Richmond Emergency Services Review
Presentation on the Final Report
Scope of Work and Approach
The purpose of the study is to evaluate police and fire workloads and service delivery to maximize efficiency – we analyzed 3 years of data through 2021
This was thorough process including the following steps:
Input from Police and Fire Department staff through interviews Community input through interviews and focus group meetings Comprehensive data collection on workloads and services Evaluation of service delivery and resource needs and options. Collaboration to review findings and conclusions
1 Police Analysis – Patrol Principles
Key to the analysis of patrol is evaluate the balance of ‘reactive’ and ‘proactive’ time.
Reactive time is the time spent by patrol officers handling calls for service
Proactive time is the time spent engaging with the community, deploying in areas assistance could be needed, etc.
Generally, the approach utilized by the Matrix Consulting Group places a high value on proactive time because of its problem- solving nature and the partnerships it should forge.
Targeting proactivity at about 40% provides that balance on an overall basis.
Resulting Patrol Proactivity Levels
At current staffing levels, proactivity is
not adequate.
As calls peak from late morning into the
evening, proactivity becomes very low.
The only hours meeting the 40%
threshold are late at night.
Clearly, vacancies have been a factor.
Redeployment could have only a minor
impact on this.
To achieve that targeted level of
proactivity would require 13 additional
officers in patrol (68 in total).
Alternative Response
Many departments around the country have created ‘alternative response’ programs relating to:
Responses to low risk, low priority calls for service Crisis responses
Hiring civilian responders to address lower priority calls is efficient and cost effective – Richmond could support 8 civilian staff given the distribution and number of lower priority calls. A co-response model on mental heath and other crisis calls would support better outcomes – Richmond could support 2 teams, each with a clinician and and an EMT.
Investigations
Major crime reported to the FBI is down in Richmond:
In 2022 major person crime was down 33% since 2018.
In 2022 major property crime was down 24% since 2018. However, caseloads are up because cases are more
complicated and there are fewer staff to handle cases.
To handle all of these cases at recommended caseload levels would require a significant number of new detectives and support staff (34).
Other Opportunities
As soon as staffing allows, fill vacant positions in Special Enforcement.
Focus more on training by creating a community-centric plan and increasing the amount of training staff receive.
Focus on more creative recruiting efforts and expedite hiring decisions.
Fire Service Performance
Fire suppression units cannot meet established performance standards.
Fire Service Performance
Fire Service Overtime Issue
High levels of overtime have been used to achieve targeted staffing.
Emergency Operations
Establish community- based performance goals for turnout and travel times to emergency fire and EMS calls.
Monitor and report turnout time performance by station and shift monthly.
As funding allows increase shift staffing levels to reduce excessive overtime requirements in the Fire Department.
Emergency Communications
Establish a goal of processing emergency fire and EMS call in 1- minute 90% of the time for the Communications Center.
Develop systems to improve the accuracy of data.
Fully implement the use of Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) to reduce responses to low acuity EMS calls.
Excessive and mandatory overtime is not sustainable in emergency communications – fill vacant positions and
increase staffing overall to 21 dispatchers and 4 supervisors.
Fire Service Opportunities
Develop strategies to increase on duty staffing:
Return to work policies
Controlling overtime
Improve dispatch processes and data capture
Consider utilizing cross-staffed quick response EMS vehicles. Filling vacant positions
Hire a civilian to staff a Fire Adaptive Community Coordinator position to improve defensible space investigations and public education.
Hire a civilian public education coordinator to improve Community Risk Reduction efforts.
Overall Conclusions
Current staffing in the Police Department are not sufficient effectively to meet either workload or service demands. This issue is made worse by position vacancies.
The Police Department has major opportunities to utilize alternative service approaches for many calls.
For the Fire Department, position vacancies, injury leave, vacation and sick time have resulted in very high levels of overtime to meet daily staffing needs.
There are opportunities for civilianization in Fire too.