presence, and interacting with youth.
The findings from these consultations were presented at the Oct. 5 board meeting. They will be used to form the 2023-2025 business plan. The next step is a strategy session for the board to develop priorities and come up with a final plan, which will be presented for approval in the new year.
The plan will then be implemented and its progress tracked beginning in 2023.
