Appendix E - Report on the Public Awareness Survey ... · RepoRt on the Review of the police complaint pRocess in BRitish columBia e- Appendix e 1 i n T R O d U C T i O n A n d M

A p p e n d i x e

RepORT On THe pUBLiC AWAReneSS SURVeY COndUCTed FOR THe ReVieW OF THe pOLiCe COMpLAinT pROCeSS in BRiTiSH COLUMBiA

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S U B M i T T e d B Y :

police Services division September 2006

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T A B L e O F C O n T e n T S

ExEcutivE Summary ...................................................................................................................................................... 4

1 introduction and mEthodology ......................................................................................................................... 5

2 FindingS ................................................................................................................................................................ 82.1 ConfidencewithPoliceComplaintProcess........................................................................................................................8

2.1.1 ReasonsforConfidence...............................................................................................................................................92.1.2 ReasonsforLackofConfidence............................................................................................................................. 11

2.2 PoliceInvestigatingPolice..................................................................................................................................................... 112.3 ExperiencewithPoliceandwithFilingaComplaint.................................................................................................... 122.4 AwarenessoftheOPCC........................................................................................................................................................... 13

3 concluSion .........................................................................................................................................................14

annEx i: QuEStionnairE ..............................................................................................................................................15

annEx ii: rESultS tablE ..............................................................................................................................................20

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e x e C U T i V e S U M M A R Y

Aspartofthereviewofthepolicecomplaintprocess,PoliceServicesDivisionimplementedapublicawarenesssurveyacrossthe11municipalitiespolicedbyindependentforces.Thepurposeofthisresearchwasto:

• Measureawarenessoftheprocessforhandlingcomplaintsagainstpolice;

• Measuresatisfactionwiththecomplaintsprocess;and

• Provideanopportunityforthepolicecomplaintreviewteamtounderstandsomeoftheissuessurroundingpublicawarenessofthepolicecomplaintprocess.

InNovemberof2005,atotalof1,024residentsfromthe11communitiescompletedthesurveyviatelephoneinoneoffourlanguages:English,Cantonese,Mandarin,orPunjabi.Thesampleofrespondentswasselectedthroughrandom-digitdialling,andwasdesignedtomatchtheBCpopulationinregardtogender,age,andethnicorracialorigin.

Themajorfindingsofthissurveyareasfollows:

• Confidence:Justoverhalfofallparticipants(55%)reportedthattheyareconfidentorveryconfidentwiththeexistingprocessforhandlingcomplaintsagainstthepolice.Incomparison,27%providedneutralresponses,and18%saidthattheywerenotveryconfidentornotconfidentatall.

• Reasons for Confidence: Themostrecurringexplanationsprovidedwhenparticipantsreportedconfidencewiththeprocessinclude:

• Trustinthesystem;

• Positiveinteractionwithpolice;and

• Positivemediareports.

• Reasons for Lack of Confidence:Themostrecurringexplanationsprovidedwhenparticipantsreportedalackofconfidencewiththeprocessinclude:

• Beliefthatpoliceshouldnotinvestigatepolice;

• Negativeinteractionwithpolice;and

• Notrustintheprocess.

• Fairness of Local police: 78% believe investigations into complaints against the police areconductedfairlyintheirlocalpolicedepartment.

• experience with police:26%notedthattheyhavenothadanydirectcontactwiththepolice.

• Awareness of OpCC: 61% were not aware of the role of the Office of the Police ComplaintCommissioner.


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1 i n T R O d U C T i O n A n d M e T H O d O L O g Y

Aspartof thereviewof thepolicecomplaintprocess,PoliceServicesDivisioncontractedwithBCStats toimplement a public awareness survey across the 11 municipalities policed by independent forces. Thepurposeofthisresearchwasto:

• Measuretheawarenessoftheexistingprocessforhandlingcomplaintsagainstthepolice;

• Measuresatisfactionwiththecomplaintsprocess;and

• Provideanopportunityforthepolicecomplaintreviewteamtounderstandsomeoftheissuessurroundingpublicawarenessofthepolicecomplaintprocess.

InNovemberof2005,atotalof1,024residentsfromthe11communitiescompletedthesurveyviatelephonein one of four languages: English, Cantonese, Mandarin, or Punjabi. The sample of respondents wasselectedthroughrandom-digitdialling,andwasdesignedtorepresentpopulationdistributionsacrossthemunicipalities(seeTable1).PleaseseeAnnexIforacopyoftheinvitationscriptandthequestionnaire.

