Best questions for police officer survey about staffing levels

Here are some of the best questions for a police officer survey about staffing levels, plus practical tips for getting honest feedback and more actionable insights. You can build a police staffing survey with Specific in seconds and start learning from your team fast.

Best open-ended questions for police officer survey about staffing levels

Open-ended questions are the backbone of any AI survey when you want real context and genuine opinions. They let officers express thoughts beyond a simple “yes” or “no,” revealing the realities behind the numbers—especially crucial given that over the last few years, the number of applications for police positions dropped by about 40%, and vacancy rates hover between 10-15% in most departments [1]. Open-ended questions are best when you want to understand unique experiences, capture operational challenges, and find actionable ideas for change.

Here are our top 10 open-ended questions for a police officer survey on staffing levels:

1. What impact do current staffing levels have on your day-to-day workload?

2. Can you describe any recent situations where staffing shortages affected your ability to do your job?

3. What support, if any, would help you manage the workload during understaffed shifts?

4. How do staffing levels affect morale among officers in your department?

5. Have you noticed changes in shift coverage or overtime demands over the past year? Please share details.

6. What suggestions do you have for improving staffing or resource allocation?

7. In your experience, how do current staffing levels impact public safety in your community?

8. What strategies or incentives would help retain officers and reduce turnover?

9. Are there any operational tasks where additional support staff or technology could lessen the burden on sworn officers?

10. Is there anything else you think leadership should know about the current staffing situation?

Best single-select multiple-choice questions for police officer survey about staffing levels

Single-select multiple-choice questions are perfect when you want to quantify feedback or spot trends across your department. They’re fast for respondents and nudge a conversation forward—especially for sensitive topics like burnout or overtime where having clear answer choices can get people started. You’ll get structured data to compare, then dive deeper with follow-ups.

Question: How would you describe the current staffing level in your department?

• Significantly understaffed

• Slightly understaffed

• Adequately staffed

• Overstaffed

Question: How frequently do you work overtime due to staffing shortages?

• Every shift

• Several times per week

• Several times per month

• Rarely or never

Question: Which of the following issues most impacts your ability to manage workload related to staffing?

• Insufficient patrol staff

• Lack of support staff

• Lengthy hiring process

• Other

When to follow up with "why?" For every quantitative response (like "significantly understaffed"), following up with “Why do you feel that way?” or “Can you elaborate?” uncovers the reasons behind the trend. This clarifies what’s driving their rating—a crucial step if, for example, 9.8% annual attrition rates are being reported in 2024 and early-career departures are on the rise [1].

When and why to add the "Other" choice? “Other” is key when your choices may not cover the full reality, or when you want unexpected input. A follow-up like “Please explain what else impacts your workload” often surfaces insights missed in the main list.

Should you use NPS for police officer surveys about staffing levels?

Net Promoter Score (NPS) isn’t just for customers—it’s a powerful, proven metric for understanding staff loyalty and overall satisfaction, even in law enforcement. For departments struggling with increased resignations and retention challenges, a simple NPS question (“How likely are you to recommend working in this department to others?”) can benchmark sentiment and help you track changes over time. This one metric gives leadership a clear snapshot, showing the gap between promoters and detractors—vital at a time when attrition rates jumped from 7.4% to 9.8% in five years [1]. We recommend checking out this ready-to-go NPS staffing survey for police officers for inspiration.

The power of follow-up questions

Great AI surveys don’t just ask once—they probe for understanding. Automated follow-up questions dig deeper, clarify, and contextualize responses, especially for open-ended answers. Specific’s AI probes in real-time, just like an expert interviewer—so you gather richer detail fast, even on sensitive topics like why resignations spiked by 40% in 2021, but then dropped 21.6% the following year [2]. It’s a big time-saver: automated follow-ups mean less manual email chasing or clarifying after the fact, and interviews feel natural for your officers.

• Officer: "Staffing is low."

• AI follow-up: "Can you share a recent example when low staffing made your job harder?"

How many follow-ups to ask? For most AI surveys, 2-3 follow-ups per open-ended topic are enough to get the full story. You should always allow a skip option once the context is clear—Specific’s survey builder supports settings for these boundaries.

This makes it a conversational survey: Officers respond as if chatting with someone who genuinely understands, rather than just filling out a static form. That’s a huge leap in engagement and quality of insight.

AI survey analysis: With all the rich, unstructured answers you’ll gather, AI analysis makes it simple to interpret feedback at scale—extracting patterns, themes, and even action items you might have otherwise missed.

These automated follow-up questions are new for many teams—try generating a survey and experience how much deeper the feedback goes with a truly conversational approach.

How to compose a prompt to generate survey questions about staffing levels

When working with ChatGPT or any AI survey generator, precise prompts get you the best results. Start broad, then add situational context:

Begin with a simple, targeted prompt:

Suggest 10 open-ended questions for Police Officer survey about Staffing Levels.

Your AI will do a much better job if you also give it details about the audience and your goal. For example:

I'm creating a survey for sworn police officers in a mid-size US city, aiming to understand how current staffing levels affect morale, performance, and retention. Suggest 10 direct but sensitive open-ended questions that encourage honest feedback about workload, safety, and retention challenges.

Once you get a list of questions, use a follow-up prompt to organize and refine:

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

Now, review the categories and prompt AI to develop deeper dives where you need them:

Generate 10 questions for categories like workload impact, retention, and support needs.

This approach turns a generic survey into one that is truly relevant for your team. If you’d like to skip these steps and get a tailored survey in seconds, generate a police staffing survey with Specific’s builder—it’s made for this.

What is a conversational survey, and why use AI?

A conversational survey is what it sounds like: a dynamic, two-way feedback tool that feels more like a chat than a form. Respondents answer questions, get instant probing follow-ups, and see that their lived experience matters. This stands in stark contrast to old-school manual survey forms, which often go unfinished and miss critical nuance.

Why use AI for police officer surveys? AI survey tools—especially ones like Specific’s AI survey generator—help departments cut busywork, catch context they’d otherwise miss, and analyze feedback in minutes instead of days. With vacancy rates reaching 20-25% in major cities [1], these time-savings matter. Plus, the user experience genuinely feels more human, which boosts completion rates and candor.

Specific is built for conversational surveys and stands out for its ability to engage respondents, deliver seamless analysis, and let survey creators iterate on the fly. Check this guide on creating a police staffing survey if you want a step-by-step walkthrough or want to explore more examples.

See this staffing levels survey example now

Use a conversational, AI-driven survey to truly understand your department’s staffing needs—the process is fast, customizable, and produces insights you just can’t get any other way. Try it now to unlock deeper feedback from your officers and act with clarity.