APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) – Everyone tends to have a New Year’s resolution this time of year and it turns out you can help the Appleton Police Department achieve theirs.
The department is looking to further their mission of “excellence in police service” and to do so they’re asking the community to let them know their priorities and concerns.
This can be easily completed through the “focus” survey the department has set up.
Officer Meghan Cash with Appleton Police gives an example of a concern that you could tell them about.
“Somebody has a neighborhood issue with speeding on a certain street,” she explains. “Maybe our officers haven’t had the time to get out there.”
Officer Cash says the survey will ask individuals some general questions to gauge their priority levels on a number of different issues.
“There’s also an option for people to let us know if there’s a specific area or specific idea they have for us,” she says.
Those specific concerns can be manifested in a number of different ways, such as police visibility.
“A certain area in the city that people are saying, ‘Hey, you guys used to be here and now we’re not seeing you as much,’” she says.
The broader purpose of the survey is to bring guided community feedback to the police force in order for them to better establish and achieve goals in 2019.
“Policing isn’t something done to a community, it is something we do with the community, and we do it better together,” says Appleton Police Chief Todd Thomas.
This specific effort is being done to help the department as they head into the new year, but they say the opportunity to voice concerns is always available.
“Even when the surveys not available, via our Facebook page, [or] any of our social media, Instagram, Twitter, say ‘Hey, this is something I think you guys need to work on,’” says Officer Cash. “We’re always open to that.”
A link to the survey can be found here.
