Watch the video above: Public perception of police, has it really improved?
SASKATOON – A fire storm on Facebook following a two vehicle crash involving a Saskatoon police officer last week, has many wondering if the public’s perception of police has improved?
Saskatoon police Chief Clive Weighill says without a doubt it has and says negative comments are just par for the course.
On April 1, an officer was on his way to a call when a collision occurred at the intersection of 33rd Street West and Circle Drive. The officer was taken to hospital with minor injuries and the driver of the other vehicle was not hurt.
In response to the crash, comments on Global’s Facebook page included “he should’ve died” and a “good cop is a dead cop.”
“Let’s face it, nobody likes to be talked about like that, no matter what walk of life you’re in. You come to work, you try to do the best that you can, then you hear comments like that,” said Weighill.
“But once again, most of the officers here understand that it’s part of the business, that’s nothing new to us except your seeing a little more stuff come in anonymously.”
Last year, Regina police had to temporarily suspend its Facebook account after an incident involving an officer, who shot and killed a pitbull. The death of the dog generated hundreds of comments, many of which were hateful remarks or threats.
“What we’re concerned with, is comments that say ‘the only good police officer is a dead police officer.’ Really? Is that something anyone thinks a police service should have on its Facebook page,” said Evan Bray, Regina Police Association president at the time of the officer’s suspension last March.
“I’ve been in policing a lot of years and there’s a segment of society that just does not like the police, where they’ve been arrested, they’ve spent time in jail or just don’t like the police, there’s people that just don’t like us,” said Weighill.
In 2003, 43 per cent of respondents to a Saskatoon civic survey felt crime and policing was the number one issue facing Saskatoon. Numbers that have since dwindled down to eight per cent last year.
“We do surveys every three years, a public satisfaction survey and the improvement in our aboriginal community has come up from about 59 per cent to 89,” said Weighill.
“Overall satisfaction of our police service is in around 92 per cent… so I mean a bulk of the citizens of Saskatoon are very happy with our police service.”
Numbers the police chief says are very encouraging.
“There’s been a big shift in perception change. We’re not perfect, not everybody likes what we’re doing, but I think by in large we’ve really turned the corner and show a really good return on investments.”
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