More than half of respondents in a survey say they trust the Springfield Police Department at about the same level as a year ago.
Researchers began by working with the SPD to identify a random sample of 7,500 households, or 29% of Springfield's residences. Each one was mailed an invitation with a link to the online survey, followed by two reminder cards. A final total of 861 responses were received, giving a 12% response rate.
An additional "open" survey was distributed after the random survey was finished. The SPD posted invitations and a survey link to their official website, Facebook page, and Twitter account, as well as working with city officials and news organizations. This resulted in 858 more usable responses.
Averaging out responses from the random and open samples, 55% of Springfield residents feel they trust the SPD, with most saying they’d work with law enforcement in reporting crimes and addressing public safety concerns.
Of the roughly 20% who said their trust decreased in the past year, some said the SPD’s handling of protesters - particularly the Black Lives Matter movement – was upsetting, with one commenter saying SPD officers directed counterprotesters to aggressively engage people in Thurston in June 2020.
Of the roughly 25% who said their trust in the SPD improved, respondents said new leadership, improved community engagement, and increased training helped.
On the topic of trust and confidence in SPD officers, roughly 2/3 to 70% of respondents said "strongly agree" or "agree" that officers were trustworthy.
The report states, "People under age 45 expressed less trust in SPD compared to those 45 and older. Similarly, people who had lived in Springfield less than five years had less trust than residents with five or more years in the city. Finally, recent victims of crime in the city had significantly lower ratings on trust than nonvictims.
"The findings from the Random sample were basically the same. Younger people, those who more recently moved to the city, and recent crime victims had lower levels of trust (second data column in table). Sex, race, ethnicity, and a recent officer-initiated contact were unrelated to mean trust scores."
Regarding increasing trust, one commenter touched on the theme of improved diversity and equity, saying:
"Diversify the force and those in command. The SPD actions during BLM protests here in Springfield were disrespectful and at times downright hostile. The video of White SPD officers collaborating and encouraging white supremacists in locating BLM marchers is despicable and shameful."
Recent moves to increase transparency, accountability, and better outcomes such as de-escalation training and working with CAHOOTS earned positive scores with the random and open sample groups, with roughly 70% saying these gave them better perceptons of the SPD.
And roughly 90% (answering "strongly agree" or "agree") would call on the SPD or cooperate with them to address crime and public safety in their neighborhood.
The survey results come a couple weeks after Andrew Shearer, the SPD's new police chief, was sworn in. Talking to KLCC in March, Shearer acknowledged the highs and lows of the department, particularly following a sex scandal, the resignation of the previous chief, and complaints over how officers treated protesters during 2020's social justice marches and protests.
“Anytime you talk about culture, that’s something that takes a significant amount of time, it’s not something that happens overnight,” said Shearer. “But the way you accomplish that, you have to have a healthy organization, and you do that by providing best practices in terms of policy, best practices in terms of training, best practices in terms of accountability for the people that work within that organization.”
Shearer added that at the core of the SPD were “tremendous men and women” who the people of Springfield “can be very proud of.”
Meanwhile, a lawsuit filed against the SPD by the Civil Liberties Defense Center for its action against Thurston protesters in 2020 is wrapping up its discovery phase, a CLDC attorney has told KLCC. They expect to reach the summary judgment phase this summer.
The Springfield PD and Portland State University developed the survey. More findings will be shared April 27 from 5:00-6:00pm at the Springfield Justice Center.
Copyrighgt @2022, KLCC.
