BEND, OR -- Bend Police released the results of the latest community survey at Wednesday’s city council meeting. Chief Mike Krantz says 79% of respondents identified Bend PD as trustworthy - 4% higher than the previous survey in 2021. But he noted a high number of people who responded to the bi-annual community survey had not had direct contact with an officer.
He says the department’s “SPIDR Tech” program constantly surveys people who call in for help or service, "80% of these responses had direct contact," Krantz told the Council, "And I’m making this comparison because what we saw is 86% of the community did not. But the results are the same, particularly around trust. Because really, trust is everything we have in the community and that’s how we can continue to police efficiently."
The previous survey in 2021 showed people want more information about Bend PD’s work. Krantz says, while communication has improved, more needs to be done, "We can do amazing work, we can do terrible work; whatever we do, if we don’t communicate it and be transparent with it and tell what we’re doing and educate folks, people don’t know you’re doing it. So, a lot of the responses we got in the survey were, ‘oh, do this, do that.’ We already do those things, but it’s that we maybe haven’t shared it well enough. Since the last survey, we hired our Community Relation PIO, so we’re working a lot on expanding our communication tactics and techniques and getting more information out there when we can." Councilors praised that PIO - Sheila Miller - for her work in the hours and days following the deadly Safeway shooting last August. According to the survey, the agency's response to that active shooter incident also helped increase trust in the department.
Overall, Krantz says, his department has a good reputation, "It’s really a culture here, that they leave no stone unturned and they work really diligently and hard to do it. And that really leads to solved crimes, which makes people more satisfied with law enforcement; they trust the police when they know they’re out there doing the work. They’re doing follow-up, they’re getting interviews from victims and witnesses, and they’re doing the work they expect the police to do. But what that really results in, is our police are taking between 15 and 20 calls for service a day. That’s an extraordinarily high number."
Quality of life issues concerning respondents included homelessness, substance abuse and minor crimes. Drug and alcohol offenses were rated as major problems.