Table 1: Municipalities by Survey Completes1

CitySize of

population2

% ofpopulation

# ofRespondents

% ofRespondents

Abbotsford 126,634 11% 90 9%

CentralSaanich 16,451 1% 17 2%

Delta 101,843 9% 60 6%

Nelson 9,784 1% 17 2%

NewWestminster 58,286 5% 62 6%

OakBay 18,357 2% 21 2%

PortMoody 26,613 2% 25 2%

Saanich 109,639 9% 124 12%

Vancouver 583,296 50% 481 47%

Victoria 77,538 7% 94 9%

WestVancouver 43,867 4% 33 3%

TOTAL 1,172,308 100% 1,024 100%

1 Thistableliststhepopulationofeachmunicipalityincludedinthesurveyaswellasthenumberofpeopleineachmunicipalitywhocompletedthesurvey.Bothabsolutenumbersandpercentagesareprovided.Forexample,thepopulationfigureforAbbotsfordwas126,634,whichrepresented 11% of the total population of 1,172,308. Ninety people from Abbotsford completed the survey, which represented 9% ofthetotal1,024peoplewhocompletedthesurvey.ThismeansthatwhileAbbotsfordresidentsmadeup11%ofthetotalpopulation,theyrepresentedaslightlysmallershareofsurveyrespondents(9%).Thisvariance(-2%)doesnotaffecttherepresentativenessofthesample.

2 Populationestimate,2004.Source:BCStats.


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RespondentdemographicsalsomatchedthatoftheBCpopulationinregardtogender,age,andethnicorracialorigin.Three-quartersoftherespondentsidentifiedthemselvesasbeingwhite,withthelargestgroupsof visible minorities being Chinese (10%) and South Asian (4%). The majority of participants (59%) wereemployed outside the home, 17% were retired, 11% reported being in school, and 10% work within thehome.Sevenpercent(7%)oftheparticipantsidentifiedthemselvesaspersonswithadisability.SeeTable2forfurtherdetail.

Table 2: Respondent demographics

demographic # of Respondents % of Respondents

Age

<20 35 3%

20-29 163 16%

30-39 228 22%

40-49 232 23%

50-59 159 16%

60+ 203 20%

gender

Female 605 59%

Male 419 41%

Language

English 1,000 98%

Chinese 18 2%

Punjabi 6 1%

ethnicity/Cultural Background3

White 768 75%

Chinese 107 10%

SouthAsian 40 4%

Filipino 18 2%

Aboriginal/FirstNations/Indian 16 2%

Black 8 1%

LatinAmerican 8 1%

SouthEastAsian 7 1%

Japanese 6 1%

Arab/WestAsian 4 <1%

Korean 3 <1%

Other/MixedEthnicity 15 1%

employment Status

EmployedOutsideHome 600 59%

Retired 178 17%

Inschool 113 11%

Workinginthehome 104 10%

Notemployed/inschool 60 6%

Self-Employed 6 1%

OnDisability 5 <1%

person with disability 72 7%

3 ThesecategoriesarederivedfromtheStatisticsCanada2001CanadianCensus.


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Thesampleof1,024yieldsamarginoferrorof±3.0percentagepointsatthe95%confidencelevelonthekeyquestion,“Howwouldyourateyourlevelofconfidencewiththeoverallprocessforhandingcomplaintsagainstthepolice?”Fiftyfivepercent(55%)responded“Veryconfident”or“Confident”.Thismeansthatifthissurveywas repeatedlyadministered,between52%and58%of respondentswouldbeconfidentwith theprocessforhandlingcomplaintsagainstthepolice,19timesoutof20.AnnexIIcontainsoverallresultsforeachquestion.


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2 F i n d i n g S

2.1 CO n F i d e n C e W i T H p O L i C e CO M p L A i n T p R O C e S S

Asnoted,slightlymorethanhalfofallrespondents(55%)reportedconfidencewiththeexistingprocessforhandlingcomplaintsagainstthepolice.Incomparison,threeintenprovidedneutralresponseswhenaskedthiskeyquestion,whileroughlyoneinfivesaidthattheywerenotveryconfidentornotconfidentatall.

