The Madison Police Department is conducting an online survey polling residents and local business owners about their feelings on downtown safety and crime.

The survey is specifically for businesses and people in the Central Policing District, which includes State Street and many student-populated areas.

"What we're trying to do is look for things that hopefully give us some insight into what problems the public is seeing — give us some idea about if certain trends come up in certain neighborhoods," said Mary Schauf, captain of police for the Central District.

Schauf said the police department has been working on creating this survey for some time. After the survey is completed, the data will be taken and analyzed by the police department.

"One of the things that we did say when we did the Downtown Safety Initiative was that we were going to survey people early in the year and then late in the year," Schauf said. "We wanted to put out the survey now to get a read from people to see where things are at."

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz planned the $100,000 Downtown Safety Initiative along with the MPD. The initiative calls for $70,000 to be spent on police overtime, particularly during the hours of 11 p.m. and 3 a.m.

The survey asks users what kind of crimes, such as sexual assault, battery, noise violations or burglary, should be the police department's top priority.

Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, who represents part of the Central District, said he gets complaints from students who say the police spend too much time focusing on bar raids and busting house parties. He said this survey presents students with a good opportunity to tell the MPD what their main concerns should be.

"A way where students could make a difference and have a direct pipeline to the police commanders is taking a few minutes to fill out one of these surveys and telling them what they've told me and what they say in the campus press and to their friends," Verveer said. "I promise you they will be read and analyzed."

Verveer said this is not the first time the MPD has used surveys to gauge public sentiment, but added it is the first time the Central District has issued a survey in an online format.

"It really makes the survey much more accessible and more convenient for citizens," Verveer said. "The response rate in the past has been fairly abysmal, but again, my recollection is that they were all the old-fashioned paper versions where someone actually had to go through the trouble of putting the survey in the mail."

Schauf said this survey, which is available through the MPD website, will be active for two to three more weeks.

The district will survey businesses and residents again in November or December to see if feelings have changed.