Citizen perceptions of community policing - Comparing Internet and mail survey responses

Internet surveys alone and mail surveys alone display limitations in terms of cost, convenience, sampling, representativeness, and flexibility that neither method completely resolves. The authors were asked to design a survey that would measure resident perceptions of community policing in a small city in south Georgia. The fact that city residents were offered low-price Internet access as part of the city's range of local services gave the authors the opportunity to employ both a mail survey and an Internet survey posted on the city's web page. They examined the effect of the two methods on respondents' survey answers and compared the Internet and mail responses on response rate and comparability of responses on their community-policing indicators. Method of data collection did not significantly affect answers given. Those inclined to complete and return mail surveys sponsored by community institutions do not differ substantially from those who tend to respond by Internet.