Police Get High Marks in Survey of Residents

A community survey indicates people in St. Charles like the way the police are doing their job.

The survey gauges residents' assessment of such things as how courteous the officers were, their cultural sensitivity or the knowledge they showed during their interaction with the public.

For 2010, the department showed improvement across seven categories respondents were questioned about, according to results presented by Police Chief Jim Lamkin on Aug. 23.

Every three years, the department performs a year-long survey sent to those who have had interactions with officers. The department's records supervisor selects one week from each month and sends the surveys to residents who had contact with police during that period.

This survey is part of the department's accreditation process, Lamkin said.
The largest category respondents to the survey were people who had reported burglaries or thefts.

Lamkin singled out the rise in positive response, both officer attitude and personal appearance, as important points.

City council member Clifford Carrignan congratulated the chief and the department for the good numbers.

"You move it up one whole notch," Carrignan said. "Good job."

The results indicated none of the surveys sent to people living in apartments were answered. This was a a drop from the 2007 result, which came in at about 12 percent.

Lamkin said there are a significant number of police responses to calls from apartment buildings, but apartment dwellers tend to move and contacting them for a survey is more difficult.

The largest segment of the population in the survey were single-family homeowners, followed by small businesses.