Neutral

27% Confident

42%

Not Very Confident

13%

Very Confident

13%

Not Confident

at All

5%

Someofthesmallerjurisdictionswerethemostlikelytoreceivethehighestconfidenceratings.Althoughitisnotpossibletoaccuratelycompareallmunicipalitiesduetothesizeoftherespondentpopulations,largermunicipalities,includingVancouver,rangedfrom49%to65%ofrespondentswhoreportedconfidencewiththepolicecomplaintprocess.RespondentswithinOakBay,PortMoody,andWestVancouverratedtheirlevelofconfidencewiththepolicecomplaintprocessatamuchhigherlevelcomparedtosimilarsizelocations,suchasCentralSaanichorNelson.SeeTable3fordetail.


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Table 3: Confidence with the Overall police Complaint process by Municipality

City# of

Respondents% Confident & Very

Confident%

neutral% not Very Confident

& not at All# don’t Know

OakBay 21 76% 18% 6% 4

PortMoody 25 75% 17% 8% 1

WestVancouver 33 71% 13% 16% 2

Saanich 124 65% 26% 9% 14

Abbotsford 90 63% 21% 16% 9

Delta 60 61% 28% 11% 6

CentralSaanich 17 57% 36% 7% 3

Victoria 94 51% 35% 14% 6

Vancouver 481 50% 28% 22% 45

NewWestminster 62 49% 25% 25% 7

Nelson 17 36% 21% 43% 3

TOTAL 1,024 55% 27% 18% 100

TherewasconcernaboutdatareceivedfromsurveyparticipantswithinNelson.FindingsfromthisjurisdictionmaynotbevalidduetothepotentialforparticipantconfusionbetweentheNelsonPoliceDepartmentandthelocalareaRCMP.Thesetwopoliceagencieshaverecentlyintegratedanumberofpolicingservices.ThistopicwasdiscussedwithNelsonPoliceDepartmentstaffandaPoliceBoardrepresentativewhoconfirmedthequestionofpublicconfusionbetweenthetwopoliceforces.Assuch,cautionshouldbeusedwhenreviewingdataregardingNelson.

Publicconfidencewiththeoverallprocessforhandlingcomplaintsagainstthepolicemaybeimpactedbywhether or not one has experience dealing with the police and whether that experience was positive ornegative.Onequarter(26%)oftherespondentpopulationmadeapointofstatingthattheyhavehadnocontactwiththepolice(thisquestionwasnotaskedonthissurveybecauseitwastoosensitiveandbecausepublic opinion can be based on a variety of factors, not simply direct experience alone). Of those whomentionedthattheyhadnocontactwiththepolice,49%providedneutralconfidenceratings,43%reportedbeingconfident,and8%reportedalackofconfidence.

All participants were asked to explain their reasons for stating that they were confident, neutral, or notconfidentwiththeprocessforhandlingcomplaintsagainstthepolice. Table4isorganizedbyconfidencelevel (confident,neutral,andnotconfident)andshowsthevarietyofcommentsprovided. WhenreadingTable4,itisimportanttonotethatnotallparticipantsprovidedacomment,whileothersmayhaveprovidedmorethanonereasonfortheirlevelofconfidence.

2.1.1 R e a s o n s f o R Co n f i d e n C e

Ofthosewhoreportedconfidenceintheprocess(55%),515individuals(or50%oftherespondentpopulation)provided548reasonsastowhytheywereconfident.Thereasonsmostoftencitedweretrustinthesystem,positive experiences with the police, and hearing positive media reports. Table 4 shows the reasons forconfidencegroupedintodescriptivethemesbasedontheirrecurrence.

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Trust in the System

Based on comments provided by participants who reported confidence with the process for handlingcomplaints,aninherenttrustinthesystemorinstructuredsystemsingeneral,isoneofthemainreasonsforhavingconfidence(mentionedby29%ofparticipantswhoprovidedcomment).

Individualswhosharedthistypeofcommentpointedtotheirpositiveexperienceswithothergovernmentagencies,ageneralacceptanceofthenotionthatifsomeonecomplainstheywillreceiveresponse,abeliefthat“mostpeopletrytodoagoodjob”,andtrustthatthesystemwasbuilttoaddresspublicconcerns.

