Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Office asking community to rate its service

A survey withjust three questions is what Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Office said is helping to build partnerships and change the way they police.

“So if someone has an interaction with our office, with our deputies, we want to know how that interaction was,” said Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Sgt. Roy Morales.

Sergeants are calling back people whocalled forassistance, askinghow long it took for officers to respond, their level of professionalism and if they helped resolve the problem.

“Right now we’re currently building on trust and legitimacy with our community and it’s been going really well,” said Morales.

So far themore than 100 people surveyed gave the department at least a 96 percent approval rating.

“Very professional, which we certainly appreciate in our police force out here,” said Jessie Sanders, owner of Aquatic Veterinary Services.

Sanders said she’s had to call the Sheriff’s Office a few times in the last month.

“Mostly just vagrants in the back parking lot,” said Sanders. “They’ve been super nice, come right over and ask whoever it is to move along. “

This is all part of the long list of recommendationsmade inPresident Obama’s 21 st Century Policing report.

TheSanta Cruz Sheriff’s Department said it’s committed andwants to more transparent and better reflect community standards.

“I just think it’s a good idea for them to build some trust,” said Soquel resident Linda Brown.

“It’s hard to trust them because you don’t know how they’re going to act over something that you may be doing,” said Paige McCollum.

The Sheriff’s Officesaid its going over the feedback from the surveywith staff.

“And then we’ll try to improve or continue with how we’re providing that service,” said Morales.

The Sheriff’s Office said it will continue conducting the surveys and getting body cameras could be next on the agenda.