Parsons residents asked to fill out police survey

Posted: Jan 30, 2023 / 02:05 PM CST

Updated: Jan 30, 2023 / 02:05 PM CST

PARSONS, Kans. — Parsons Police Department is sponsoring a community survey that is in partnership with the Collaborative Reform Initiative for Technical Assistance Center (CRI-TAC).

This Community Survey will be sent to each residence and can be filled out and returned using the enclosed prepaid postage. It will be analyzed by The Docking Institute at Ft. Hays State University and the results will be made available to the community.

CRI-TAC is part of the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Policing, and the program provides critical and tailored technical assistance resources to state, local, territorial, and tribal law enforcement agencies on a wide variety of topics. It features a “by the field, for the field” approach while delivering individualized technical assistance using leading experts in a range of public safety, crime reduction, and community policing topics. CRI-TAC is a public service and offered at no cost to local law enforcement agencies.

“We just asked for honest answers from the community to push our agency and city officials to the next level of public service,” said Parsons Police Chief Robert Spinks.

According to Deputy Chief Dennis Dodd, “It is very hard to gauge perceptions citizens have on crime and the level of service we provide without accurate feedback. Most of the time government agencies are inundated with negative feedback from the same handful of citizens that are naysayers. Is that limited feedback a true representation of the community or not? This is an opportunity for citizens to make their voices heard. Stop being the silent majority and tell us how we are doing. What can be better? What services do you like or expect, what is the perception of crime, versus actual crime? The survey offers us a unique opportunity to hear from our community and citizen partners.”

Surveys can be mailed back in the pre-paid envelope, dropped off at city hall (117 S 17^th) at the front counter or in the lobby of the Parsons Police Department (217 N Central) by 5 p.m. on Monday, February 13, 2023.