Room for improvement in LPS community survey results

By Lethbridge Herald on July 29, 2022.

Herald photo by Al Beeber LPS Chief Shahin Mehdizadeh speaks Friday about results of the IPSOS community survey that showed how residents feel about the city police force.

Al Beeber – LETHBRIDGE HERALD – abeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

Results from the IPSOS community survey show 78 per cent of city residents are satisfied with the service provided by the Lethbridge Police Service.

But LPS chief Shahin Mehdizadeh wants to see those numbers improve.

The chief said Friday when discussing survey results with local media “we won’t stop now” in efforts to improve community perception.

Eighty-six per cent of respondents rated the LPS performance as adequate to good while 14 per cent called it poor or very poor. A high crime rate and slow response times were listed as the main reasons for their dissatisfaction.

“Initially, when I looked at them I was quite satisfied with the numbers based on all the events that have been going on in the last couple of years.

“It shows that the public still does trust and they have confidence in the police department,” said the chief.

“We won’t stop now because we’re going to keep doing the work we’ve doing to increase that satisfaction,” said the chief.

Mehdizadeh said there will never be 100 per cent of people being satisfied with the work being done by police and he wouldn’t expect that.

“Anytime you have 100 per cent you have to question the validity of that survey so 14 per cent obviously is a number“ the police need to address, he said.

“However, surveys are very much as you know a simple question. To the 14 per cent, my message to them is they need to let us know what makes them unsatisfied. And if I don’t have the answer to that question, I can’t fix the problem,” said the chief.

He said he has encouraged feedback in different meetings and venues with the public. Sometimes he’ll hear a complaint from five or six years ago but he can’t do anything about that today, he said.

“But I encourage people who feel dissatisfied with any service that we provide they need to tell us immediately and give us some opportunity to fix it,” added the chief.

Mehdizadeh said more public town halls are being planned later this year for citizens to have their voices heard but he said such a forum isn’t the best place for an individual concern.

“That’s something they need to come to us (about),” he added.

“We are always open to listen to our citizens – they shouldn’t wait for a town hall to bring their concerns. We’re always open, we’re always looking forward to hear feedback from our citizens,” Mehdizadeh said.

The chief said some of the issues affecting people are drug issues, homelessness and crime.

“These are some of the things that make some people dissatisfied with the service and we are doing many things on that front.

“But as we all know there are not simple solutions… it takes a lot of work, a lot of planning, resources and collaboration, partnerships, et cetera to make the city safer,” added the chief.

“And we’re working on all those fronts to make sure that we continue on that path,” the chief said.

Mehdizadeh said it’s easy for people to point fingers at the police due to misunderstanding and frustration.

He said the force has been working diligently and collaborating with different partners to make Lethbridge a safer city.

“I just want people to see police as one of those components, an important element but not something it all falls on them. There are many different reasons why people may not feel safe in the community and we will continue to work with those partners to make it better.”

He said the drop in satisfaction from the previous survey is a concern, but it’s a concern for every police department in North America. Based on the environment of policing and the challenges policing has gone through with high profile cases and the defund the police movement, the level of satisfaction is not unique to Lethbridge.

The key right now is to first look at why is it people are unsatisfied. If they are unsatisfied because of drug issues in the city, is it solely a police problem?” he asked.

“Crime is in our control somewhat but it’s also in every citizen’s control how they can promote a safer community,” the chief said.

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