Big Idea

• The Prescott Police Department is launching a new public survey tool
• This will help to better understand local concerns, attitude and trust in their local police officers
• The survey will appear to residents on their mobile devices
• The Prescott Police Department seeks to build a safer, fairer city, and this tool will help
• Read more...

Partnership with Zencity will use ongoing surveys to better understand local concerns, priorities, and trust in public safety officers

The Prescott Police Department is launching a new public survey tool to better understand local concerns, attitude, and trust in their local police officers. The survey will appear to residents on their mobile devices. The tool will enable the department to understand local neighborhood issues and enhance their responsiveness to community priorities more holistically.

This latest effort builds on our increased presence in the community, to provide real dialog and feedback on what our community sees as issues for us to address together.

“Through this partnership with Zencity the Department will be able to enhance our understanding of residents' perception of public safety in our community,” said Amy Bonney, Chief of Police for Prescott. “As we seek to build a safer, fairer city this data-driven understanding of community sentiment and priorities gives us a roadmap for continued improvement.

“Forward-thinking leaders like Chief Bonney understand that effective public safety in 2022 means building trust with the community they serve as part of an overall effort to fight crime. I applaud Chief Bonney. Zencity is proud to support the important work the Prescott Police Department is doing to better understand and prioritize the needs of its residents,” said Eyal Feder-Levy, CEO of Zencity.

The launch of the new community survey is in partnership with Zencity, a global technology company redefining community engagement to enhance the responsiveness of local governments. Zencity works with hundreds of municipalities across the U.S. including Chicago, Phoenix, Seattle, and San Diego on issues ranging from public safety to American Rescue Plan Act implementation.

Beginning Friday, March 18, 2022, the survey will gather responses from Prescott residents across the entire city bi-annually.  The survey results measure the overall feeling of safety and trust while also identifying specific concerns residents want the Department to address. 

Once sampling of responses has been received, the Department will create a public dashboard on its website to display the trust and sentiment expressed by residents.

Score Calculation Methodology

Zencity’s Blockwise scores reflect the diversity of our partner cities, incorporating voices from every corner of the community. To do so, Zencity sets response targets based on U.S. Census data about the districts and areas measured. Using geotags or zip codes associated with each confidential and anonymous survey response, the system assigns responses to the neighborhoods where they originate. Zencity ensures the security and privacy of its data and survey respondents. Survey responses are anonymous, unless a respondent chooses to share their email address for follow-up purposes, in which case their survey responses are kept confidential. Zencity does not collect a respondent’s name, address, or any other personally identifying information.

Zencity’s trust and safety scores are generated from rating scale questions that people answer within surveys. Residents respond to three questions to create scores measuring their level of trust in police and how safe they feel in their community. Zencity then generates a monthly score, based on the latest data. Those scores represent the average response among respondents in that neighborhood, weighted to match that neighborhood’s demographic makeup. These scores are not percentages. Zencity’s weighting accounts for the responses of every single person who answered a question. The responses give a proportional voice to all demographics (e.g., by age, sex, race, education level, and income level) based on the makeup of that area.