Regina police release results of 2023 public perception survey

Regina’s monthly board of police commissioners meeting was held Tuesday – where the board delved into the community perception of the Regina Police Service (RPS).

The service commissioned a community perception survey, which was conducted from Sept. 6 to Sept. 29 of last year.

The University of Regina organized survey of consisted of 454 respondents – exploring how the RPS is viewed in the eyes of residents. The survey marked the first time the data collection was amended to better represent visible minorities.

“[It’s] reassuring for me that we’ve gone out there, we’re open and transparent, we’re sharing that data, and then if there is any areas that we need to improve, we’ll continue to do that,” Chief Farooq Sheikh told CTV News.

The survey showed 82 per cent of respondents agreed RPS demonstrates professionalism in its work and 67 per cent believed RPS does a good job enforcing the law.

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On the topic of crime and fear of crime, 38.3 per cent of respondents felt that crime had increased in their neighbourhoods over the past two years while 57 per cent thought it stayed the same – while the remaining 4.6 per cent saw a decrease.

In terms of feedback, residents called for more attention to high crime areas of the city, quicker response times and a larger focus on drug related crimes.

Chief Sheikh spoke to media following the meeting – reiterating his focus on the drug issue in particular.

“When you look across the country, everywhere is experiencing 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 RPS’s new Aerial Support Unit, 36 per cent of respondents learned about it for the first time when taking the survey, while 64 per cent agreed that it increased public safety.

Overall, residents’ satisfaction with police efforts has gone up across most of the city over the past 13 years.

“When comparing satisfaction levels between the three police districts since 2011, respondents in the Central and North police districts reported increased levels of satisfaction compared to the last survey, while respondents in the South District reported a slight decline in satisfaction,” the report read.

Additionally, the survey showed Indigenous respondents tended to rate quality of service and perceptions of police lower than non-Indigenous respondents.

Alternatively, visible minority respondents rated satisfaction and quality higher than other minority respondents.