Here are some of the best questions for a police officer survey about public trust perception, plus tips on how to create them. Using Specific, you can build an effective survey in seconds, so you capture the insights that matter most.
Best open-ended questions for a police officer survey about public trust perception
Open-ended questions let respondents express their thoughts in their own words, which helps you capture nuance and context that structured questions often miss. These are especially useful when you want to go deeper than surface-level opinions and understand real-life experiences or suggestions. According to research, open-ended survey questions reveal complex insights but can be more challenging to analyze manually [1]. That's where an AI survey tool makes a difference. Here are 10 powerful open-ended questions to use:
What experiences have most influenced your current level of trust in the police?
Can you describe a recent interaction you or someone you know had with the police that affected your perception?
In your view, what specific factors most impact public trust in the police today?
What would you like police officers to know about how the community perceives them?
How do you believe trust between police and the public could be improved?
Are there actions or behaviors by police officers that build trust for you? Which ones?
What concerns, if any, do you have about police transparency or accountability?
How has your trust in the police changed over the past year, and what caused that change?
Can you share an example of positive policing that stood out to you?
What advice would you give police leaders on earning and maintaining public trust?
Best single-select multiple-choice questions for a police officer survey about public trust perception
Single-select multiple-choice questions excel when you want to quantify opinions, gain quick sentiment metrics, or start a conversation. They're easy for respondents, helping you get reliable responses—and they’re a great springboard for deeper follow-up. If you want to dig into “why,” simply follow up after the initial answer. Here are three strong examples for public trust perception:
Question: How much trust do you currently have in your local police force?
Very high
Moderately high
Neither high nor low
Moderately low
Very low
Question: In your opinion, what’s the most important factor in building public trust in the police?
Transparency and accountability
Community engagement
Fair enforcement of laws
Availability of police support
Other
Question: Have your views on police trust changed in the past 12 months?
Yes, my trust has increased
Yes, my trust has decreased
No, my trust has stayed the same
When to follow up with "why?" Add a “why” follow-up when a respondent chooses an option that’s especially revealing or ambiguous (e.g., "Very low trust"). It opens up the conversation: “Can you explain why you feel this way?” The answer adds vital details that numbers alone can’t provide.
When and why to add the "Other" choice? It's good practice—sometimes respondents have a perspective you didn’t predict. A follow-up after they select “Other” gives you clarity and may surface unexpected themes or concerns.
NPS-type question for public trust perception surveys
The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a proven tool to measure overall sentiment by asking a single, standardized question: “How likely are you to recommend [your local police] to others?” For public trust perception, it gives you a simple metric on how many people are promoters, passives, or detractors of police performance. We recommend an NPS-format survey for police trust—it’s easy to benchmark and track changes over time, like the way trust levels shifted recently in England, New Zealand, and Finland [2][3][4].
The power of follow-up questions
Automated follow-up questions are a game-changer. Instead of letting an answer sit unexplored, you can set the survey to keep the conversation going. With Specific’s automatic follow-up questions, our AI digs deeper, asks for examples, or clarifies context—all in real time, just like an expert interviewer. This makes responses far more useful to analyze, and you’ll surface issues or stories that would be missed by email or basic forms.
Police Officer: "My trust has decreased recently."
AI follow-up: "Could you describe what happened recently that caused your trust to decrease?"
How many followups to ask? Generally, 2–3 smart follow-ups are enough. Our system lets you set a limit, and the conversation moves on once you’ve collected what you need—no one likes endless questions!
This makes it a conversational survey. Your survey becomes a dynamic conversation—not a cold form. That’s why response quality and engagement skyrocket.
AI response analysis, large amounts of unstructured data, easy analysis. Even when you have lots of open-ended feedback, you can analyze survey responses with AI to find themes and actionable insights. Our system summarizes, clusters, and surfaces the most important points automatically.
We encourage you to generate a survey and see the power of automated follow-ups for yourself—they’re a breakthrough for qualitative research.
How to prompt ChatGPT and other AI to generate police officer survey questions on public trust perception
Prompts are the secret sauce when using AI to craft great questions. Try starting with this simple one:
Suggest 10 open-ended questions for a police officer survey about public trust perception.
But the real magic happens when you share your full context. If you explain who you are, what your goals are, and your local challenges, the AI will craft even more relevant questions:
I am designing a survey for a midsize UK city’s police department. The goal is to understand which aspects of local policing most affect the public’s trust, surface any recent concerns or improvements, and gather actionable suggestions for community engagement. Suggest 10 open-ended questions and include follow-up ideas.
Refine further by categorizing your questions:
Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.
Finally, explore topics that matter most to you:
Generate 10 questions for categories “Community Engagement” and “Police Accountability”.
What is a conversational survey?
A conversational survey combines the depth of a real interview with the scale of digital feedback—think of it as a natural back-and-forth instead of a rigid form. Specific’s conversational surveys ask, listen, and adapt with smart follow-ups, making it far more engaging for everyone. Many teams who run AI-generated surveys find richer context, more honest answers, and faster analysis.
Manual Survey Creation | AI Survey Generator (Conversational) |
|---|---|
Lots of effort to script, test, and revise questions manually | Just describe your goal and your questions appear, ready to edit |
No easy way to do smart follow-ups for ambiguous answers | Follows up in real time, like a skilled interviewer |
Analysis of open-ended responses is slow and manual | AI instantly clusters, summarizes, and surfaces insights |
Requires lots of back-and-forth or spreadsheet work | Everything’s one place, accessible, always up-to-date |
Why use AI for police officer surveys? When trust in the police fluctuates so much between regions and years [2][3][4], you need to gather rich, current feedback quickly. AI-powered survey builders, like Specific, deliver on both quality and speed—plus, your respondents appreciate surveys that feel like real conversations. For step-by-step instructions, read our guide to creating a police officer survey about public trust perception.
Specific offers best-in-class conversational survey experiences, making feedback smooth for creators and respondents alike. Try an AI survey example, edit questions as you go, and benefit from advanced features like real-time follow-ups and integrated AI analysis.
See this public trust perception survey example now
Create your survey in seconds and discover insights you’d never get from a form. Experience conversational surveys powered by AI—deeper answers, less effort, instant analysis. Start building trust with actionable feedback today.