‘Boomers’ and older lead in preliminary SPPD Community Survey
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula Police Department
Published: March 10, 2010
Most have lived in Santa Paula for more than two decades, are Baby Boomers or older, and are overwhelming white and male, at least when it comes to the 135 people who have responded so far to a Community Survey sponsored by the Santa Paula Police Department.
The deadline to submit survey forms, available online and as hard copy, the latter offered in both English and Spanish, is March 31.
Police Chief Steve MacKinnon was hoping that about 500 residents, those who work in Santa Paula or have friends or family in the city, would respond to the survey launched January 18. Survey results will be incorporated into the now being prepared SPPD 5-Year Strategic Plan, which MacKinnon hopes will be completed mid-April.
MacKinnon said the survey is not only meant to gauge services and programs, but to also provide direction on what the community would like to see improved, expanded or added to the department. The Strategic Plan is “not exclusive to the survey,” he noted, and there are “a number of different directions” taken that the SPPD will accomplish over the next few years.
Of the 135 people who had taken the survey as of March 2, 72.2 percent stated they are a city resident and 53.4 percent noted they have lived in the city more than 20 years. Respondents were 61.2 percent male, and 73.6 percent of all respondents stated they are non-Hispanic.
As of March 4, MacKinnon said the SPPD started entering an influx of Spanish language hardcopy surveys into the system, “which should raise the numbers a little bit more” of Hispanic response. Due to the design of the survey entering the hard copies has “been easy to do,” except for the comment sections which require translation.
With 31.9 percent of all responders as of March 2 stating they are 51 to 65 years old, the survey so far is heavy on Baby Boomers; only 5.2 percent stated they are 20 or younger, 13.8 percent are 21 to 35 and 25.9 percent responded they belong to the 36 to 50 category. Those 65 years and older drew 23.3 percent of the responders.
The largest concentration of responders - 27.8 percent - live in the central area of the city; 11.3 percent were not sure where their area would be located, while 20 percent stated they live in the eastern area. The western section of the city drew 10.4 percent of responses and the southern area - south of Harvard Boulevard - 8.7 percent.
When it came to police contact, 32.6 percent stated they attended a community event sponsored by the SPPD and 29.3 percent said they reported a crime or suspicious activity. Being a crime victim was reported by 10.9 percent, 5.4 percent were a witness to a crime, 6.5 percent had been stopped for a traffic violation and 2.2 percent reported they had been arrested.
The quality of the SPPD’s work is also the focus of rankings, ranging from visibility of police on patrol (30.3 percent stated very good) and response times (25.7 percent rated it excellent) to graffiti abatement (31.8 percent excellent) and bike patrol (23.3 percent rated it poor), among other categories. The survey also asks ratings for a sense of neighborhood safety, while walking alone on Main Street at night, and walking alone in their own neighborhood at night.
The survey ends with comments sought on what respondents like most about living in the city, what they like least, the three biggest problems to be faced within the next five years, what SPPD services are the best, what services need to be improved, and whether there are any specific police services or programs that should be adopted or expanded upon.
The English-only Community Survey can be completed online at www.ci.santa-paula.ca.us (select Police from the City Departments listing and then click on the survey). Hard copies in English and Spanish are available at the Las Piedras Park Police Storefront, the Police Station, City Hall, and Blanchard Community Library.
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