A majority of Quebecers say they are satisfied with the work of their local police force, according to a survey commissioned by the Quebec Ministry of Public Security (MSP).
The study indicates that 85% of respondents said they were satisfied with their police service and said they had confidence in it.
The survey, the results of which were made public on Wednesday, was carried out by the Léger firm. This looked at the level of satisfaction with the 26 municipal police organizations and the Sûreté du Québec (SQ).
Cyntia Darisse, Quebec vice-president of the Léger firm, mentioned, during the presentation of the results, that all police services performed well in the survey.
“Regardless of the level of service, police services are considered satisfactory throughout Quebec. There are no catastrophic ratings here. And even if we dig by region, there are small differences, but there are no police forces that are in hot water this morning,” she said at a press conference.
Every year, police organizations carry out surveys of their population. But this is the first time that Quebecers are surveyed simultaneously with the same questions about their local police, underlines the MSP.
The survey is part of the ministry’s 2023-2027 strategic plan. It should enable police forces to identify courses of action. The exercise will be repeated over the next two years.
Points to improve
Léger also asked questions regarding the feeling of security, perceived effectiveness as well as the conduct and ethics of the police.
Around 90% of those surveyed said they felt safe in their municipality. Generally speaking, the majority of participants believe that their police force is effective in dealing with various types of crimes or during different interventions.
For example, around 80% of respondents mentioned that their police service is effective in solving crimes involving violence and in ensuring road safety as well as security in the neighborhood.
However, Quebec police officers are less well rated in terms of prevention against cybercrime or online crimes. According to the survey, 56% of those questioned said that their department intervened effectively in this matter, compared to 32% who thought not.
The president of the Working Committee, Robert Pigeon, indicates that this type of crime is on the increase and affects more people, which may be reflected in this survey result.
“We measure the performance of police forces precisely to identify areas for improvement. And this will not go unnoticed, even if there are many activities and actions that are taken by the police forces specifically on this phenomenon. The fact remains that we are pointing in the right direction for the years to come,” said the former director of the Quebec police.
Respondents were also less satisfied with the transparency and communication of their local police force. It appears in particular that less than half of the participants believe that the police adequately inform them of the interventions or the means at their disposal to protect themselves.
“Communication, no matter what issue we survey, is 90% the aspect that receives the lowest scores in terms of satisfaction,” mentioned M.me Darisse.
In light of these results, the Associate Deputy Minister of Police Affairs, Jérôme Gagnon, recognized that efforts will have to be made to improve communication in order to make the work of the police better known to the population.
Montreal, a “singular reality”
Generally speaking, the Montreal police perform less well than the rest of Quebec in this study. For example, the satisfaction rate and trust level are 78%. The proportion of Montrealers deeming the interventions of their police officers effective in combating different types of crime is also lower than elsewhere in the province.
In addition, only 51% of Montreal respondents believe that the police make enough effort to adequately respond to issues related to certain social problems, such as homelessness and the overdose crisis. For all of Quebec, this rate is 61%.
At the ministry, it was expected that the results for the Quebec metropolis would be somewhat different due to a “singular daily reality” with its social issues and its density, among other things.
“We must never forget the identity of Montreal, the uniqueness of Montreal which must live daily with situations that no other municipality in Quebec can experience,” said the Deputy Minister of Public Security, Marc Croteau.
The survey was conducted among more than 10,000 Quebecers between March 26 and April 9.