Table 4: Open-ended Comments

Confidence Level and Theme# of

Comments% of

Comments

% ofRespondents

n=1,024

Confident (515 participants provided 548 comments) 548 100%

Trustinthesystem 158 29% 15%

No(bad)ExperiencewithPolice 117 21% 11%

PositiveExperiencewithPolice 87 16% 8%

PositiveMediaReports 47 9% 5%

FaithinOPCCOversight 39 7% 4%

GenerallyPositiveButFeelPoliceShouldNotInvestigatePolice 18 3% 2%

RecognitionofToughJobforPolice 16 3% 2%

NotionthatComplaintsareFrivolous 11 2% 1%

PositiveWordofMouth 9 2% 1%

PositiveSurveyDescriptionofOPCC 8 1% 1%

PositiveSelfKnowledgeofProcess 7 1% 1%

Miscellaneous 31 6% 3%

neutral (196 participants provided 213 comments) 213 100%

NoExperience 131 62% 13%

PoliceInvestigatingPolice 18 8% 2%

PositiveandNegativeMediaReports 14 7% 1%

PositiveandNegativeWordofMouth 7 3% 1%

NegativeExperiences 6 3% 1%

Trustinthesystem 5 2% <1%

FaithinOPCCOversight 5 2% <1%

PositiveandNegativeExperiences 3 1% <1%

NotionofBiasTowardPolice 2 1% <1%

LackofKnowledgeAboutProcess 2 1% <1%


not Confident (171 participants provided 192 comments) 192 100%

PoliceShouldNotInvestigatePolice 47 24% 5%

NegativeExperiencewithPolice 27 14% 3%

NoExperiencewithPolice 21 11% 2%

NoTrustintheProcess 14 7% 1%

NegativeMediaReports 11 6% 1%

NoFaithinOPCCOversight 10 5% 1%

NoTrustinGovernment/Bureaucracy 10 5% 1%

NoPunishmentAnyway 8 4% 1%

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NegativeWordofMouth 7 4% 1%

BiasExistsinFavourofPolice 7 4% 1%

ComplaintsNotTreatedSeriously 5 3% <1%


grand Total (882 participants provided 953 comments) 953 100% 86%

Positive Experience

Lackofexperiencewiththepolice(21%)anddirectpositiveexperiences(16%)werealsoquotedasreasonswhy participants feel confident about the process for handling complaints. Responses categorized underthese themes are different than the above‘trust in the system’. For example, when asked to explain whytheyreportedbeingconfidentwiththeprocess,oneparticipantrespondedwith“becauseI’veneverhadanycomplaints”andanotherstated“wheneverIhadtodealwith[thepolice]it’salwaysbeenagoodexperience.”

Other Elements

Otherelementsthatinfluencedparticipants’confidencewiththeprocessforhandlingcomplaintsincludedattentiontopositivemediareports(9%),andknowledgeoftheindependenceofOfficeofthePoliceComplaintCommissioner (the“OPCC”) as an oversight body (7%). Please seeTable 4 for a complete list of reasonsprovidedbyrespondentsastowhytheyreportedbeingconfidentwiththecomplaintsprocess.

2.1.2 R e a s o n s f o R L a C k o f Co n f i d e n C e

Thosewhoreportedalackofconfidencewiththecomplaintsprocesswereaskedtoexplainwhytheywerenotconfident.The171participantswhoreportedalackofconfidenceprovided192distinctreasonswhichweregroupedintothematiccategories.Themostoftennotedreasonsincludedasensethattheprocesslacksindependencethrough its relianceon internal investigations (mentionedby24%of the respondentswhoprovidedcomment),generalnegativeexperienceswiththepolice(14%),andalackoftrustinthepoliceorthecomplaintsprocessingeneral(7%).

There is also some evidence to suggest that non-white4 respondents were more likely to report a lack ofconfidence with the process compared to Caucasian respondents (45% to 58%, respectively). The ethnicgroupswhoreportedthehighestlevelsofnon-confidenceincludeSouthAsian,Black,Arab/WestAsian,andSouthEastAsian;however,therespondentpopulationswerenotlargeenoughtomakethisdeterminationconclusively.

2.2 p O L i C e i n V e S T i g AT i n g p O L i C e

Eventhoughpoliceinvestigatingpolicewascitedasthemostcommonreasonforalackofconfidencewiththe complaints process, more than three-quarters (78%) of all respondents thought investigations intocomplaintswereconductedfairlybytheirownpolicedepartments.

