Online Survey Gauges Community Perceptions of UCPD

The University of Cincinnati Office of Safety and Reform is asking students, faculty and staff to take an anonymous survey on their views of the UC Police Department.

The Perceptions of Policing survey was first given last year, and will continue to be given annually. It is designed to capture the experiences with and perceptions of UCPD and Cincinnati Police on or near campus, collect information regarding perceptions of the officer-involved shooting of Samuel DuBose and gather impressions of legitimacy and fairness in policing at UC.

Robin Engel, vice president of Safety and Reform and director of the IACP/UC Center for Police Research and Policy, said the department will use the surveys to gauge the office’s progress.

“Our ultimate goal is to use these findings to help the UCPD to become a leader in urban university policing,” Engel said.

Feedback from the surveys will be used to guide the reform efforts of the UCPD and future recruitment, hiring, training and engagement of the UCPD. For example, the results can be used to encourage more prosocial interactions between officers and students, faculty and staff or to encourage more training on procedural bias, fairness and use of force for officers.

“In order for the UCPD to continue to build trust, we need to understand where UCPD may have lost that trust with the UC community,” Engel said.

The survey will be open until March 14. Students, faculty and staff received an email with a link to the survey with a unique survey ID that is necessary to take the survey.

The results will be published this summer and will be available on the Office of Safety and Reform website.