Denver Police Release Results of Public Safety Survey

DENVER (KDVR) – The Denver Police Department has made it a priority to improve transparency, trust and community relations.

On Thursday, the department released a report card, the result of a survey of community members and its officers. FOX31 spoke with Police Chief Ron Thomas about the results.

Thomas told FOX31 that while he was proud that 90% of respondents to the independent survey said they were either “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with the department’s professionalism, the results showed there was still work to be done. There are some parts of the city where trust is low.

The 48-question survey begins by asking where the person lives, as well as their occupation and income. In question 10, the survey uses a sliding scale from zero to 100 to rate questions like this: “When you think of police officers in Denver, to what extent do you agree with the following?”

“Actually, my wish was, first of all, to get an idea of ​​what constitutes our professionalism,” said Thomas.

“I think some of our beliefs were confirmed, and there were some interesting things that we didn’t necessarily expect,” Thomas said. “Like the desire for us to focus much more on traffic safety. I think that shouldn’t surprise us, because we often go to community meetings – often we believe the community wants to hear about violent crime and some of our responses to those challenges. And actually, they want to hear how we deal with drag racing and things like that.”

This was the most prominent theme of narrative commentary, according to the director of Seattle University’s Crime and Justice Research Center, who conducted the survey.

Survey shows: Denver police capacity is a major problem

The biggest problem facing public safety is the lack of police capacity. There are currently about 100 vacancies in the department.

“I don’t think that necessarily means more police on the streets and in the neighborhoods,” Thomas said. “We are moving in that direction and will hire 167 police officers in 2024. I think that will help us increase that capacity, but I also think it has to do with people’s expectations that when they call the police, they want the police to come.”

More than 85,000 people from 78 neighborhoods took part in the survey. About 55% of respondents were female. The largest age group that responded was between 40 and 49 years old.

Richard, a Denver resident who has lived in the city for 17 years, agrees that the police department is highly professional. However, he believes that the police department could still work on other areas.

“Interact with individuals publicly on an individual level. In the trust situation, they think they are just doing their job. Well, you are human, we are human. Let’s get along like human beings,” he said.

Thomas said: “I hope you get the impression that we care. We asked what you think about us, what you think about our legitimacy. And we want to meet those expectations.”

Thomas said Denver residents can expect more patrols and greater citizen engagement in high-crime areas.