A recent community satisfaction survey conducted in Saskatoon shows 87% of residents are satisfied with the Saskatoon Police Service.

The survey, which is conducted every three years by Insightrix, also showed the following results;

Overall service satisfaction was 87% in 2021. The satisfaction level was noticeably higher than the national level of 75% in a recent survey by Angus Reid but down from 93% in 2017.

86% of respondents felt safe in their neighbourhoods

Residents in Central Division were less likely to feel safe in their neighbourhoods (54%) compared to East Division (93%) and Northwest Division (85%)

Most common reasons cited for feeling unsafe in their neighbourhoods included suspicious people, general feelings of unease, fear of physical assault, lack of police in the area, and recent incidents in the area.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted perceptions of policing problems and priorities.

Survey results indicate that, within neighbourhoods, police not being visible and public safety in general have increased in perceived importance. In terms of specific crimes, housebreaking/break and enters remain the most important perceived importance (30%) with drug law enforcement (20%) and robbery (17%) rounded out the top three.

81% of respondents believed quality of service by SPS officers was good or excellent.

The public sentiment for Body-Worn Cameras is extremely supportive.

98% of respondents support the use of body-worn cameras by police generally.

88% of respondents believe the use of body-worn cameras will increase public trust in police.

51% of respondents visit Saskatoon’s downtown on a monthly or less frequent basis.

71% of respondents found social disorder to be the most important issue in downtown. Specifically, respondents cited homelessness and panhandling as the most pressing issues related to social disorder in downtown.

Respondents were very supportive of initiatives focusing around redefining role of police.

92% of respondents would support an alternative response officer responding to their call for service if the call was non-criminal and non-threatening in nature

94% of respondents felt it was valuable to partner police with a mental health professional for the purposes of responding to calls that are non-criminal and non-threatening in nature.

For more information, please visit; https://saskatoonpolice.ca/surveyresults/.