“Regardless of the level of service, police services are considered satisfactory throughout Quebec,” says Léger, which conducted the study.
A majority of Quebecers say they are satisfied with the work of their local police force, according to a survey commissioned by Quebec’s public security ministry.
The study indicates that 85 per cent of respondents said they were satisfied with their police service and have confidence in it.
The Léger survey, the results of which were made public on June 19, looked at the level of satisfaction with the 26 municipal police organizations and the Sûreté du Québec (SQ).
Cyntia Darisse, Quebec vice-president of Léger, said all police services performed well in the survey.
“Regardless of the level of service, police services are considered satisfactory throughout Quebec. There are no catastrophic ratings here. And even if we dig by region, there are small differences, but there are no police forces that are in hot water,” she said.
Every year, police organizations carry out surveys of their population. But this is the first time that Quebecers were surveyed simultaneously with the same questions about their local police, the ministry says.
The survey is part of the ministry’s 2023-2027 strategic plan. It should enable police forces to identify courses of action. The exercise will be repeated over the next two years.
Léger also asked questions about feeling safe, perceived effectiveness and police conduct and ethics.
Around 90 per cent of those surveyed said they felt safe in their municipality. Generally speaking, the majority of participants believe that their police force is effective in dealing with various types of crimes or during different interventions.
For example, around 80 per cent of respondents said their police service is effective in solving crimes involving violence and in ensuring road safety as well as security in the neighbourhood.
However, Quebec police officers are less well rated in terms of prevention against cybercrime or online crimes. According to the survey, 56 per cent of those questioned said that their department intervened effectively in this matter, compared to 32 per cent who thought it didn’t.
Respondents were also less satisfied with the transparency and communication of their local police force. Less than half believe that the police adequately inform them of interventions or the means at their disposal to protect themselves.
“Communication, no matter the issue we survey, is 90 per cent the aspect that receives the lowest scores in terms of satisfaction,” Darisse said.
In light of these results, the associate deputy minister of police affairs, Jérôme Gagnon, recognized that efforts will have to be made to improve communication in order to make the work of the police better known to the population.
Generally speaking, the Montreal police perform less well than the rest of Quebec in this study. For example, the satisfaction rate and trust level are 78 per cent. The proportion of Montrealers deeming the interventions of their police officers effective in combating different types of crime is also lower than elsewhere in the province.
In addition, only 51 per cent of Montreal respondents believe that the police are making sufficient efforts to adequately respond to issues related to certain social problems, such as homelessness and the overdose crisis. For all of Quebec, this rate is 61 per cent.
The survey was conducted among more than 10,000 Quebecers between March 26 and April 9.