by: MATT BARNARD & NICOLE MARSHALL World Staff Writers
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
Document: View the Tulsa Police Department citizen survey here.
Tulsa police should focus on gang violence and violent crime in general, residents say in a survey released Monday.
The survey, announced in early October, asked for opinions on the department’s performance and potential improvements and on how safe people feel in various areas of the city.
In general, Tulsans have a positive view of the Police Department, the survey suggests. About 69 percent of respondents said officers are well-trained, and 70 percent said they are well-educated.
However, the majority of respondents — 65 percent — feel less safe in Tulsa than they did five years ago.
Don’l Butler of Owasso, who was shopping at a Tulsa mall on Monday, said the home of a Tulsa friend was broken into recently and that she no longer feels as secure when she visits the city. Butler, who is 63 and walks with a cane, said she sometimes feels like a target for criminals.
“I used to feel safe, but I’m not sure I do anymore,” she said. “I’m a prime target.”
Butler, who visits Tulsa about three times a month, said the recent police cuts are a step in the wrong direction. Bringing back all the laid-off officers would help improve the city’s crime rate, she said.
“I know it’s hard for (officers) now since they got cut. There’s no way they can reach everything,” she said.
Fewer than half of the respondents said they felt safe in many parts of Tulsa, particularly at night.
Only 38 percent said they felt secure in the River Parks area, and 45 percent felt safe downtown. North Tulsa was seen as the most dang
erous area; just 12 percent of respondents said they felt safe there.
Gang violence and violent crime topped the list of crimes that concern respondents. Prostitution and shoplifting were seen as the least-pressing problems.
Slightly more than half were satisfied with police response times.
Officer Jason Willingham, a department spokesman, said the survey helps the department focus on areas where it could improve.
“We have areas we need to work on, just like in any profession,” he said. “It also shows that people are generally happy with what we do and how we act.”
Police see their main area for improvement to be increasing the public’s perception of safety in the city.
“There are several things that have to be taken into consideration that can affect perception,” Willingham said.
Increased news coverage in response to public interest in crime and safety could contribute to the perception that crime in the city is worse than it is, he said.
“Crime has not changed that much in the last five years,” he said.
The Police Department’s Web site shows that 27,515 Part One crimes were reported last year, down from the 32,107 reported in 2004. Part One crimes include homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, auto theft, burglary and larceny.
Reported crimes are compiled by the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports system, a national clearinghouse for crime statistics.
Capt. Jonathan Brooks said perception could also be affected by spikes in violent-crime categories such as robbery and homicide, even though those affect a relatively smaller number of people. For example, Tulsa had a record number of homicides, 70, last year.
“If the killings are up, people often believe that all crime is up,” Brooks said.
Carol Bush, the executive director of the Crime Commission — an organization of residents who support and work with police — said the survey was consistent with some of the feedback she hears at community meetings.
Bush said she was not surprised to see that gang violence was a top concern for the public, but she was surprised to see that only 10 percent of the respondents ranked burglary as a main issue.
“I go to meetings all over town, and at every meeting I hear horror stories about people being burglarized,” she said.
She also receives feedback on police officers and their contacts with the public.
“When I go to neighborhood meetings, I hear a lot of empathy with what is going on with the Police Department and the city and all of the politics,” Bush said. “I hear the same thing over and over again: The officers we have are great, but they are overworked.”
About the survey
In accordance with Commission on accreditation for Law enforcement agencies standards, the Tulsa Police Department surveyed Tulsa residents about the department.
It collected 1,71 surveys from nonrandomly selected respondents in five months. Methods of disseminating information about the survey and soliciting responses included notices posted at the Tulsa County Courthouse and at major area churches, inserts in utility bills and advertisements in local media.
Sixty-five responses were collected by mail, 201 in person and 1,447 online.
Source: Tulsa Police Department
Matt Barnard 581-8408
matt.barnard@tulsaworld.com
Nicole Marshall 581-8459
nicole.marshall@tulsaworld.com
