The NAACP’s New Hanover County chapter said the survey of over 120 local residents highlighted the Wilmington Police Department’s “strengths in leadership and responsiveness,” while “identifying opportunities to strengthen community trust and engagement.
According to LeRon T. Montgomery, president of the New Hanover County NAACP, the online survey was distributed to local churches and organizations, who were asked to share it by email or text. Several members of the Black community, including Wilmington City Councilman Kevin Spears, shared the survey on Facebook, as well.
Last week, Montgomery released the results of the survey’s seven quantitative questions, which asked respondents to rate various aspects of WPD's performance from 1 to 5. The NAACP did not release answers to four qualitative questions that were also included in the survey.
Quantitative results
As the local NAACP noted in its summary, a majority of responses expressed at least a moderate level of trust in the local police department. Only about 19% expressed a high level of trust, and around 13% expressed low trust.
WPD received relatively strong scores for overall performance and responsiveness. Roughly 69% gave the department above-average scores (4 or 5) for satisfaction, with only around 10% giving low marks. Close to 69% gave high marks for responsiveness, with only around 12% giving low marks.
NAACP noted concerns about community interactions and engagement. Asked about the frequency of positive, casual interactions, around 30% gave low marks, and only 42% said that police were making an effort to engage with all segments of the local community.
“Positive, casual interactions with officers appear to be limited,” the NAACP’s release notes, adding there was “a need for more inclusive outreach strategies.”
The NAACP also noted that “public confidence remains divided” on the issue of police use of force. Around 35% gave positive responses when asked if WPD officers avoided “excessive force when possible,” while around 33% gave low marks.
Chief Williams also received high marks. The NAACP represented the results as “strong marks for leadership,” with over 67% of respondents giving Williams the highest score.
It’s worth noting, the survey question doesn’t specifically ask about leadership. Instead, it asks, “how confident were you in Police Chief Donny Williams' abilities as a police officer in the community?”
Asked if the phrasing of the question might have elicited responses about Williams’ personal role as an officer rather than his leadership, Montgomery said, “the question about Chief Williams was in particular of his leadership style with a community view.”
Qualitative questions
The survey also asked four open-ended questions:
- Have you ever witnessed or experienced unprofessional conduct by a police officer in your community? If yes, describe the situation.
- What could the police department do to improve relationships between officers and citizens?
- Do you have any suggestions to improve police services or responsiveness?
- Did Police Chief Donny Williams ever give you the impression that his motives were based on race?
Montgomery said NAACP did not release the answers to these questions to make “the data simple with the ranking systems,” adding, “it was just a comment to elaborate.”
Survey demographics
The survey’s 122 respondents were mostly Black or African American (77.9%), with the rest identifying as White (19.7%), and about two-thirds were female.
Survey respondents skewed older, with 45% saying they were 61 or older. Another 28% were 48-60 and 19% were 37-47. Only a small number were 36 or younger.
The survey did not include information about where respondents lived (i.e. zip code, neighborhood, city or county, etc.).
Below: Survey results provided by NAACP.
NHC NAACP Community Survey by Ben Schachtman on Scribd
