SCHENECTADY Survey aiming to gauge police treatment of public BY STEVEN COOK Gazette Reporter
The Schenectady Police Department is now doing something many corporations and businesses do — surveying its customers. The department wants to know how its services are being delivered, from the resident calling for assistance through the person being arrested. They’re doing it through an Albany institute and federal funding. “This is your way of speaking directly to us through our researchers,” Schenectady Police Chief Mark Chaires said Wednesday, “and give us a report card on how we’re doing so we can in turn improve our services.” The John F. Finn Institute in Albany began the surveys in August and expects to run them through January 2013. The institute is named for the Albany police lieutenant who was shot in the line of duty in late 2003 and died in 2004. The goal of the project is to survey 100 people each month, asking such questions as whether police clearly explained the reason for a stop, whether they paid careful attention to what the person had to say, and how satisfi ed the person was with how they were treated, institute director Robert E. Worden said. People answering the survey will remain anonymous. Their answers will be compiled and turned into a report to help the department keep or alter practices. The study will examine the concept of procedural fairness, Worden said. That includes how authority is exercised and how people experience it. “The premise of this project is that when these facets of police performance are measured and information on performance is provided to the department, performance will improve over time,” Worden said. The survey is being conducted through a $340,000 award from the National Institute of Justice. That award covers Schenectady’s survey and one in Syracuse. ........................>>>>....................>>>>............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00103&AppName=1
Does anyone else see the complete stupidity in this? $340K to ask "How am I doing?"
Is crime going down - NO Are the streets safe - NO Are the neighborhoods safe - NO
There, I saved you $340K.
Take this $340, get specialized training in getting gangs and drugs off the streets. Get more cameras, start walking the beat again - our City needs to feel your presence everywhere.
Right away you are tromping on the PD give me a break with attitudes like that nothing is going to change. Plans already are under way to meet those same issues you bring up. If you want to know more contact the chief better yet email him or the commish before spouting off.
Keep in mind we are not the only city with these type of issues you point out. What makes you think we are so unique.
Yes, there is no doubt that there is need for change but these are intelligent folks and they damn well know what the problems are in our community as they find money from grants etc. they are trying to make change with what they can get.
Nothing ticks me off more is the immediate jumping to tromp on things in this city before doing the research to see what is going on in regards to these issues Have you taken the time to ask them directly what in the world they are working on. Contact info for every department in the city is on their website phone numbers and email addresses. http://schenectadypd.com
I am not a suck up to the pd the chief or the commish I just can't believe how everyone keeps tearing apart every single effort anyone makes to make change in this city
No Cel, I'm not tromping on the police. What I'm saying is WHY is a $340K survey needed?! Seriously - that's just plain stupid.
If crime figures go down, once gangs get out of our neighborhoods and, personally, when I walk down State Street and see a beat cop walking - well that's progress.
I'm not bashing the police, what I want is money going into items which will help the community (more cameras, more beat cops, specialized training). For the police to spend almost 1/2 million on a survey when they could use this money elsewhere? It's a ridulous amount of money for a pat on the back.
Holy Smokes Rachel72 I couldn't have been farther out in left field if I tried, in fact I am outa the park and it wasn't a home run. Sorry about the manner in which I presented my opinion. Thank you for the softness shown in pointing out my error, over looking the way I presented it and staying focused on the topic. I hadn't.
I am so used to these boards always being so negative I jumped without really reading what you had said not that you weren't clear.
I agree with you there are better ways to spend the money. We are hemorrhaging.
The relationship that law enforcement has with the community is important but this study could be like attending meetings. Great ideas thrown across the table but once out the door it is over never followed up with actually doing something with those ideas. We will have to give time, time and see where it goes.
I know on the boards here there is a high percentage of participants who have no use for the Commish or the Chief but getting the award shows they are working to secure them and that is a good sign in my way of thinking
Would be a good move on the police's part if they shared the outcomes of it. Most likely they will present something at a Committees Meeting but the community should hear it also. I realize the meetings are carried on Channel 18 but the number of viewers of the Committees meeting there is a great deal less then a CC meeting. I know for me they can be really drawn out.
Present it at a City Council meeting and have the Gazette or Times Union feature it.
If the Chief and Commish shared the outcomes of that study it might benefit all of us. Either to show us it was a waste or to show us what we gained from it.
The Finn Institute received grant funding to study the issue of police customer service. The National Institute of Justice is providing the funding. The Finn Institute has worked with the Schenectady Police Departnment, as well as many other law enforcement agencies in the past. They were aware that SPD has been attempting similar surveys in the past, so, they asked the SPD if they would be interestted in participating in the study. SPD agreed to participate in the study. It will not cost the City or the Police Department anything.
