The Derry DPP has undertaken a widespread public consultation process to ascertain what local people think of policing and crime in their area, and to ensure that this information is passed on to the District Commander. This consultation process is an important role of the Partnership. It is vital that the Partnership has a clear understanding of local opinion on policing.
The Derry DPP has used a number of different methods in order to canvass views from members of the public on local policing within the district. These are as follows:
NISRA Survey
The Central Survey Unit of Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) was commissioned to carry out a public consultation survey on behalf of the Northern Ireland Policing Board (NIPB) and the District Policing Partnerships (DPPs) in May 2003. This postal survey involved questionnaires being sent to 60,014 households across Northern Ireland selected at random from the Valuation and Lands Agency list of private addresses. Unique identifiers were included with the questionnaires to enable results to be broken down by the DPP area.
Focus Groups
The Derry DPP also commissioned MORI MRC to undertake Focus Group research which involved organised discussion with a selected group of individuals to gain information about their views and experiences of a topic. This research programme enable the Partnership to consolidate issues raised by the NISRA Survey.