Resultsacrossallincludedmunicipalitiesweresimilarinregardtoahighnumberofparticipantswhoreportedthat theybelieve investigations intocomplaintsagainst thepoliceareconductedfairly. However, there issomeevidencetosuggestthatmunicipalitieswherecitizensweremorelikelytoreportbeliefinthefairnessoftheirdepartment’sinternalinvestigationsweregenerallymorelikelytoreporthigherlevelsofconfidenceinthesystemoverall.SeeTable5forinformation.

4 Thetermnon-whiteisusedtodenotethefollowingethnicgroupings,asutilizedbyStatisticsCanadainthe2001CanadianCensus:Aboriginal/FirstNations/Indian,Chinese,SouthAsian,Black,Arab/WestAsian,Filipino,SouthEastAsian,LatinAmerican,Japanese,andKorean.


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Thepotentialforcontradictionbetweenhighratingsforlocalpolicecomplaintinvestigations,versuslowerlevelsofconfidenceoverall,suggeststhatelementsotherthanconcernregardingpoliceinvestigatingpolicelikelycontributetovariedratesofpublicconfidence.

Table 5: Fairness of Complaints investigations and Confidence with Overall process by Municipality

City% Who Believe

Local police investigationsare Conducted Fairly

% Confident orVery Confident

with Overall process

PortMoody 100% 75%

OakBay 94% 76%

Delta 90% 61%

Abbotsford 89% 63%

WestVancouver 86% 71%

Saanich 86% 65%

Victoria 79% 51%

CentralSaanich 79% 57%

NewWestminster 78% 49%

Nelson 73% 36%

Vancouver 70% 50%

TOTAL 78% 55%

2.3 e x p e R i e n C e W i T H p O L i C e A n d W i T H F i L i n g A CO M p L A i n T

Overall,15%oftheparticipants(148people)reportedhavinghadconcernsabouttheactionsorcommentsofapoliceofficer,ortheserviceprovidedbytheirlocalpolicedepartmentwithinthepasttwoyears.Someoftheseconcernsresultedfromdirectcontactwiththepoliceandothersdevelopedasaresultofmediaattentiontopoliceactions.Bymunicipality,thepercentoftheparticipantswhoreportedhavinghadconcernsaboutanofficerorthedepartmentvariesfrom4%to24%(thoughthesamplesizesweretoosmalltodoanaccuratecomparisonbetweenmunicipalities).

Overall,two-thirdsofthosewithconcernselectednottoreportthoseconcernstoanygroupor individual(whetherthecomplaintwastheresultofdirectcontactornot).Justunderone-thirdofthosewithconcerns(28%or41people)notedthattheyreportedtheirconcernstoagrouporagency.Two-thirds(63%)ofthosewhoreportedtheirconcernsdidsoat their localpolicedepartment;while12%reportedtoacommunityagencyoradvocacygroup,5%totheOPCC,and2%totheir localgovernmentrepresentativeorviaothermeans.Ofthe41individualswhoreportedtheirconcernstoanygroup,only15recallbeingtoldofthestepstheycouldtaketoaddressthecomplaintandone-quarter(10people)filedaformalwrittencomplaint.ThePoliceDepartmentorOPCCfollowedupwithorrespondedtotheformalcomplaintsofall10.SeeTable6.

Table 6: Reporting of and Response to Complaints

# Respondents

# With Concerns

# Raised Concernswith Any

group

# Raised Concerns

with police or OpCC

# informed of Steps

# Filed Formal Complaint

# Received Response to their Formal

Complaint

1,024 148 41 28 15 10 10

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Thosewhomentionedthattheyhadconcernsbutdidnotcomplainformallyprovidednumerousreasonsfornotfiling.Acrossmunicipalitiesandracialorethnicgroups,thetopreasonswhytheseparticipantsdidnotformallycomplaininclude:

• 27%feltnothingwouldbedoneaboutthecomplaint;

• 19%didnotknowwhototalkto;

• 16%felttheincidentwasn’timportantenough;

• 12%saiditwastheirwordagainstanofficer’s;

• 12%dealtwiththecomplaintinanotherway;and

• 8%fearedretaliationfromthepolice.

