Executive Summary Report Online Community Survey – Police Chief Recruitment By Robert O’Brien, PHR, IPMA-SCP, SHRM-SCP Director of Human Resources & Risk Management October 30, 2020 Table of Contents I. Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 2 II. Summary of Findings ................................................................................................................ 3 III. Conclusions ............................................................................................................................... 6 IV. Detailed Survey Results ............................................................................................................ 8 Appendices .............................................................................................................................. 15 Appendix A: Question #2 - Written Comments ..................................................................... 16 Appendix B: Question #3 - Written Comments ..................................................................... 23 Appendix C: Question #4 - Written Comments ..................................................................... 28 Appendix D: Question#5 - Written Comments ...................................................................... 64 Appendix E: Question #6 - Written Comments ................................................................... 132 Appendix F: Question #7 – Written Comments ................................................................... 147 POLICE CHIEF SURVEY – OCTOBER 2020 1 I. Introduction The mission of the Oceanside Police Department (“OPD”) is to work with the community to build trust and provide quality service that actively prevents crime, reduces the fear of crime, and promotes safety. The Oceanside Police Department carries out its vision and mission through the core values of trust, personal responsibility, quality service, partnership, community safety, and diversity. Its success is proven in the decline of the City’s crime rate—which in 2019 was down 16% from 2015 and the lowest in 10 years. The Department has 226 sworn officers, 88 civilian employees, and together handled approximately 106,000 calls for service in 2019. The OPD operates under a General Fund budget of $67.8 million with additional funds in grant awards from various federal, state, and local government entities. Divisions of the PD are comprised of Support Operations, Investigation, and Patrol, each headed by a Captain. The Department includes a Crime Prevention Unit, focused on building a partnership between the Department and the community, empowering citizens through crime prevention education, and promoting an environment in which people act individually and collectively to prevent crime and build safer communities. After 36 years in law enforcement, Oceanside Police Chief Frank McCoy announced his plans to retire in October 2020. Chief McCoy later amended his retirement date to late December 2020 to assist the City in its search and transition to a new Police Chief. Chief McCoy has served as Oceanside’s Police Chief since January 2006 and is the longest serving Police Chief in the history of the department. At the direction of City Manager Deanna Lorson, a community survey was developed and released through SurveyMonkey™ beginning on September 10, 2020, through October 5, 2020, in order to gather feedback from the community1 to help guide Ms. Lorson’s efforts in the operational strategies of the department and the selection of the next Police Chief. This report will begin with a summary of the findings drawn from the survey analysis and then transition to the conclusions drawn. In supporting a fully transparent reporting of the survey results, the conclusions are followed by a full report of the results of each question and individual comments are provided for in the report’s appendices. 1 Although targeted towards Oceanside’s residential and business community, the survey was available to non- residents/visitors. POLICE CHIEF SURVEY – OCTOBER 2020 2 II. Summary of Findings Utilizing the SurveyMonkey online platform and tools, the Police Chief Community Survey was developed in both English and Spanish by in-house city staff and released to the general public on September 10, 2020. In addition to its availability online, the survey was also offered in a hard copy format and accessible at one of the many public counters within city owned facilities (e.g., community resource centers, library, and police department). In addition to the City of Oceanside website’s homepage, the survey was promoted via a city news release, eblast, Cityside newsletter, and the city’s social media pages. The acceptance of survey responses officially closed at 11:45 p.m. on Monday, October 5, 2020. In total, the survey received 1,4312 responses (1,425 – English & 6 – Spanish). In order to minimize the potential of multiple online submissions from a single individual respondent, IP tracking was utilized, set as a default and recorded as metadata with the survey results. Individual respondent comments (i.e., qualitative data) were reviewed and assigned a numerical code to covert this information into a measurable quantitative format. The average completion rate of the survey was 100% and the typical time spent by a respondent was eight (8) minutes. The survey was comprised of six specific questions that addressed: 1. Leadership qualities and characteristics of a Police Chief 2. Public safety problems within Oceanside 3. Law enforcement activities – level of importance 4. Developing and retaining positive relationships with the community 5. Police reform in Oceanside 6. Satisfaction with the Oceanside Police Department Following the listed order above, the results of the survey reflect the following: • 85.13% of the respondents identified themselves as Oceanside residents; 9.92% as Oceanside Business owners. • The top three leadership qualities and characteristics of the next Police Chief are: o Personal integrity o Good listener & communicator o Community leadership qualities • The most significant public safety problems in Oceanside were identified as: o Homeless or transient related problems o Gang activity o Burglaries/Theft (residential) • The three most important law enforcement activities for OPD are: o Use of force & de-escalation training o Homeless Outreach Team (HOT) 2 A total of 24 hard copy surveys were collected and manually inputted by staff into SurveyMonkey. POLICE CHIEF SURVEY – OCTOBER 2020 3 o Gang Task Force & Domestic Violence & Abuse (tie) • 94.27% of the total respondents believe that OPD “More often than not” (37.67%), “Sometimes” (30.12%), or “On a regular basis” (26.48%) develops and retains positive relationships w/ community members. ➢ 328 respondents (28% of the total survey participants) provided comments specific to the Oceanside Police Department’s engagement with the community. Areas of concern/improvement as described in the commentary were captured as follows: a. 22% of the comments reflect a belief that OPD should engage/be more visible at community events, town halls and neighborhood association meetings; b. 22% of the comments reflect a need for enhanced communication between the department and the public, as well as, as a need for the department to build trust among the community; c. 6% suggested a greater OPD presence within the communities and downtown by “walking the beat” and/or bike patrols; d. 3% suggested more involvement in youth programs; and e. 1% believed that certain services (e.g., homeless outreach) should be transferred out of the OPD. • Slightly more than half of the total respondents (52.86%) believe that Police Reform is not required in the City of Oceanside. ➢ 584 respondents (41% of the total survey participants) provided comments in response to the question as to why Police Reform is required. The most prevalent needs identified were: a. New and revised training protocols are required (26%) b. Services and funds should be reallocated/transferred to entities outside of OPD (12%); c. Increased community participation/Citizen Oversight Committee (7%); and d. Enhanced communication/build trust (7%). • Overall, 61.64% of the respondents stated they were “Satisfied” with OPD. Conversely, only 7.13% responded as “Dissatisfied” while 31.24% were neutral. ➢ 1573 (11% of the total survey participants) respondents provided comments when asked to explain their dissatisfaction with OPD. Of those comments, the most prevalent responses were: a. Unsatisfied with services provided by OPD (15%) b. OPD has minimal or no community involvement/connection (13%) c. OPD is harassing/rude (10%) d. OPD racially profiles (5%) 3 15% of the comments reflected a positive remark about OPD. POLICE CHIEF SURVEY – OCTOBER 2020 4 e. OPD is unapproachable (3%) • Finally, 491 respondents (34% of the total survey participants) provided “Additional Comments” following their completion of the survey. Specific to those comments the following data was captured: a. 21% believe OPD is doing a good job b. 8% believe OPD needs improvement c. 7% support an internal recruitment for the Police Chief position d. 5% prefer an external recruitment for the Police Chief position POLICE CHIEF SURVEY – OCTOBER 2020 5 III. Conclusions The primary goal of the community survey was to gather information that could assist in guiding the City Manager in the selection of the next Chief of Police and aid in developing future operational