Police describe post-911 text-survey pilot aimed at caller feedback

Montgomery County police told the council on July 21 they will pilot a short, multilingual text-message survey sent after selected 911 and nonemergency calls that generate an incident number. The effort, designed to capture feedback from people who directly interacted with dispatchers or officers, is intended to reduce self-selection bias seen in earlier social-media surveys.

"Anytime a community member, whether they reside here, work here, or commuting through, calls 911, they'll receive a text message after their call for service, asking about the police service they received," Assistant Chief Nicholas Oggstein said. Lieutenant Cody Fields described roughly 15 proposed questions assessing dispatch timeliness, officer professionalism, whether respondents felt listened to and whether they "did you receive the help available or the help that you needed?"

Police said the pilot will limit texts for some sensitive call types (for example, child abuse or certain assault categories) to avoid revictimization, will run initially for several months to assess response rates, and may change questions if respondents skip items. The department said the vendor Axon provided sample questions other agencies use nationwide.

Committee members pushed for wording that would not conflate immigration enforcement with MCPD and urged adding options to capture whether callers requested nonpolice responses such as a mobile crisis outreach team (MCOT). Police said the pilot will focus on those who had direct police contact but that separate countywide outreach or canvassing could be considered to reach underrepresented residents who may not call 911.

The council requested follow-up on pilot response rates and suggested staff return with results and any recommended question changes after the August ecember trial period.