Best questions for citizen survey about community policing perception

Here are some of the best questions for a citizen survey about community policing perception, plus expert tips on crafting them. If you’re ready, you can use Specific to generate a conversational survey instantly.

Best open-ended questions for a citizen survey about community policing perception

Open-ended questions are the gold standard when you want to understand genuine thoughts and real experiences. You get richer, more nuanced responses—though it’s important to note they typically see higher nonresponse rates than closed questions (about 18% vs. 1-2%) [1]. Still, they can surface issues that structured questions simply miss: research found that 81% of problems uncovered came up only in open-ended answers, and 43% of respondents added at least one comment [2]. Here are 10 open-ended questions you should consider for your community policing survey:

1. How would you describe your current relationship with local law enforcement?

2. What positive interactions, if any, have you had with police officers in your community?

3. Can you share any concerns or negative experiences you’ve faced involving community policing?

4. What changes would you like to see in the way police interact with citizens in your neighborhood?

5. How safe do you feel in your community, and why?

6. What could police do differently to strengthen trust within your community?

7. How well do you think the police understand the specific needs of your area?

8. Where do you primarily get information about community policing initiatives?

9. If you could suggest one improvement for community-police relations, what would it be?

10. Is there anything else you’d like to say about your experiences with or perceptions of police in your community?

Open-ended questions uncover insights that closed-ended items can’t, making them a key tool for understanding the real citizen perspective. For more on designing effective surveys, see our guide to creating citizen surveys about community policing.

Best single-select multiple-choice questions for a citizen survey about community policing perception

Use single-select multiple-choice questions when you need measurable data, or when it’s helpful to offer respondents a quick, low-stakes way to get the conversation started. These are also less intimidating, and a good basis for follow-ups: once you pick up a trend or pattern in the responses, you can dig deeper with targeted, conversational “why” questions.

Question: How would you rate your overall trust in local police?

• Very high

• Somewhat high

• Neutral

• Somewhat low

• Very low

Question: How visible are police officers in your neighborhood on a typical week?

• Very visible

• Somewhat visible

• Rarely visible

• Not visible at all

Question: Which of the following do you feel is the biggest area for improvement in local policing?

• Community engagement

• Response time

• Transparency

• Use of force

• Communication

• Other

When to follow up with "why?" Use follow-ups whenever you want context behind a choice. For example, if someone selects "somewhat low" trust, follow up with "Can you tell us what experiences have shaped your trust in local police?"—this reveals the real drivers behind their view, and opens the door to conversations that static surveys miss entirely.

When and why to add the "Other" choice? Always give respondents an “Other” option when your answer set might not fully cover their experience or opinion. It signals openness, and the open field lets you uncover issues or positive aspects that didn’t cross your radar. That’s often where you find your most actionable insights.

Should you add an NPS question?

The Net Promoter Score (NPS) question—“How likely are you to recommend [your local police force/community policing program] to a friend or neighbor?”—isn’t just for businesses. It’s a powerful way to gauge overall citizen advocacy and pinpoint detractors in your community. Since NPS also supports tailored follow-ups for each rating (promoters, passives, and detractors), it can uncover both strengths and root causes of dissatisfaction. For citizen surveys about community policing perception, it’s a quick way to get a temperature check that’s easy to benchmark over time. Try creating an NPS survey template with Specific's AI survey generator for NPS.

The power of follow-up questions

If you want more than surface answers, automated follow-up questions are essential. Research backs this up: follow-up designs yield longer, more in-depth responses with richer themes than static surveys [3]. By leveraging AI to ask real-time, expert-level follow-ups as people reply, Specific surfaces a full range of context and detail—exactly what classic form-based surveys often miss. That means less need to chase after respondents later via email, and a much more natural, engaging experience.

For example, without follow-ups you might get:

• Citizen: "I don't really trust the police."

• AI follow-up: "Could you share more about why you feel this way? Was there something specific that led to this perception?"

This additive probing only takes a second but can completely change the quality of your insight. For a deeper dive into this feature, see our page on automatic AI follow-up questions.

How many followups to ask? In practice, 2–3 follow-up questions are enough per topic. Specific even lets you adjust the “follow-up depth” in survey settings, so you get the info you need but can let respondents skip forward once you’ve hit the key points.

This makes it a conversational survey: Thanks to dynamic follow-ups, the entire experience feels like a conversation—not a form, not an interrogation, but a genuine chat that draws out better stories.

AI survey response analysis. Even if you collect tons of unstructured answers, it’s easy to analyze all responses using AI-powered tools. See how that works for citizen feedback on policing with our guide to analyzing survey responses with AI.

Curious about the survey experience itself? Try generating a survey and experience the real-time follow-up feature—this shift is redefining what it means to gather actionable community insight.

How to prompt ChatGPT (or any GPT) to generate great community policing survey questions

The fastest way to brainstorm high-quality, relevant questions is by using AI—but your prompt matters. Here’s how you can guide ChatGPT or similar models to craft your next citizen survey:

Start simple:

Suggest 10 open-ended questions for Citizen survey about Community Policing Perception.

But you’ll get even better results if you add context—explain your goals, the tone you want, your target respondent, and any challenges unique to your area or community:

I’m a city official looking to improve relationships between local police and diverse neighborhoods. Suggest 10 open-ended questions for a citizen survey about community policing. Focus on trust, safety, communication, and responsiveness. Avoid technical jargon.

Once you have your draft questions, use this follow-up prompt:

Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.

Finally, pick the most valuable categories and dig deeper:

Generate 10 questions for categories "trust in police" and "community engagement".

If you want to turn your prompt into an actual survey with zero effort, check out Specific’s AI survey builder, which uses your description to assemble and refine an entire conversational survey for you.

What is a conversational survey?

A conversational survey is a step beyond standard forms—it feels like chatting with a thoughtful interviewer, not ticking boxes on a form. AI survey creation automatically configures question sequences, probes for clarifications, and adapts tone and style in real time. Manual survey creation, by contrast, involves tedious scripting and logic mapping, and lacks flexibility if you later spot gaps in your data.

Why use AI for citizen surveys? The stakes are high—community trust, public safety, inclusion—so a tool that adapts, clarifies, and listens in real time is invaluable. AI survey examples show clear gains in participation and detail, especially among groups historically less likely to engage with traditional polling. With Specific’s best-in-class conversational survey engine, you deliver a seamless experience both for citizens sharing their voice and researchers seeking honest, actionable feedback.

Need the step-by-step? See our guide to easily building a community policing survey for citizens using AI-driven templates or your custom ideas.

See this community policing perception survey example now

Start your own citizen survey on community policing perception with unrivaled conversational depth—effortless prompts, dynamic follow-ups, and instant AI-powered analysis make it easier than ever to understand and act on what matters to your community.