Survey Notes Importance of Public Safety in Hyattsville

A community survey of 646 residents revealed that residents in Hyattsville cared most about police presence and public safety, according to Karen Falk of the ETC Institute, the company that conducted the survey.

She noted in a 30-minute presentation to City Council members at last night’s Council meeting that, “People weren’t terribly dissatisfied with the city’s effort to prevent crime, but that it was the most important issue.”

The survey, which was done by telephone and through the mail, found that residents picked the city’s effort to prevent crime as their most important service for the city to provide. Police response to emergencies was the second most important and maintenance of city streets and sidewalks was third.

Falk noted that public safety is frequently the top issue in most of the communities where the ETC Institute conducts surveys.

Falk said the survey used defendable data and had a small margin of error, but she did not mention demographics during her initial presentation.

During the question and answer portion, Council Member Carlos Lizanne inquired whether the survey was sent out in Spanish and Falk said that it was not. Lizanne then noted that the demographics in Hyattsville had changed according to the 2010 census. A close look at the census data shows that Hyattsville’s demographics are 37.9 percent black, 36.6 white, and 34 percent Hispanic or Latino.

In the study, the demographic data shows that 51 percent of respondents identified themselves as white, 18 percent as black and 27 percent as other. A separate chart, recorded that 33 percent of respondents identified themselves as of Hispanic, Latino or Spanish heritage.

“You can see that we came very close [to the demographics],” said Falk, “That is key, it wouldn’t help you if we didn’t represent your community accurately when we gathered those responses.”

As for the major findings of the report, residents were most satisfied with the quality of trash and yard waste collection services (76 percent), police response to emergencies (74 percent) and city parks and recreation programs (70 percent). They were least satisfied with transportation planning (46 percent) and management of city finances (44 percent).

Also, Hyattsville residents were not particularly happy with Prince George’s County.  Just 25.9 percent of respondents reported that they were satisfied with the overall perception of P.G. County.

The full survey can be found on the city’s website, under the current initiatives tab. The survey cost the city $16,200, according to Abby Sandel, communications manager for Hyattsville.