When it was established in 2007, the Finn Institute built on a set of collaborative projects and relationships with criminal justice agencies that dated to 1998. The first of those projects, for which we – then through the University at Albany – partnered with the Albany Police Department (APD), was initiated by John Finn, who was at that time the sergeant who commanded the APD’s Juvenile Unit. Later promoted to lieutenant and assigned to the department’s Administrative Services Bureau, he spearheaded efforts to implement problem-oriented policing, and – in partnership with UAlbany – to develop an institutional capability for analysis that would support problem-solving. The APD’s capacity for applying social science methods and results thereupon expanded exponentially, based on Lt. Finn’s appreciation for the value of research, his keen aptitude for analysis, and his vision of policing, which entailed the formulation of proactive, data-driven, and – as needed – unconventional strategies to address problems of public safety. Lt. Finn was fatally shot in the line of duty in 2003. The Institute that bears his name honors his life and career by fostering the more effective use of research and analysis within criminal justice agencies, just as Lt. Finn did in the APD.
A brief biography of Lt. Finn can be found here.
The Institute’s logo is a flame comprised of triangles. The flame represents the fire that was, for Lt. Finn, a metaphor for the analysis that he introduced into the APD with problem-oriented policing. The triangles represent the “crime triangle,” a tool that is commonly used in problem-solving to direct attention to the three elements – a motivated offender, a suitable target, and an unguarded location – that converge when a crime is committed.
About the Institute
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
They sent me a survey in the mail after someone broke into my car, to be honest I didn't return it because it would have been thrown in the trash. While the cop was polite I knew nothing would come of it and I was correct. They never followed up on it or investigated possible places my items could have been sold at. When crimes like this take place it's usually "well $hit happens" but when they need revenue they can spend countless man hours sitting on the side of the road looking for an excuse to give tickets. Yesterday they had a police check point off of Erie Blvd with 3 cop cars doing nothing except looking for expired inspection stickers, I'm not bashing all cops but their priorities seem way off.
"In the beginning of a change, the Patriot is a scarce man, brave, hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a Patriot."
"While Foreign Terrorists were plotting to murder and maim using homemade bombs in Boston, Democrap officials in Washington DC, Albany and here were busy watching ME and other law abiding American Citizens who are gun owners and taxpayers, in an effort to blame the nation's lack of security on US so that they could have a political scapegoat."
my only question is........what do they expect to accomplish from this survey? I'm not trying to be sarcastic here. But really...it's just going to end up being a 'he said, she said' issue. Who is lying? Who is telling the truth? The cop or the victim?
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
what a bunch of chronic whiners the NNTP/Alliance party/nayboobs are .....
the study doesn't cost the city a penny --- so the nayboobs complain that it costs too much
the police are trying to gather information to improve their service -- so the nayboobs complain that the police don't care what we think anyway
it is obvious that the nayboobs are grossly misinformed and just like to wallow in their mutual misery club.
George Amedore & Christian Klueg for NYS Senate 2016 Pete Vroman for State Assembly 2016[/size][/color]
"For this is what America is all about. It is the uncrossed desert and the unclimbed ridge. It is the star that is not reached and the harvest that is sleeping in the unplowed ground." Lyndon Baines Johnson
RE: car breaks - SPD has made arrests in some of these offenses but has also been candid about the difficulty in solving these offenses. That is why they have distibuted crime prevention reminders about not leaving valuables in your vehicle. It's not blaming the victim - rather, it is acknowledging the fact this is a problem throughout the area and it is better to prevent the theft in the first place , if possible.
There are efforts to locate stolen property - that was the rationale behind the Second Hand Dealer Ordinance - which requires businesses who sell second items to keep records and provide them to the police.
RE: tickets - no one likes getting tickets, but, just because there are ticketing details does not mean that that is the only issue police focus on. It might be a good idea to ensure that people have inspection stickers to ensure things like breaks, insurance, are in order.
The purpose of the survey was to ensure that the people who pay for police service - the taxpayers - are satisfied with the service they are paying for. It really isn't that difficult a concept to grasp. If you have a problem re: polkice service - the survey will allow that person to provide that feedback, which in turn the police say they will act on.
Logged
Sorry about the manner in which I presented my opinion. Thank you for the softness shown in pointing out my error, over looking the way I presented it and staying focused on the topic. I hadn't.
