More than 1,000 Victoria residents responded to the Victoria Police Department's annual community survey, which covers both the Victoria and Esquimalt jurisdictions.
Throughout the 2025 survey, residents were asked to share if they feel safe in their communities, if they were satisfied with the department, whether they feel the department is accountable, and what their top concerns are in the community.
Overall, residents' satisfaction with the department has slowly but steadily declined, with 84 per cent of respondents feeling satisfied in 2025 compared to 90 per cent in 2021.
Respondents said they do feel comfortable talking with VicPD officers, with 84 per cent saying they feel comfortable, dropping two points since 2021, compared to 8 per cent who disagree, and another 7 per cent who went undecided.
In terms of whether residents feel "safe and taken care of by VicPD," that number has dropped 10 points since 2021, with 61 per cent of respondents agreeing, and another 13 per cent disagreeing.
The three biggest problems respondents feel VicPD should pay closer attention to are open drug use, homelessness and traffic offences, which garnered 58 per cent of the total vote, while robbery, sexual assault and domestic abuse saw just five per cent of the vote.
When respondents were asked if they feel safe in their own neighbourhood during the day, the results have remained steady between 89 and 93 per cent since 2021; and during at night the results have been in the mid 60s since 2022.
When asked if respondents felt safe in downtown Victoria and Esquimalt Plaza during the day, the number has remained steady between 72 and 75 per cent since 2022, other than last year when 68 per cent said they felt safe. During the night, the number who felt safe has stayed between 33 and 36 per cent over the past five years.
To deal with "problems," most respondents – about 63 per cent – hope to see police be more visible in the community with more patrols, while 41 per cent voted for more crime prevention and 39 per cent voted to hire more officers.
At the end of the survey, respondents were given the opportunity to make comments, many of which centred on the value of community policing, a desire for more visibility, and concerns about social disorder and property crime.
"The increased foot patrols downtown have made a noticeable difference. It feels safer and more welcoming," said one respondent.
"The downtown core feels increasingly unsafe, especially at night. There are a lot of aggressive panhandlers and people struggling with addiction," said another.
Others asked for more supports for the community outside of policing and law enforcement.
"As a former health care professional – I note VicPD partnering with mental health nurses to respond to mental health calls is very valuable," said a respondent.
"How about spending the bloated VicPD budget on actually making our communities more livable, services and opportunities more accessible, providing a safety net for the most vulnerable members of our community, preventing homelessness and personal instability before it develops into almost irreparable condition," noted another.
VicPD Chief Del Manak thanks the survey respondents for sharing their thoughts on public safety priorities and concerns, how the police department is doing, and how they can be better.
"The VicPD Senior Leadership Team looks forward to exploring how we can implement this feedback for the benefit of our communities," noted Manak on the survey website.
