Many residents perceived the new safety measures in the city as a necessary inconvenience.

perceived 是动词 perceive 的过去式形式。perceive 由前缀 per-（表示"完全、彻底"）和词根 ceive（来自拉丁语 capere，意为"抓住、理解"）组成，意思是"感知、认识到、认为"。在句中表示"市民们对安全措施的看法"。