Police Survey Results Are In, Spanish-Speaking Residents Silent

By Greta Cuyler

The Princeton Police have the results of the town-wide community survey conducted earlier this year and one thing is immediately clear: no Spanish-speaking residents completed a survey.

“Generally, all of our citizens want a productive police department that takes care of the quality of life issues that our citizens care about,” Police Capt. Nick Sutter said. “We put out the survey in English and Spanish- the Spanish-speaking respondents were zero.”

And that’s a problem, Sutter said, because part of the point of the survey was to find out issues and concerns of all Princeton residents.

Of the 394 respondents who completed the survey (roughly half responded online and half in person), most are concerned about police presence, traffic enforcement, speeding enforcement and community policing.

Approximately 8 percent of Princeton’s 30,000-odd residents are Spanish-speaking.

“We were very much concerned about that (lack of Spanish-speaking response) right away,” Sutter said, adding that his department has already begun outreach to the John Witherspoon neighborhood, including through church groups, community groups and community leaders.

“A lack of survey response spoke volumes in that area,” Sutter said. “We’re trying to alleviate their fears of interacting with us.”

The survey was conducted February through May and was available on SurveyMonkey.com and through the police department website. Police also canvassed 50-75 homes and businesses within each of the five patrol sectors in town to solicit in-person responses. 

The goal of the survey was simple: to prevent problems before they occur, enhance services and create a more responsive government.

And that’s why discovering a disconnect with the Hispanic community is important, Sutter said. The department can now be proactive in addressing the issue.

“The survey is not the end, but the beginning of the initiative,” he said.

Police plan to unveil the survey results at a general community meeting, followed by smaller group meetings in each of the specific patrol sectors. The goal will be to come up with specific solutions to address each neighborhood’s concerns.