Greensboro Police Receive First Zencity Report- Survey Tool to Better Understand Community Concerns
GREENSBORO, NC (February 7, 2022) – In September of 2022, the Greensboro Police Department partnered with Zencity to launch a new public survey tool, “Blockwise”, to better understand local concerns, attitudes, and trust in their local police officers. This is the latest effort by the Department to use technology to better understand community concerns and more effectively serve residents. Greensboro is the first city in North Carolina and the first Police Department in the south to implement this new technology. GPD’s first quarterly report with citywide data, and data by police district is available to the community and summary findings are below.
Trust and Safety: Based on a representative sample of more than 500 residents, the citywide trust score was 69 and safety score was 69 (on a measure of 1-100). These scores do not fluctuate much in the three months of data collection. As this is GPD’s first report, it will be meaningful to consider changes in these scores over time, with each new sample and report.
Concerns Citywide: Residents were asked: “What is the number one issue or problem in your neighborhood that you’d like the Police to deal with?” Citywide data found that “streets and traffic safety” was the most frequently mentioned concern (32% of respondents), followed by theft, burglary, break-ins (16%), and violence (15%).
Trust, Safety and Concerns by District: If you sort concerns by police district, “streets and traffic safety” is the top concern for Districts 1, 3 and 4. Police District 2 named “violence” as their top concern (29%). District 4 reported police-community relations as a top concern and also had the highest scores for safety and trust. District 1 reported police resources as a top concern. View the complete citywide and district reports here.
Zencity works with hundreds of municipalities including Chicago, Phoenix, Seattle, and San Diego. Starting January 1, the Department broadened the questions asked in its survey to include additional dimensions of public trust, aligning with recent developments in the field, and allowing for more rich, actionable insights to improve service delivery for Greensboro residents. New survey questions touch on transparency, quality of service, and approachability of Greensboro officers.
“This is an opportunity for residents to communicate with officers in a way they haven’t had before. Officers can hear the voices of our local residents and can use feedback from their respective zones to better serve”, said Greensboro Police Chief John Thompson.
“It is a real privilege to support the City of Greensboro and its police department in measuring perception of safety and trust in the police,” said Eyal Feder, CEO, Zencity. “Further improving trust begins with an accurate measurement, understanding how attitudes change in time and geography.”
Zencity Survey Methodology
Zencity’s community surveys incorporate voices from every corner of the community. To do so, Zencity sets response targets based on U.S. Census data about the municipality. Zencity ensures the security and privacy of its data and survey respondents. Survey responses are anonymous unless a respondent chooses to share their email address for follow-up purposes. Regardless, survey responses are kept confidential. Zencity does not collect a respondent’s name, address, or any other personally-identifying information. Zencity’s weighting accounts for the responses of every single person who answered a question. The responses give a proportional voice to all demographics (e.g., by age, sex, race, education level, and income level) based on the makeup of the municipality.