Some people like to vent their frustrations after getting a speeding ticket, or having something stolen from them. But the Davenport Police Department has the opposite problem. In January, it began participating in a survey that would help the department improve. But not enough people have filled out surveys after reporting a non-violent crime or traffic stop.
Major Don Schaeffer says the average return rate is seven percent. Since the end of January, the response rate from Davenport has been lower than that. And he's not sure why. "Each interaction is probably negative. Maybe they want to forget about a crash that damaged their car, or they want to forget someone took something from them. But we want to know how to better that relationship."
A letter from the Davenport police gives options for completing the survey on the web or a smartphone. All the information is confidential, and only researchers at the the University of Illinois Chicago see the completed surveys.
Aside from general, demographic questions, the questions are about interactions with Davenport police officers and employees, in person or by phone. The researchers need 500 completed surveys, and Schaeffer says the department will continue mailing letters until they get enough responses. Davenport is one of 99 police departments across the country participating in The Police Community Interaction Survey.
Text of letter from the DPD about the survey:
Our records show that you had contact with the Davenport Police Department, in the context of a reported crime incident, traffic stop, or traffic crash. Records show that the contact occurred on or around
The Davenport Police Department is fully committed to professional service, we have started a new method for you to give feedback about our performance during this encounter. We have asked university researchers to run an independent survey. This will help us improve our services. The survey is short, confidential, and voluntary. It will ask how you were treated and your level of satisfaction with our services.
You may take the survey in English or Spanish. Please take a few moments to complete this survey by telephone or web: By calling 1-866-233-8689 (in both English and Español) OR by going to the web address below: For English & en Español: http://bit.ly/pcisurvey OR by scanning the QR code with your smart phone or tablet device: You will be asked to enter a PIN number in order to fill out the survey. Your PIN number is
I want to point out that this survey of Davenport Police Department services is managed by researchers outside of the Davenport Police Department and that your answers are confidential. The Davenport Police Department will not know if you did the survey or how you answered the survey questions. We will only see summary results (where all surveys are combined) and those results will be very useful to us. Thank you for giving us feedback so we can continue to improve our services.
Sincerely,
Chief Frank DonchezDavenport Police Department
