Most people who answered Hayden’s law enforcement survey said they are satisfied with the service provided by the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office. A separate question found more respondents opposed than supported forming a city police department, according to a draft study by Matrix Consulting Group.
Of the 210 people who answered the service question, 148, or 70%, said they were satisfied with the current level of KCSO service. Sixty-two, or 30%, said they were not.
Of the 197 who answered whether Hayden should form its own police department, 118, or 60%, said no. Seventy-nine, or 40%, said yes. Twenty-two survey participants did not answer that question.
Those results will be part of the discussion when Hayden’s Public Safety Commission meets Monday, Sept. 28, at 1 PM to review the draft Law Enforcement Strategic Planning Study.
What respondents want from law enforcement
Satisfaction with KCSO did not mean respondents thought every aspect of service was adequate. Some who said they were satisfied still asked for more visible patrols and stronger traffic enforcement.
Traffic and speeding appeared in 42% of written responses identifying law enforcement concerns, according to Matrix. Traffic enforcement was the most frequently selected priority for additional resources.
Respondents who were dissatisfied with current service most often described a lack of visible patrols. They also raised questions about reporting on deputy hours, activity and the use of Hayden’s contract dollars. Matrix concluded that improvements in patrol visibility, traffic enforcement and reporting under the current contract could address concerns voiced by some respondents who favor a change.
Cost was central to views on a city police department. Matrix says it appeared in 54% of the written explanations on that question. Among respondents satisfied with KCSO service who answered both questions, 23% supported a city department. Among those dissatisfied with KCSO service, 82% supported one.
What the numbers can—and cannot—tell us
The survey was open from June 11 through Aug. 11. Matrix received 226 partial or complete responses and excluded seven from people who said they neither live nor work in Hayden, leaving 219 for its analysis. The number answering each question varied.
Matrix cautions that participation was voluntary and respondents were not selected at random. The findings describe the views of people who chose to respond; they should not be treated as a statistically representative measure of opinion throughout Hayden.
The study considers more than survey responses. It examines Hayden’s law enforcement workload, the current KCSO contract and the staffing and costs of a standalone city department. Matrix models a 16-position city department with annual operating costs of about $2.58 million, compared with $1.19 million for the KCSO contract term used in the study. A city department would also require startup spending and a facility decision. Those figures describe different service models and do not, by themselves, answer what level of service Hayden should purchase.
The draft’s cost tables contain differing startup totals, an issue that merits clarification before those figures are used to compare options.
The PSC meeting offers an opportunity to examine both the survey and the study’s assumptions: what residents said they value, what service each model would provide, and what each would cost. The report is a draft, and the commission’s discussion is not a final decision on Hayden’s law enforcement model.
Read the draft Law Enforcement Strategic Planning Study
Public Safety Commission: Monday, Sept. 28, 1 PM | Agenda