- The Lansing Police Department partnered with the survey company, Zencity, in 2021 to collect data from Lansing residents on their thoughts of the state of public safety
- On Wednesday, Lansing Empowerment Network and Zencity presented the data
- According to the Zencity data, the top concern was violence, followed by police resources and streets and traffic
- Survey results also showed that 66% of residents over 55 feel safe in their neighborhoods and 54% of residents ages 18 to 35 feel safe in their neighborhoods
- In the attached story, I spoke with Lansing Police Chief Robert Backus and Lansing Empowerment Network board member, Erica Lynn, about their reactions to these results
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
Over the course of the past four years, Lansing Police have been collecting data to get a better picture of our neighbors thoughts when it comes to public safety.
I'm your Lansing neighborhood reporter Asya Lawrence here with those results and how LPD plans on addressing these concerns.
"What do you think are the biggest issues facing the city right now? How safe do you feel? Do you trust the police?" said Robert Backus, Lansing Police Chief.
These are some of the many questions that Lansing Police were able to get answers to from a survey done by an outside company called Zencity.
"I must be a part of target demographic because I have seen those sponsored ads but I didn't know what it was until my work with Lansing Empowerment Network," said Erica Lynn, Lansing Empowerment Network board member.
Earlier this week, the Lansing Empowerment Network and Zencity presented the data from the survey.
First up, neighbors' top concerns.
Streets and traffic topped that list in previous years but this year violence was the top concern for neighbors.
"It's a quality of life sort of issue," said Loretta Stanaway.
According to LPD , fatal shootings are down by 20% and non-fatal shootings are down by 11.5% in Lansing compared to 2024 but there's still work to do.
Thursday night was the most recent example, when LPD responded to the area of South Washington Square around 11:00 p.m. when they heard multiple gunshots.
LPD officials say they learned a 29-year-old male arrived at the hospital with multiple gunshot wounds. This investigation is still active and no arrest have been made but the victim is expected to be to survive.
"We have a problem. That's an acknowledgment that's really important to me," said Lynn.
I spoke with Lynn and Chief Backus before Thursday's shooting took place, but there were already discussions around the big picture of safety in the capital city.
"Saying that this is trend were seeing, this might be a news story you saw and this is what we've done about it. I think that if people see that what they're seeing and what were sharing that there's a response to that, hopefully that will have an impact on their perception of the police and their feelings of safety," said Chief Backus.
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