DPD: Citizen survey responses needed

Published 12:00 am Monday, June 12, 2017

Last month, the Dalton Police Department mailed out a Citizen Survey to randomly selected Dalton residents and now the agency is waiting for the responses.

The responses will be used as part of the creation of the agency’s next Strategic Plan. Anyone who has received a survey in the mail but has not yet returned it is urged to please do so using the included envelope. Survey forms are also available at the Police Services Center at 301 Jones St. for anyone who was not randomly selected to participate but would like to.

The department conducts a Citizen Survey every three years to identify issues within the community and the agency itself which need to be addressed in the upcoming Strategic Plan. After completion of the survey, the department conducts a review of both the citizen and employee surveys and the previous Strategic Plan by committees of agency employees and Dalton citizens.

The department’s current three-year plan runs through 2018 and the new plan will cover 2019-2021. The survey is also part of the agency’s accreditation process with the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies.

To achieve a random and representative sample of the population, the police department has used its records management software to select a random sample of citizens who have had contact with the department proportional to the demographic makeup of Dalton.