The North Charleston Police Department department has partnered with the Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS Office, to provide assistance with training, subject matter experts, and national best practices.
The Police Foundation, a contractor for the COPS Office, has worked to deliver this assistance with four areas of concentration: Community Policing and Violence Reduction; Strategic Planning; Training, Recruiting, Hiring, and Retention; and Data and Technology.
To receive community input the Police Foundation conducted a comprehensive interaction survey in order to advance policing through the community and the police department. All responses were directly received by the Police Foundation and all respondents remained anonymous.
The information obtained through the community survey will help improve policies, procedures, training, and community relations in North Charleston.
The surveys have been split into two – the Community Survey and the Interaction Survey. 1,408 responses were received.
NCPD Strategic Agenda and Goals
The Results
Overall, community members indicated that the department is doing a good or very good job. Here are a few highlights from the survey:
- Community members were asked how well their local police were doing at a variety of policing activities. Overall the community members indicated the department is doing a good or very good job at: fighting crime, dealing with problems that concern their neighborhood, being visible on the streets, being available when needed, responding promptly to calls for service, helping victims of crime, and treating people fairly regardless of who they are.
- Community members were asked how common certain behaviors were for local police officer to engage in. The majority of responses indicated that it is very or somewhat uncommon for officers to: stop people without good reason, use excessive force, use offensive language, break the law or police rules, and treat people differently depending on race, ethnicity, gender identification, religion or immigration status. In the case of “acting professionally” respondents overwhelming said it is very common for officers to act professionally.
- Community members were asked how worried they are about a variety of neighborhood concerns. More than any other concern, community members indicated they are very worried about people using or selling guns.
- Community members were asked how much they agreed with statements relating to working with and trusting in their local department. An overwhelming amount of community members strongly agree that they would feel comfortable calling the department if they needed help.
