The Morden Police Service (MPS) issued a community survey throughout Morden in March, and the responses highlighted two main themes residents want from their local police department.

Results came back asking for police to focus on drug prevention, which wasn't a shock given the frequency of drug seizures in the community and surrounding area, and for a crackdown on distracted driving, which Rich Harries, Morden police board chair, didn't expect.

"[It] was a higher concern area from respondents than I would have thought," Harries said.

Distracted driving refers to, among other things, operating any handheld electronic device while driving. This includes phones, MP3 players, GPS devices, etc.

Harries also commented on the highly positive responses on the survey, demonstrating a high rate of satisfaction with the MPS.

"Citizens of Morden feel safe, and those who have had interactions with the police service are satisfied or better with that interaction," Harries explained.

The plan now is for the police board go over the survey results together and determine what action they want the department to take in the future. The next time the board meets is in June. Following this meeting, the survey results will be released.

"[We] only want to deal with areas of concern," said Harries, "but to ensure we don't lose sight of the things we're doing well, and that we continue to have a presence in the community."

Visibility with youth, being seen in schools, was one area the police scored well on in the survey, and Harries wants make sure that practice is maintained.