Featured Story

Committee ponders results of police performance survey

Supervisor Gerry Siller pronounced the recent police survey “pretty positive overall” at the March 4 meeting of the Police Reform and Reinvention Collaboration Committee. The committee was set up in response to a state mandate that all departments in New York determine ways to improve policing.

As the discussion of the previous night’s listening session and review of the survey conducted last month progressed, committee member Jason Shields cautioned his colleagues not to base all their recommendations from a limited number of respondents. Because there were so few residents at the listening session, and 577 responding to the survey, the numbers could be skewed, Mr. Shields said.

He wasn’t suggesting the responses be ignored, but they be put into perspective with all of the information gathered to date through interviews with representatives of groups and individuals that the committee has sought input.

Of the 581 who responded to the survey, only 10 did so in Spanish, and four people opted to take the survey on paper rather than online.

Many survey responses paralleled what the community members have heard from others who have expressed satisfaction with police procedures. But there was a consensus among members that they needed more information about why people responded as they did.

Member Ellen Gove said the committee as a whole was “a little surprised” about some answers.

To several questions, there were scores of 95% to 98% approval for the way the Police Department is functioning. That applied to questions of general feelings of safety in the community, while driving and while shopping, working or attending events on the Island.

Seventy-five percent of respondents were confident police are doing their jobs well with 6% disagreeing. Others had no opinion. But 90% said they feel comfortable calling police for help with only 4% saying they don’t, and 62% believe their complaints are taken seriously, while 18% said they had no such confidence.

Another 67% said they believe police make decisions that benefit everyone in the community, while 12% disagreed.

As for the use of excessive force by police, 17 people answered there was, while 370 believe there is no excessive use of force by local officers. Chief Jim Read has said there have been only four cases in which people thought there was inappropriate use of force, and he doesn’t think the allegations were accurate.

A question about whether respondents have been victims of or witnessed racial profiling drew 88.6% who said “no,” while 11.3% said “yes.” Among the few people responding in Spanish , 100% said “no.”

About 60% said they have confidence the Police Department would fully investigate a complaint against an officer or police misconduct, while 18% said they did not trust that would be the case. But among people responding in Spanish, eight said they trusted police to handle such complaints and one had no opinion.

The committee doesn’t have information on why people responded to that question as they did, member Don D’Amato said.

Another question about whether respondents think there’s a need for changes in Police Department policies, 31% said changes are needed, but there were no specific suggestions of what to change. Another 25% saw no need for policy changes while eight people responding in Spanish said they thought there was no need for any changes.

Are minority residents treated differently than others? There were 40% of respondents who did not think so, while 24% said they thought that was the case. But among Spanish respondents, only one said “yes” with four disagreeing, and four others who had no opinion.

With respect to hiring practices that the chief has said are controlled by Civil Service requirements, 52% would like to see more Blacks on the force; 59% more Spanish speaking officers; 65% more women; and 34% who thought the department is fine as it is.

With respect to spending money to increase officers’ Spanish speaking abilities, 55% said they favored that action, while 20% did not and another 19% said they had no opinion.

Budgeting also came into the equation on spending to support the costs of purchasing and using body cameras. There were 32% who said they would favor a single year budget increase; 25% who would accept a budget increase for one to three years; and 8% said they would accept a budget increase for four to five years.

But 35% of respondents said they don’t think body cameras are necessary.

The full survey results appear on the Police Department website, accessible from the Shelter Island Town site at shelterislandtown.us.