Police service boards represent the needs and interests of the communities they serve. To do so effectively, they need reliable information about the values, priorities and expectations of the community, and their experiences with police. Research can support development of strategic priorities, and for evaluating police effectiveness, community engagement initiatives or communication efforts.
Advanis works with police services and police service boards to provide the data they need to understand community priorities, values, and experiences.
Our work for police service boards can include both quantitative and qualitative research. In addition to our ability to reach the community at large, we can gather the perspectives of key audiences within the community These may include seniors, racialized communities, Indigenous residents, members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, newcomers, business owners or members of religious communities. This focus within our research allows boards to hear more directly from communities whose relationships with police may differ in important ways. This understanding is critical to fulfilling boards’ mandates and as such is often mandated by provincial legislation that requires community outreach and consultation with equity-deserving communities.
Our research can help police service boards with the following critical tasks:
- Identifying community concerns, priorities, and expectations;
- Informing strategic planning and annual budget decisions;
- Measuring public trust, confidence, satisfaction, and perceptions of police;
- Evaluating community engagement and communication efforts;
- Assessing awareness and perceptions of specific programs or initiatives; and
- Tracking changes in public attitudes and priorities over time.
Advanis’ Police Service Benchmarks
Our Police Benchmarking Survey, conducted annually since 2020, has surveyed over 20,000 Canadians each year in recent years. Most police services in Canada conduct public opinion surveys periodically but before Advanis created this program in 2020, it was not possible to benchmark because police services do this research independently. Police services that subscribe to our benchmarking survey have access to national comparators as well as comparisons to similar-sized cities. Subscribers can even add their own exclusive-use questions to the survey.
See a preview of the 2025 results here: 2025 Police Benchmarks Highlighted Results
Subscribing to this annual study gives police services access to national comparators as well as comparisons to similar-sized cities. Rather than interpreting their own city’s results in isolation, participating services can see how their community’s compare with similar other communities and trace these comparisons over time.
Participation is flexible. Police services or police service boards can subscribe for a single wave, participate annually or semi-annually or add questions related to their own community context.