Someofthereasonsselectedabovespeaktoissuesofaccessibilityandconfidenceregardingthetreatmentofcomplaintsagainstthepolice.Thesepointscanbecomparedtosomeoftheopen-endedcommentsmadebythosewhowerenotconfidentwiththeoverallprocessforhandlingcomplaints.Approximately15%ofparticipantswhoprovidedcommentregardingwhytheywerenotconfidentnotedthattheydidnottrustthe process for handling complaints, felt that there would not be punishment delivered to errant officersregardlessoftheoutcomeoftheinvestigation,orthatcomplaintsingeneralarenottreatedseriously.

2.4 AWA R e n e S S O F T H e O p CC

RespondentswereaskedwhethertheywereawareoftheroleoftheOPCC,and,ifso,howtheyhadheardabouttheOPCC.Thosewhowerenotawarewereprovidedwithadescriptionoftheroleandresponsibilitiesandinformedthat,shouldtheyeverhaveacomplaint,staffateithertheOPCCortheirlocalpolicedepartmentwouldbeabletohelpthemunderstandthecomplaintsprocess.

Overall,61%ofrespondentswerenotpreviouslyawareoftheroleofOPCC.Thisresultdidnotdiffersignificantlybymunicipality,however,whencomparingethnicbackground,43%ofCaucasianrespondentsreportedbeingawareoftheroleoftheOPCCcomparedtoonly26%ofthoseofotherethnicorracialbackground.

OfthosewhowereawareoftheroleoftheOPCC,threeinfivehadreadabouttheofficeinthenewspaper,twoinfivelearnedviatelevision,andlessthanoneinfiveheardthroughwordofmouth.Only3%oftheentiresamplehadeverhaddirectcontactwiththeOPCCinpast.

Open-endedcommentsprovidedbyrespondentsregardingtheOPCCsuggestthatthereissomeconfusionregardingtheroleoftheOPCC.Afewindividualswhoreportedalackofconfidencewiththeprocessoverallappear to assume that the OPCC is an extension of the police department, or that the OPCC follows anAmerican-stylePoliceCommissionermodel.OthersquestionedthelevelofindependenceoftheOPCC,citingthattheofficehas“toocloseofatietothePoliceDepartment.”

On the other hand, some of the comments provided by those who reported confidence with the overallprocessshowedthatsomeparticipantsbelievethattheOPCCisindependent,butalsobelieveitistheOPCCwhoconductsinvestigationsandhastheauthoritytoquestionpoliceofficersastotheirconduct.

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3 C O n C L U S i O n

Publicopinionhasshownthatjustoverhalfofallrespondentshaveconfidenceintheprocessforhandlingcomplaintsagainstthepolice.Asdiscussedthroughoutthisreport,concernsregardingtheindependenceofinvestigations,negativeexperienceswiththepoliceingeneral,andalackoftrustcontributetothislevelofconfidencewiththeprocess.

Increasing public awareness of the process is likely the single most important factor in increasing publicconfidence.Increasedawarenessofthestepsthatonecouldtaketoaddressacomplaint,aswellasincreasedawareness regardingtheroleandfunctionof theOPCC,wouldallowBCresidents tohavegreater trust inthesystem,knowledgeoftheirownrightsandmeansforredress,andknowledgeoftheprocessfor‘checksand balances’ provided by the OPCC (elements noted by those who did report having higher levels ofconfidence).


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A n n e x i : Q U e S T i O n n A i R e

Postalcodescreener ___________

PoliceDepartment ___________

Languageconducted ___________

Gender ___________

O p e n i n g S C R i p T:

Hello,I’mcallingonbehalfofBCStats.BCStatsisconductingastudyonpeople’sperceptionoftheprovincialprocessforhandlingpubliccomplaintsagainstthepolice.Youhavebeenrandomlyselectedtoparticipateinthisvoluntarysurvey.Wewillbeconductingthissurveywith1,000BCresidents,andallinformationwecollectwillbekeptstrictlyconfidentialasguaranteedbytheStatisticsAct.Yournamewillneverbeconnectedtoyouranswersinanyway.Weareaskingfor10minutesofyourtimetohelpusunderstandpublicviewsofthepolicecomplaintsprocess.Areyouinterestedinparticipatinginthissurvey?

p O L i C e CO M p L A i n T S p R O C e S S :

1. in the past 2 years, have you had concerns about the actions or comments of a police officer, or the service provided by the police department in your community?

Yes

No–GotoQ7

Don’tKnow/Don’tRemember–GotoQ7


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2. did you raise your concerns with any of the following groups or individuals?

