Majority of U.S. Citizens Feel Safe in Their Neighborhoods but Want Police to Increase Community Collaboration & Their Use of...
April 23 2015 - 7:13AM
Business Wire
Citizens show strong desire to play a greater
role in community policing
While the vast majority of U.S. citizens feel safe in their
neighborhoods, more than three-fourths (76 percent) believe there
is room for improvement in how police services are delivered
locally, according to results of an Accenture (NYSE:ACN) survey of
2,000 U.S. citizens.
Specifically, the survey found that nine in 10 respondents
(91 percent) said they feel safe in their neighborhoods, and
almost the same number (85 percent) said they are generally
satisfied with their local police services. Yet more than
two-thirds of citizens (70 percent) also believe that the
effectiveness of police services would be increased by greater use
of digital technologies by police.
For instance, more than nine in 10 citizens said they want their
police forces to provide new ways to report crime (91 percent),
increase information sharing on police services (92 percent) and
collaborate with citizens through community policing programs (91
percent). Citizens also support the greater use of digital
communications to interact with police: Nearly nine in 10
respondents (86 percent) said they want more police services
available online, and more than two-thirds (71 percent) said they
want better mobile access to police services and public safety
information.
The survey findings are being released by Accenture to coincide
with a public safety summit hosted by Accenture in collaboration
with Leadership for a Networked World and the Technology and
Entrepreneurship Center taking place this weekend at Harvard
University.
“The survey identified strong citizen support for their local
police and an eagerness among citizens to engage and collaborate
with police to fight crime,” said Wai-Ming Yu, who leads Accenture’s State & Local Policing
business in North America. “This highlights an opportunity to
improve the level of collaboration, through better information
sharing and engagement between police and the public, both
in-person and through new digital technologies. Increased
collaboration will help local police forces reduce operating costs
and increase crime reporting, ultimately enabling them to better
protect and serve citizens.”
Respondents between 18 and 34 years old were more likely than
older respondents to say that new technologies have the potential
to increase police effectiveness – cited by 76 percent of the
younger respondents, versus 60 percent of those aged over 55 years.
In addition, three-quarters (77 percent) of the respondents aged
18-34 said their preferred method of communicating with police is
by mobile device contrasting with 60 percent of respondents aged
over 55 years.
The survey, similar to previous studies undertaken by Accenture
in 2014 and 2012, identified a strong desire among citizens to play
a greater role in community policing. Almost all respondents (95
percent) said they are willing to collaborate with their local
police, and two-thirds (67 percent) said they would anonymously
report crime and public safety incidents to police using digital
communications channels. More than half of citizens (52 percent)
said they would participate in a community policing program, such
as neighborhood watch.
“The good news from this survey is that the majority of
respondents trust their police force and are willing to collaborate
with them to fight crime,” said Jody Weis, a retired Chicago
police superintendent and a director with Accenture Police
Services. “However, citizens say their police forces can improve
how they partner with them to problem-solve and reduce crime. Now
more than ever, citizens want their local police force to involve
them in efforts to reduce crime in their neighborhoods by providing
more opportunities for engagement, increased digital services, and
a local leadership vision that can drive collaboration and increase
trust between police and their communities.”
When respondents between 18 and 34 years old were asked what one
action they would suggest their police chief undertake to improve
local police services, more than three-quarters of those
respondents (79 percent) suggested prioritizing community
relations, this contrasts with 6 percent of those respondents aged
35-54 years and 7 percent of those aged over 55 years who viewed
community relations as a top priority.
While citizens want more ways to report crime and help support
crime-reduction efforts, the survey found that three-fourths (75
percent) of respondents believe that crimes in their neighborhoods
are reported only sometimes or rarely. The primary reasons that
respondents cited for citizens failing to report crimes are not
wanting to become involved in an incident that does not directly
relate to them (42 percent) and fear of retaliation from a
third-party (29 percent).
Learn more about Accenture’s global Public Safety business and
Delivering Public Service for the Future.
Methodology
Accenture surveyed 2,000 citizens across the United States to
capture their attitudes, perspectives and behaviors concerning
local police services and police use of technology, and to identify
citizen expectations regarding interacting and collaborating with
police. The online quantitative survey, fielded by Penn Schoen
Berland during September 2014, has a margin of error of ±2.19
percentage points.
About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services
and outsourcing company, with more than 323,000 people serving
clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled
experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and
business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most
successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help
them become high-performance businesses and governments. The
company generated net revenues of US$30.0 billion for the fiscal
year ended Aug. 31, 2014. Its home page is
www.accenture.com.
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Accenture Health & Public ServiceJoe Doyle, + 353 87
2507583joe.x.doyle@accenture.com
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