Garth Stapley: Clean up your police chief survey, Modesto City Hall
As I responded to an online survey asking people for input on Modesto’s next police chief, the first question tripped me up.
“Please rank each of the following priorities of the Modesto Police Department on a scale from 1 to 10,” the directions read, followed by an array of things that cops do, including crime prevention, solving crimes, dealing with the homeless, ushering in reform and interacting with the community.
Because of the way it’s written, I couldn’t tell whether the survey wanted me to rank my priorities for police, or what I think police officers’ priorities are for themselves.
They are two very different things.
Is City Hall trying to measure what people want police to do, or what people think police think they should do?
People’s answers will depend entirely on how they interpret the poorly worded question. And no survey, especially one this important, should leave people scratching their heads.
The rest of the survey should render valuable information on public attitudes toward police and the future chief, who will succeed Galen Carroll, a popular leader who now is deputy director of security at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Interim Chief Brandon Gillespie is in the running. City Manager Joe Lopez told me Wednesday he expects to interview finalists in late June and make a decision in July.
The new chief must be open-minded about improving department culture. City officials, led by Mayor Sue Zwahlen, will host an all-important Forward Together listening session at 10 a.m. Saturday, to hear what people think about police. Public input will inform the work of a yet-to-be-formed committee, which could lead to civilian oversight.
By all means, take the online survey, www.surveymonkey.com/r/ModestoPC, and say your piece Saturday. It’s important that leaders hear what we think, even if they have trouble knowing how to ask.