PoliceDepartment

TheOfficeofthePoliceComplaintsCommissioner

MP/MLA/CityCounsellor

CommunityOrganizationorAdvocacyGroup(i.e.,CivilLibertiesAssociation)

Other,pleasespecify___________

Didnotraiseconcernswithanyone–GotoQ6

Don’tKnow/Don’tRemember–GotoQ7

3. did the person or organization you raised your complaint with inform you of the steps you could take to address the complaint?

Yes

No

Don’tKnow/Don’tRemember

4. did you file a formal written complaint with the police department or the Office of the police Complaints Commissioner?

Yes–DonotincludeQ6

No–IncludeQ6

Don’tKnow/Don’tRemember–DonotincludeQ6

5. did the police department or Office of the police Complaints Commissioner follow up with or respond to your complaint?

Yes

No

Substitute “raise your concerns” for “file a formal written complaint” depending on previous question

6. What is the main reason you did not raise your concerns / file a formal written complaint? Check all that apply.

Incidentnotimportantenough

Didn’tknowwhototalkto

Languageisanissue/theywouldnotunderstandme

Theprocesswastooconfusing

Dealtwithitinanotherway

It’snotpartofmyculture

Noonecan/willdoanythingaboutit

It’smywordagainstapoliceofficer’s

Fearofretaliationfromthepolice

Ialreadydidmypart(i.e.,gaveverbalcomplaint)

Other,pleasespecify_____________________________________


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O F F i C e O F T H e p O L i C e CO M p L A i n T S CO M M i S S i O n e R :

7. Are you aware of the role of the Office of the police Complaints Commissioner for British Columbia?

Yes

No–explaintheRoleoftheOPCCandGotoQ10

8. How did you hear about the Office of the police Complaints Commissioner?

Wordofmouth/Newspaper/TV/PostedInfo/Radio/Website/Brochure/

Referralfromapolicedepartment/Communityorganizationoradvocacygroup

IfQ2answerincludedOPCC–GotoQ10

9. Have you ever been in contact with the Office of the police Complaints Commissioner?

Yes

No

Don’tKnow/Don’tRemember

O V e R A L L Q U e S T i O n S :

10. How would you rate your level of confidence with the overall process for handing complaints against the police?

VeryConfident–GotoQ13

Confident–GotoQ13

Neutral–GotoQ12

NotVeryConfident–GotoQ11

NotConfidentAtAll–GotoQ11

Don’tKnow/NoOpinion–GotoQ13

11. please explain why you are not confident with the overall process for handing complaints against the police. – go to Q14

__________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Role of the OpCC:

“Theroleof theOfficeof thePoliceComplaintsCommissioner is tomakesurecomplaintsagainst municipal police are handled fairly. If necessary, the Commissioner can order anexternalinvestigationorcallforaPublicHearing.Ifyouwishtomakeacomplaint,youcandosoatyourlocalPoliceDepartmentorattheOfficeofthePoliceComplaintsCommissioner.Staffateitherlocationwillhelpyouunderstandthecomplaintsprocessandyourrights,andassistyouinmakingsureyouhavealltheinformationyouwouldneedtofileacomplaint.”

Role of the OpCC:

“Theroleof theOfficeof thePoliceComplaintsCommissioner is tomakesurecomplaintsagainst municipal police are handled fairly. If necessary, the Commissioner can order anexternalinvestigationorcallforaPublicHearing.Ifyouwishtomakeacomplaint,youcandosoatyourlocalPoliceDepartmentorattheOfficeofthePoliceComplaintsCommissioner.Staffateitherlocationwillhelpyouunderstandthecomplaintsprocessandyourrights,andassistyouinmakingsureyouhavealltheinformationyouwouldneedtofileacomplaint.”


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12. please explain why you gave a neutral rating for the overall process for handing complaints against the police. – go to Q14

__________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________

13. please explain why you are confident with the overall process for handing complaints against the police.

__________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________________

14. in your local police department, do you believe investigations into complaints against the police are conducted fairly?

Yes

No

Don’tKnow

d e M O g R A p H i C S :

15. What is your age?

Under20

20-29

30-39

40-49

50-59

60ormoreyears

16. do you consider yourself to be a person with a disability?

