THUNDER BAY – Thunder Bay Police Service Citizen Satisfaction and Trust Surveys were presented to the Police Service Board on Tuesday. The results show that 78 per cent of the nearly 2,000 participants are satisfied with the police services in Thunder Bay.
The survey was conducted over eight months between Sept. 2023 and April 2024 and promoted over social media channels through media partners and local organizations such as Diversity Thunder Bay, Grace Place, public libraries, and was promoted in person through soup kitchens, Shelter House and the Salvation Army.
Tracie Smith, Director of Corporate Communications for Thunder Bay Police, pointed out that there was a “focus on reaching marginalized community members to ensure that their voices are represented in this survey.”
However, the results found that only 12 per cent of the people who took the survey were from the Indigenous community.
Within that 12 per cent, 69 per cent indicated that their treatment when dealing with the Thunder Bay Police was unsatisfactory.
“Indigenous people who were responding to the survey had lower satisfaction results and lower levels of trust with the service. That's something that we are aware of and working very hard to address,” Smith told Newswatch in an interview.
Thunder Bay Councillor and Police Board Member Kasey Etreni pointed out that she would like to see more of Thunder Bay's multicultural diversity reflected in future surveys.
The survey results mainly reflected on the data from the people who identified as white or Indigenous.
“Our immigrants are coming into our community and we're seeing our population change and become a little bit more diverse than we have been in the past," Etreni said. "According to the survey, and the people who responded, that was 12 per cent.
“We also had 12 per cent of people who identified as being Indigenous. And then the overall were people who they identified on the survey as being white. So, I'd really like us to be able to see all the data from all those three groups in our next survey.”
Police Chief Darcy Fleury said the results were kind of what he expected.
“These surveys are always a moment in time," Fleury said. "This was done last year prior to my arrival here and until the beginning of my time here. I think it really is a good marker as to where we are and what people are telling us to do and what they want to see in their service.
“I welcome the results and it gives us an opportunity going forward just to see if our program is what we wanted to see and if we have to dig a little bit, then we'll do that going forward.”
To correct those results, Smith points out that there needs to be a collaborative effort with organizations on safety and well-being initiatives, as well as regular education sessions on recognizing biases in the communication engagement.
Fleury said the survey with help the police service to develop an overall plan with the board and implement it in their strategic plan and action plan.
“We're moving in the right direction," Fleury said. "We have set some programs and we believe those are good priorities as far as the things I want to see in our first part of time being here in the last year-and-a-half.”
Smith also noted that dialogue sessions are planned for this fall that will focus specifically on engaging with marginalized community members.
“Some populations have less stress than others," Smith said. "The police were specifically following up with these service providers. That will be a more strategic priority and operational priority."
