Achi news desk-
Regina’s monthly Chief of Police meeting was held on Tuesday – where council delved into the community-based approach to the Regina Police Service (RPS).
The service commissioned a community perception survey, which was conducted between September 6 and September 29 last year.
The survey organized by the University of Regina included 454 respondents – examining how the RPS is seen in the eyes of residents. The survey marked the first time data collection was revised to better represent visible minorities.
“[It’s] It reassures me that we’ve gone out there, we’re open and transparent, we’re sharing that data, and then if there are areas we need to improve, we’ll continue to do that,” Chief Farooq Sheikh told CTV News.
The survey showed that 82% of respondents agreed that RPS demonstrates professionalism in its work and 67% believe that RPS does a good job enforcing the law.
On the subject of crime and fear of crime, 38.3 percent of respondents felt that crime had increased in their neighborhoods over the past two years while 57 percent believed it had remained the same – while the remaining 4.6 percent saw a decrease.
In terms of feedback, residents called for more attention to high-crime areas of the city, faster response times and a greater focus on drug-related crimes.
Chief Sheikh spoke to the media following the meeting – and emphasized his focus on the issue of drugs in particular.
“When you look across the country, everywhere has the same problem. Everywhere,” he repeated. “But again, what we’re trying to do is make Regina more of a no-go area for people to come in and deal drugs.”
In terms of public response to the new RPS Air Support Unit, 36 percent of respondents learned about it for the first time when the survey was conducted, while 64 percent agreed it increases public safety.
Overall, resident satisfaction with police efforts has increased in most parts of the city over the past 13 years.
“Comparing the levels of satisfaction between the three police districts since 2011, respondents in the central and northern districts reported an increase in the level of satisfaction compared to the last survey, while respondents in the southern district reported a slight decrease in satisfaction,” the report states.
In addition, the survey showed that indigenous respondents tended to rate the quality of service and perceptions of the police lower than non-indigenous respondents.
Alternatively, visible minority respondents rated satisfaction and quality higher than other minority respondents.
