Here are some of the best questions for a police officer survey about homelessness response, plus tips on how to craft them for deep, actionable insights. You can generate a complete police officer survey about homelessness response with Specific in seconds—no manual setup needed.
Best open-ended questions for police officer survey about homelessness response
We like open-ended questions because they invite honest stories and nuanced viewpoints. These types of questions are perfect when you don't want to box officers into preset choices and instead want to understand the “how” and “why” behind their experiences and opinions. Open-enders help you spot emerging themes, which is crucial in a field where 76% of homelessness outreach teams in large U.S. cities involve police officers—a statistic that shows the complex, hands-on role officers play in homelessness response. [1]
In your experience, what are the most common challenges police officers face when interacting with individuals experiencing homelessness?
Can you describe any successful collaborations you've had with community organizations or service providers regarding homelessness?
What changes, if any, would you like to see in how your department approaches homelessness response?
How does your training prepare you to handle situations involving people experiencing homelessness?
Have you encountered any policies or procedures that you feel hinder effective homelessness response? Please elaborate.
Can you share a situation where you felt your intervention positively impacted someone experiencing homelessness?
What resources do you think are most lacking for both officers and individuals affected by homelessness in your community?
How do you feel about alternative response programs (e.g., social worker-led interventions) in lieu of police response for certain homelessness-related calls?
What suggestions do you have for improving the safety and well-being of both officers and people experiencing homelessness?
Is there anything else you think policymakers should know about the realities of policing homelessness?
Best multiple-choice questions for police officer survey about homelessness response
Single-select multiple-choice questions are your go-to when you want to quantify patterns—like training gaps or policy awareness—or quickly start a dialogue. Many officers operate in environments where 78% of city mayors acknowledge their influence on homelessness policy, yet less than 10% of police departments have dedicated homelessness policies and about 50% lack specific training programs. [2] These stats highlight why simple but focused multiple-choice questions are vital for benchmarking and sparking follow-ups.
Question: How well do you feel your department’s current policies support effective homelessness response?
Very well
Somewhat well
Not well
Not sure
Question: Which of the following best describes your department’s approach to homelessness-related calls?
Primarily enforcement-focused
Mostly collaboration with social services
A balanced approach
Other
Question: Has your department provided you with training specific to interacting with individuals experiencing homelessness?
Yes, comprehensive training
Yes, but limited training
No training provided
Not sure
When to followup with "why?" If you notice an officer selects “Not well” regarding department policies, that’s a perfect time to ask, “Why do you feel the policies don’t support effective response?” This helps you uncover the root causes and actionable insights.
When and why to add the "Other" choice? Adding “Other” lets respondents mention alternative strategies or approaches you didn’t consider, which can lead to insights you wouldn’t have gotten from preset choices. Follow-up questions on “Other” answers often reveal the most innovative or overlooked feedback.
NPS and why it fits police officer surveys
NPS (Net Promoter Score) is a simple but revealing tool: it asks respondents how likely they are to recommend an approach (or department, or policy) to peers, on a scale from 0 to 10. It's widely used for rapid temperature checks on satisfaction and can easily be adapted for police officers giving feedback about homelessness response strategies. Using an NPS question in this context creates a clear, actionable metric you can track over time—for example, “How likely are you to recommend our department’s homelessness response approach to another police department?”
If you want to try an NPS survey designed for police officers about homelessness response, it’s just a click away.
The power of follow-up questions
Smart follow-ups are the secret sauce in extracting not just “what” officers think, but “why” and “how.” If you’re curious about the underlying reasoning behind survey answers, or want richer data for analysis, this is where you’ll want to read about automated follow-up questions.
With Specific, our AI instantly asks expert-level follow-up questions in real time, adjusting tone and depth based on the previous reply. This means fewer back-and-forth emails, no burdensome manual probing, and a survey that feels conversational, not interrogational. The value is huge: follow-ups dig into ambiguous responses, connect themes, and streamline your workflow.
Police officer: “I think our current approach works okay.”
AI follow-up: “Can you tell me about a recent situation where this approach worked well or didn’t?”
How many followups to ask? In our experience, 2–3 follow-up probes are usually enough to capture the core story without making the survey feel draggy. Specific lets you set the preferred depth, and automatically skips to the next question once the goal is met.
This makes it a conversational survey: Instead of a static form, you’re facilitating a real conversation—which increases engagement and completion rates.
AI survey response analysis: Even with pages of free-text answers, you can quickly analyze police officer survey responses using AI-powered tools like ours. AI response analysis distills open-enders into key themes, making qualitative feedback actionable and not overwhelming.
Automated followups can transform how you gather and understand feedback—try generating a survey and watch how it elevates your data.
How to compose a ChatGPT prompt for survey question brainstorming
Want to use generative AI tools like ChatGPT to help brainstorm or refine police officer survey questions? Start simple:
Use this prompt to get initial ideas:
Suggest 10 open-ended questions for Police Officer survey about Homelessness Response.
But adding context about your role or the survey’s goal makes the AI much more valuable. For example:
I’m a police department research coordinator developing a survey to understand officers’ experiences with homelessness response. We want practical suggestions and honest feedback. Generate 10 open-ended questions suitable for this purpose.
Once you have a list of questions, use this prompt to group them for easier review:
Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.
Finally, pick the categories that matter most and ask ChatGPT for depth:
Generate 10 questions for categories like “Collaborations with social services” and “Challenges in enforcement.”
What is a conversational survey?
A conversational survey feels like a chat—not a form. With AI-powered generators, the survey adapts in real time, asks relevant follow-up questions, and keeps the experience comfortable and natural for respondents. Compare this to manual survey building, where you must brainstorm every question, set up logic for every possible answer, and manually review responses for ambiguous statements. AI does all of this for you, making the process much faster and more accurate.
Manual Survey | AI-Generated Conversational Survey |
|---|---|
Hard to build: requires research and editing for each question. | Easy: just describe your needs and generate the survey instantly. |
Static: no dynamic follow-up logic unless you script it by hand. | Conversational: AI asks context-aware follow-ups automatically. |
Time-consuming to analyze open text and follow up by email. | AI distills insights and connects themes, ready for action. |
Why use AI for police officer surveys? Police officers handle complex and sensitive situations. An AI survey (or “AI survey example”) adjusts to each response in real time, making it ideal when you need nuance and context, not just checkboxes. Specific leads the way in this space, making conversational survey creation and feedback collection seamless for both creators and respondents.
If you want a step-by-step workflow, check out our guide to creating police officer surveys on homelessness response.
See this homelessness response survey example now
Your best insights come from smart questions and real conversations. See a survey built for depth and nuance—complete with context-aware follow-ups and instant AI analysis—transform how you collect feedback from the field.