Police Department Staffing Study
PIEDMONT, CALIFORNIA
Study Objectives
2 1 Current staffing analysis.
2 Meeting best and emerging practices in operations management 3 Analysis of organizational structure and management systems High-Level Summary of Key Issues in This Study
3 1 The extent to which the community is involved in service planning and evaluation 2 How ‘uncommitted time’ is used in patrol to work with the community and to solve problems 3 Current and long-range administrative support to the Department 4 The operational support provided to officers
Key Findings: Operations Division 1
4 Piedmont has a unique call for
service pattern – it is mostly
community support oriented
rather than response to crime.
Many of these top calls are
more proactive in nature.
These Top 10 call types
represent about three-quarters
of all service requests.
Methodology: Patrol
5 • Proactive time is the central metric used to evaluate the capacity of patrol staffing.
❖ It is calculated as the percentage of on-duty staffing hours that are not spent responding to calls for service.
❖ Adequate proactive time facilitates more engagement with the community. ❖ At an overall level, proactive time should be at least 45% of total time in the field.
❖ In smaller communities, proactive time is usually a higher percentage because call for service loads are low.
Key Findings: Operations Division 3
6 Overall proactivity is exceptional, exceeding
60% of the time available every hour of the
day.
This is an exceptional level of service
capability.
Key Findings: Operations Division 4
7 With high proactive ability levels, patrol
officers use the time available to address
problems in the community.
In Piedmont, these abilities are even higher
because of the way ‘calls’ are classified.
Operations Division Conclusions and Recommendations
8 • In Piedmont, patrol staffing is a function of minimal needs, not workloads. • Two police officers and a sergeant provide adequate coverage to meet response time expectations, to cover concurrent activities, and officer safety. • As a result, current authorized staffing levels in patrol are appropriate. • However, additional steps can be taken to build upon proactive abilities:
❖ Planning for the best use of proactive time in Piedmont. ❖ More analytical support to drive proactive efforts.
❖ More engagement with the community.
Additional Operations Division Conclusions and Recommendations 9 • Adding a crime analyst to support community service and the best use of patrol resources – this position could be multi-functional (e.g., to assist detectives). • Adding an administrative sergeant would address several issues in the Department:
❖ Relieving many staff of collateral responsibilities.
❖ Bringing expertise to several important administrative functions (e.g., training).
❖ Providing direct supervision to detectives and other positions (detectives).
Investigations Conclusions and Recommendations
10 While major crimes are not common in
Piedmont, property crimes are increasing.
Workable cases are low for many property
crimes because of the lack of evidence or
witnesses to thefts and burglaries.
This emphasizes the importance of directed
field efforts as recommended previously for
patrol.
Conclusions and Recommendations in Other Areas
11 • Training – the direction that discretionary training has should include an ongoing evaluation that includes community needs.
• Complaints – take steps to ensure that the process is transparent. • Dispatch – Additional staff (3) are needed to safely and effectively operate the center. They can assist with administrative tasks between dispatch tasks. • Records – An additional records specialist is needed to improve coverage, though cross-training other staff to cover these roles is an alternative. • Property and evidence – needs additional technology and policies to conform to best practices.
• Information technology – this has been a strong area for Piedmont. 12 Questions and Discussion