Here are some of the best questions for a police officer survey about harassment and discrimination, plus tips for crafting surveys that truly get to the heart of these issues. You can build a police officer survey in seconds with Specific.
The best open-ended questions for police officer surveys about harassment and discrimination
Open-ended questions give police officers a safe space to share real, unfiltered experiences—key when collecting feedback on sensitive topics like harassment and discrimination. We recommend open-ended questions when you want to uncover context, nuance, and examples that multiple-choice options just can’t surface.
Here are 10 of the best open-ended questions for a police officer survey on this topic:
Can you share a situation where you witnessed or experienced harassment or discrimination while on duty?
What kind of support or response did you receive when reporting such incidents, if any?
How do you feel the department handles complaints related to harassment and discrimination?
Are there any barriers to reporting incidents of harassment or discrimination that you've encountered?
What changes would you recommend to improve the reporting process for harassment and discrimination complaints?
How does the organizational culture impact your willingness to speak out about misconduct?
What training or resources do you think would help reduce harassment and discrimination within the department?
In your opinion, are there specific groups within the department more affected by these issues?
Can you describe how leadership responds to concerns about fair treatment or bias?
What advice would you give to new officers regarding handling or preventing harassment and discrimination?
Open-ended questions are especially important here because research shows systemic issues can be deeply embedded, as in the recent federal investigation into Phoenix Police Department’s civil rights violations and discrimination against Black, Hispanic, and Native American individuals. [1]
The best single-select multiple-choice questions for police officer surveys about harassment and discrimination
Sometimes, a single-select multiple-choice question is your best friend—especially when you want to quantify responses or get quick reads on thorny issues. These are helpful for sensitive surveys when you want to ease someone in with a straightforward option list, before gently probing for more detail with follow-ups. It lowers the barrier to entry and increases completion rates, especially for tough topics like harassment and discrimination.
Question: How frequently have you observed or experienced harassment or discrimination in the last 12 months?
Never
Once
A few times
Regularly
Question: How confident do you feel that the department takes reports of harassment and discrimination seriously?
Very confident
Somewhat confident
Not confident
Not sure
Question: Which groups do you believe are most affected by harassment or discrimination within the department?
Women
Ethnic minorities
LGBTQ+ individuals
Other
When to followup with "why?" For instance, if someone selects “Not confident” about the seriousness with which their department takes harassment and discrimination complaints, it’s a great moment to gently ask, “Can you share what made you feel this way?” That little nudge often leads to the most actionable insights.
When and why to add the "Other" choice? Always add an “Other” choice when you suspect your options might not fully capture every respondent’s experience—especially with complex topics. The follow-up to “Other” can reveal entirely new challenges or strengths you hadn’t considered.
Should you use an NPS-style question?
Net Promoter Score (NPS) questions aren’t just for rating products. They work remarkably well in organizational climate surveys, including those focused on harassment and discrimination. An NPS-style question like, “How likely are you to recommend this police department as a supportive and fair workplace to a friend or colleague?” gives you a quantifiable, comparable datapoint. Scores swing if trust or perceived safety changes, so NPS can reveal shifts in morale or department reputation over time. You can generate an NPS survey for police officer workplace culture easily with Specific.
The power of follow-up questions
Automated follow-up questions, especially those driven by AI like in Specific’s follow-up feature, can unlock real context behind each response. When someone gives a short or ambiguous answer—something that happens often on sensitive topics like harassment or discrimination—the AI interviewer probes deeper, never missing a chance to clarify or invite details your survey might otherwise miss. It saves time vs. awkward follow-up emails and quickly surfaces precise insights.
Police officer: "Sometimes I don't feel comfortable reporting issues."
AI follow-up: "Can you share what makes you feel uncomfortable about reporting?"
How many followups to ask? Even for nuanced topics, 2-3 follow-ups per question is usually enough to reach real depth—while keeping the flow conversational. With Specific, you can set a limit and let respondents skip ahead once you’ve heard what you need.
This makes it a conversational survey: Every survey becomes a back-and-forth, not a cold form. It flows like an interview, gathering context as naturally as a real conversation.
Easy AI analysis of open text: AI-powered analysis tools make analyzing nuanced, text-based data surprisingly easy. You can chat with the AI about the responses, surface key themes, and export insights within minutes—even with hundreds of replies.
Automatic followups are a game changer—try generating a survey with Specific and see how much richer your data can be.
How to write an AI prompt for survey questions
Want to craft your own questions in ChatGPT or another AI tool? Start simple, then build context. Here’s how:
First, try:
Suggest 10 open-ended questions for police officer survey about harassment and discrimination.
You’ll get better questions if you give more context about your needs, department context, or your specific improvement goals. For example:
I'm designing a survey for municipal police officers to understand experiences of harassment and discrimination. The goal is to uncover barriers to reporting, as well as attitudes toward department leadership and existing training. Please suggest 10 open-ended questions that will help me surface these topics.
Once you have a list, prompt AI to organize it:
Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.
Then, identify which topic areas matter most for your context, and go deeper:
Generate 10 questions for the category 'Barriers to Reporting.'
What is a conversational survey?
A conversational survey is a dynamic interviewing experience—not just a clunky form. Instead of bland static questions, respondents chat with an AI agent that adapts based on their replies, much like an expert interviewer. This approach is especially powerful for police officers on topics like harassment and discrimination, where real human nuance and trust are needed.
Here’s how traditional survey forms differ from AI-generated conversational surveys:
Manual Survey Creation | AI Survey Generation (Conversational, with Specific) |
|---|---|
Slow, draft-every-question process | Type a prompt; get a tailored survey in seconds |
No followups or only generic ones | Dynamic in-the-moment followups based on responses |
High dropout (boring, impersonal) | Engaging, “chat-like” UI increases participation |
Manual data analysis, weeks to insights | AI summaries and instant analysis on completion |
Why use AI for police officer surveys? AI-powered surveys outperform manual approaches: AI surveys boost completion rates to 70–80% (vs. just 45–50% for traditional forms) and slash abandonment—vital when you need authentic, representative input. [3] Faster analysis closes the feedback loop, supporting quick, evidence-based improvements in delicate climates like policing.
Looking for more on this? Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to create a police officer survey about harassment and discrimination.
Specific is built for this—with a best-in-class survey experience for both teams and officers. Its conversational surveys make the feedback process approachable, professional, and deeply insightful, whether you’re launching a one-off climate check or an ongoing feedback program.
See this harassment and discrimination survey example now
Create your survey in seconds and start surfacing genuine insights that help your department improve—thanks to AI-powered conversation that captures the full story, not just a score.