Best questions for police officer survey about diversity and inclusion

Here are some of the best questions for a police officer survey about diversity and inclusion, plus a few essential tips on designing them. If you want to build your own fast, you can generate a survey in seconds with Specific—just use your prompt.

The best open-ended questions for police officer diversity and inclusion surveys

If you’re aiming for depth, context, or unexpected insights, it’s smart to start your police officer diversity and inclusion survey with open-ended questions. These aren’t just about ticking boxes—they invite officers to reflect, explain, and shed light on daily realities.

• Rich and detailed data: Open-ended questions let people express what matters to them, rather than forcing them into limited options. You’ll get stories, suggestions, and new angles you hadn’t considered. [1]

• Unanticipated insights: Especially in diversity and inclusion, it’s often what’s unsaid in multiple-choice that uncovers the real challenges or opportunities. [2]

Here are the 10 best open-ended questions to include in your diversity and inclusion survey for police officers:

1. What positive experiences have you had related to diversity and inclusion within our department?

2. Describe a situation where you witnessed an inclusive or exclusive behavior among colleagues.

3. How do you feel the department values diversity in everyday interactions and decision-making?

4. What barriers, if any, do you see for officers from underrepresented backgrounds?

5. Can you share an example of when you felt your cultural background was respected or misunderstood?

6. If you could change one thing about our approach to inclusion, what would it be?

7. How supported do you feel to speak up about diversity and inclusion issues?

8. What types of training or support would help you better serve a diverse community?

9. Are there any department policies that encourage or hinder inclusion? Please explain.

10. What suggestions do you have to improve diversity and inclusion in our police force?

Open-ended questions don’t just collect stories—they bring context, clarify causes, and often spotlight issues or strengths that structured questions miss. In fact, in large police departments, internal data has shown that using these approaches can uncover personal experiences and perceptions that drive real policy change. [3]

The best single-select multiple-choice questions to ask

Multiple-choice questions (especially single-select) are perfect when you want to quantify trends, benchmark opinions, or warm up respondents who may not be ready to write long answers. Sometimes, it’s easier for officers to pick from a few options before launching into detail—those initial clicks can jumpstart more open feedback in follow-ups.

Question: How inclusive do you feel the department culture is?

• Very inclusive

• Somewhat inclusive

• Neutral

• Somewhat exclusive

• Very exclusive

Question: Do you believe leadership demonstrates a commitment to diversity?

• Always

• Often

• Sometimes

• Rarely

• Never

Question: How would you rate the department’s diversity and inclusion training?

• Excellent

• Good

• Fair

• Poor

• Other

When to follow up with "why?" Single-select questions are great for snapshots, but the real gold appears with a follow-up. For example, if someone selects “Poor” or “Neutral” about training, you’ll want to ask “Why do you feel this way?” This digs beneath the surface and transforms a static choice into actionable feedback.

When and why to add the “Other” choice? Always include “Other” when your choices can’t cover the full spectrum of opinions or experiences. Follow up to ask, “Can you describe what you mean by ‘Other’?” These answers often reveal perspectives you didn’t anticipate—essential for a topic as broad as diversity and inclusion.

NPS-type survey question: Does it make sense for police officer surveys?

NPS (Net Promoter Score) boils complex sentiment down to one core question: “On a scale from 0-10, how likely are you to recommend this department as a diverse and inclusive workplace?” It’s widely used for benchmarking satisfaction and advocacy. For police departments, NPS can quickly measure the pulse, reveal department reputation among officers, and track progress over time. When paired with smart follow-up questions, it’s even more valuable—offering both a number and the stories behind it. You can create an NPS survey for police officers about diversity and inclusion using Specific in seconds.

The power of follow-up questions

The secret to really vivid feedback? Follow-up questions—especially when they’re automatic. Specific’s conversational approach stands apart by using AI to generate smart, context-aware follow-ups, just like a good interviewer. This guarantees richer insights and fuller stories, with less effort for everyone. Automated followups also mean you don’t need to chase people via email or meetings—every clarification happens in real time, naturally and conversationally. Want to dive deeper? Check out how automated follow-up questions work in practice.

• Police officer: “It feels inclusive most of the time.”

• AI follow-up: “Can you describe a situation that made you feel included, or any times you felt otherwise?”

How many follow-ups to ask? In general, 2–3 follow-ups strike the right balance. You want depth, not fatigue. You can tell Specific when to move to the next question after you get what you need—this setting is customizable for each survey.

This makes it a conversational survey: Automatic, in-context probing mimics real dialogue, turning your survey from a static form into a two-way conversation.

AI survey analysis, text analytics, feedback trends: Even with all the open-ended replies you gather, it’s simple to analyze responses using AI. Specific lets you filter, chat with AI about themes, or run instant summaries. See how to analyze responses from police officer surveys using AI.

Don’t just take our word for it: try generating a survey with follow-up questions and experience the difference yourself.

Using prompt engineering to generate even better survey questions

If you want to brainstorm or co-create with ChatGPT (or any other GPT-based AI writer), use specific, contextual prompts. Start simple:

Suggest 10 open-ended questions for police officer survey about diversity and inclusion.

If you provide a bit more context (department size, current challenges, or your goal), you’ll get even stronger questions:

We're a mid-sized city police department aiming to improve workplace culture and address diversity gaps. Suggest 10 open-ended questions for our internal survey about diversity and inclusion.

Once you have your question list, ask AI to help you organize:

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

When certain topics emerge (such as “Leadership,” “Policy,” or “Personal Experience”), prompt AI to dig deeper:

Generate 10 questions for the “Leadership” and “Personal Experience” categories.

Add your specificity and context—AI performs far better when it truly understands your goal.

What is a conversational survey—and why does it matter?

Conversational surveys aren’t just buzzwords. They’re dynamic, adaptive, and feel like natural chats. Unlike classic forms or rigid survey tools, they can react to what officers share in real time—asking smart follow-ups and using natural language, instead of robotic checklists. This keeps people engaged and brings in higher quality, more actionable feedback.

Why use AI for police officer surveys? The reality is, high-quality, inclusive feedback depends on people feeling heard. An AI survey example is great at holding natural conversations, asks about real experiences, tailors its tone for your department, and captures nuances you might miss with static forms. AI survey generation offers clear advantages in cost, time, and quality—and lets you focus on understanding, rather than chasing responses or analyzing spreadsheets. Specific’s platform combines the best of both: a smooth experience for officers, plus expert-level data for your team. Learn more about creating police officer surveys with AI.

With Specific, you don’t just send surveys—you start real conversations that elevate voices across the department.

See this diversity and inclusion survey example now

Explore how a conversational survey helps you capture better, more honest insights from police officers—while saving hours and surfacing actionable feedback. See what’s possible—create your own survey today to experience the benefits firsthand.