Take The Puyallup Community Survey Now

PUYALLUP, WA - The city's Municipal Court is designing a new program for residents to become more involved in the Puyallup criminal justice system. But for it to work in the most effective way, city officials need resident feedback.

Last week the city made available on its website a community survey that seeks to develop a keener understanding of the public's trust in the local justice system and identify the community's overall strengths and current challenges. Using the results of the survey, the city will create a Community Court program that will, in theory, better address public safety concerns.

"A community court engages a wide array of stakeholders including residents, merchants, faith communities and schools in an effort to promote safer, stronger and healthier communities," city officials explained. "Your responses will help the Puyallup Community Court to better understand the needs and concerns of the community and will influence the design of the program."

Ultimately, a community court differs from the Municipal Court in how it goes beyond typical criminal justice measures to instead find ways of addressing an individual's root cause for choosing criminal behavior.

The 26-question survey asks residents for a wide variety of information that will help shape the program, including where in Puyallup they reside (specific zip code), how long they've been residents, where they rank the city's quality of life, and what local challenges are most in need of immediate attention, among others.

The survey reportedly takes about 10 minutes to complete and will be available online through Feb. 20.

Click here to take the city's community survey (link redirects to surveygizmo.com).

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