Yes

No

17. What is your racial or ethnic background?

White(e.g.,French,German,Scottish,Irish)

Aboriginal/FirstNations/Indian

Chinese

SouthAsian(e.g.,EastIndian,Pakistani,Punjabi,SriLankan)

Black(e.g.,African,Haitian,Jamaican,Somali)

Arab/WestAsian(e.g.,Armenian,Egyptian,Iranian,Lebanese,Moroccan)

Filipino

SouthEastAsian(e.g.,Cambodian,Indonesian,Laotian,Vietnamese)

LatinAmerican

Japanese

Korean

Other,pleasespecify_________________________________


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18. Regarding work, are you:

Inschool

Employedoutsidethehome

Workinginthehome

Notcurrentlyemployed/notinschool

Retired

Other,pleasespecify_________________________________

CO n TAC T i n F O pAg e : (only for those who said yes in Q1)Ifyouwouldliketoparticipateinaninterview,youcancallthereviewteamtoarrangeone.ThetelephonenumberinVancouveris(604)660-2906.Ifyouarecallingfromoutsidethelowermainland,pleasefeelfreetocallcollect.

C LO S i n g S C R i p T:

Thank you very much for taking the time you participate in this survey. Your assistance is appreciated.Goodbye.


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A n n e x i i : R e S U L T S T A B L e �

# public Awareness Survey Results Overall # %

1 Inthepast2years,haveyouhadconcernsabouttheactionsorcommentsofapoliceofficer,ortheserviceprovidedbythepolicedepartmentinyourcommunity? 148 15%

2 Didyouraiseyourconcernswithanyofthefollowinggroupsorindividuals? n=148

Didnotraiseconcerns 100 71%

Department 26 18%

Other 7 4%

CommunityOrganization/AdvocacyGroup 5 1%

OPCC 2 1%

MP/MLA/CityCounsellor 1 0%

Don’tKnow/Don’tRemember 7 5%

3 Didthepersonororganizationyouraisedyourcomplaintwithinformyouofthestepsyoucouldtaketoaddressthecomplaint? n=41 15 37%

4 DidyoufileaformalwrittencomplaintwiththePoliceDepartmentortheOfficeofthePoliceComplaintCommissioner? n=41 10 26%

5 DidthePoliceDepartmentorOfficeofthePoliceComplaintCommissionerfollowupwithorrespondtoyourcomplaint? n=41 10 26%

6 Whatisthemainreasonyoudidnotraiseyourconcern/fileaformalcomplaint? n=129

Noonewoulddoanything 35 27%

Didn’tknowwhototalkto 24 19%

Incidentnotimportantenough 21 16%

Other 15 12%

Mywordagainstanofficer’s 15 12%

Dealtwithinanotherway 12 9%

Fearofretaliation 10 8%

Alreadydidmypart 3 2%

Processtooconfusing 2 2%

Notpartofmyculture,Languageisanissue mentioned once each 2 2%

Don’tKnow/NoOpinion 9 7%

7 AreyouawareoftheroleoftheOPCCforBritishColumbia? yes 400 39%

8 HowdidyouhearabouttheOPCC? n=400

Newspaper 224 58%

TV 145 37%

5 Resultsforquestions11-13and15-18arenotincludedintheTablebecausetheyareopen-endedordemographicquestions.

RepoRt on the Review of the police complaint pRocess in BRitish columBia e-21

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WordofMouth 54 14%

Radio 32 8%

AtWork 22 6%

ReferralfromaPoliceDepartment 11 3%

Website 9 2%

PublicKnowledge 8 2%

FamilyMember/FriendinthePolice 7 2%

PostedInfo. 7 2%

CommunityorganizationorAdvocacyGroup 6 2%

News 4 1%

Brochure 4 1%

Lawyer 2 1%

AtSchool 2 1%

Other 5 1%

Don’tKnow 15 4%

9 HaveyoueverbeenincontactwiththeOfficeofthePoliceComplaintCommissioner? n=400 13 3%

10 Howwouldyourateyourlevelofconfidencewiththeoverallprocessforhandingcomplaintsagainstthepolice? Confident 512 55%

Neutral 246 27%

Not Confident 166 18%

Don’t Know No Opinion 100

14Inyourlocalpolicedepartment,doyoubelieveinvestigationsintocomplaintsagainstthepoliceareconductedfairly? Yes

588 78%

Documents

Appendix E - Report on the Public Awareness Survey ... · RepoRt on the Review of the police complaint pRocess in BRitish columBia e- Appendix e 1 i n T R O d U C T i O n A n d M