City of Greenville Seeks Public Feedback on Police Policies and Perceptions

The City of Greenville’s ad hoc Citizen Advisory Committee on Public Safety, which was established in June to review and make recommendations regarding certain police policies, minority hiring practices, and the Public Safety Citizen Review Board’s (PSCRB) responsibilities and procedures, recently requested an additional 30 days to complete its work.

Specifically, committee members wanted more time to actively solicit community input. As part of that effort, the committee has developed a survey to determine how citizens view the Greenville Police Department (GPD) and what changes they would like to see made.

The survey is available online at publicinput.com/police. Paper copies are available upon request and a PDF version of the survey is available for download at https://www.greenvillesc.gov/DocumentCenter/View/16173/City-of-Greenville-Survey-on-Police-Policies-and-Perceptions. The deadline to participate in the survey is Thursday, Sept. 24.

Greenville City Council’s goal in establishing the committee was to heed the voice of citizens and examine the city’s policies and procedures to ensure they uphold the city’s commitment to the idea that all persons are equal in the eyes of the law. To that end, the committee is charged with the following responsibilities:

  • Review GPD policies concerning use of force, body-worn cameras, K-9s and training (to include de-escalation training) and make recommendations to city council regarding any changes a majority of the committee feels should be made
  • Review GPD minority hiring practices and make recommendations to city council regarding any modifications a majority of the committee feels should be made
  • Review the PSCRB’s by-laws, standard operating procedures and governing ordinances and make recommendations to city council regarding any changes a majority of the committee feels should be made

The committee was also asked to specifically seek and consider input from Greenville residents under the age of 30 regarding the matters being reviewed by the committee.

Committee members will use the survey results to help formulate their recommendations to city council, so widespread participation in the survey is important to ensure that the input is representative of the community at large.

Citizen’s Advisory Panel on Public Safety