90 The Section’s work schedule is Monday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Public access hours are Monday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Overview
Contrary to the common belief that functions performed in law enforcement records units are as simple as filing reports and providing copies as needed, the Records staff have an exhaustive list of duties to perform. Some of these daily duties include the following:
■ Reviewing and processing citations and incident reports. ■ Conducting criminal history checks.
■ Answering telephone calls related to the record operations. ■ Handling walk-in customers at the front desk.
■ Organizing and maintaining reports in various databases. ■ Maintaining records on incarcerated individuals.
■ Responding to document, video, and/or photographic image requests from the public, and law enforcement/criminal justice community.
■ Maintaining information on local wanted/missing persons and property in local, state, and federal databases.
■ Monitoring and responding to requests received through the agency's central email box. ■ Receiving and distributing incoming and outgoing mail; purging records as directed by the records retention schedule.
■ Preparing statistical reports including those for the State of California and the FBI. ■ Responding to requests for the release of various documents/tapes/ photographs as required under the Public Records Act (PRA).
■ Performing records checks and validation for entries into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database.
Workload Demand
Staff is cross-trained in all areas. The vacant supervisor position elevated the lead clerk to an acting position and a frontline clerk was moved to the acting lead position. This one vacancy has impacted the current workload and level of duties for all Records personnel. It has placed a higher demand on existing staff to complete many of the work duties to avoid backlogs of processing and managing daily tasks.
The most time-consuming task for Records personnel is processing the thousands of police reports and citations that are submitted yearly. At the time of CPSM's visit, the staff was backlogged by nearly 300 reports, requiring the supervisor to coordinate the assignment of extra hours and staffing to ensure the backlog is corrected. In interviews with Records clerks, it was agreed that the Spillman Technology RMS software was meeting the needs of the organization, and no serious issues were reported that would impact workloads, processing, or staffing levels.
In terms of workload and daily tasks, Records could not estimate the number of daily phones calls coming into Records. Front counter visits are believed to be 10 to 15 per day. These totals,
91 along with other tasks where yearly totals are not tracked, would increase he tracked workload significantly over the course of a year. IACP estimates that the average Records clerk should accomplish 20 to 50 tasks per day. The SLOPD Record Section would likely be on the higher side of the tasks performed if all workload data was tracked. The following table helps to illustrate the tracked and untracked daily tasks that collectively make up the workload totals for Records clerks. It is only when all tasks and yearly totals are accounted for that an accurate assessment of staffing can be developed.
TABLE 7-6: Record Section Yearly Task Totals
2021 2022 2023 2024
Public Phone
Calls*
1,690
Front Counter Visits
PRAs 52 70 78
Court Discovery 780 510
Report Processing 6,558 6,250 6,220 4,055
Public Requests for
Reports
680
Citations 4,802 3,786 4,802 2,985
NCIC/CJIS Entries 510
Arrest Processing 1,346 1,536 2,136 1,498
Warrants 239 392 380 341
Traffic Collision Rpt. 1,020
Sex Registry 85
Available Totals 12,997 12,034 14,396 13,374
Source: SLOPD's Records Section, Records does not track all categories listed above When officers arrest suspects who remain in custody, the Records staff is responsible for reviewing the reports for correct data entry and preparing cases for detectives to file with prosecutors. This involves retrieving copies of booking and rap sheets, assembling copies, and collating police reports into case packages, ready for detectives to pick up the next business day.
All police records section administrators are required to manage the retention, archiving, release, and destruction of an agency’s public records. The Records coordinator reported that a backlog of records is awaiting purging. State law requires the purging of certain public documents, including police records. This is always a challenge when balanced with the current backlog of inputting reports and other types of data.
CPSM Staffing Recommendation
It is recommended that SLOPD fill the current vacancy and as well consider the hiring of parttime employees to include a cadet program. Additional part-time employees could focus on public counter visits for police reports and work related to the release of property. This approach will allow the Records clerks to focus on the reducing backlogs and data inputs.
An increase in Records staffing has the potential to provide the following effectiveness and efficiency opportunities:
92 ■ Improve the efficiency and accuracy of record-keeping processes. ■ Data entry, filing, and retrieval can be completed more promptly, reducing backlogs and ensuring that information and special data reports are accessible. ■ Additional Records staff will provide better public counter coverage while enhancing internal and external services, such as increased staffing and the ability to address issues quickly. ■ Increased Records staffing levels will allow for higher compliance with legal and regulatory requirements related to record-keeping.
■ More personnel dedicated to managing records can help ensure that all documentation is properly maintained, updated, and stored under applicable California laws and SLO police standards.
Overall, the addition of personnel would enable Records to address critical tasks and achieve top priority goals and objectives. This can increase work satisfaction and public confidence with improved operational efficiency, better service delivery, and enhanced compliance. The SLOPD is currently struggling with the following challenges:
■ Police report and other data report backlogs.
■ One vacancy with other positions in acting positions at the lead and supervisor level.
Records Recommendations:
■ It is recommended that SLOPD establish accurate tracking of all Records tasks and use the data to determine workloads and staffing levels. (Recommendation No. 54.) ■ It is recommended that SLOPD fill the current vacancy and consider the hiring of part-time employees to include a cadet program to focus on front counter customers, requests for police reports, and work related to the release of property. This approach will allow the Records clerk to focus on the reducing backlogs and data input. (Recommendation No. 53.) § § §
93 SECTION 8. SUMMARY
Throughout this report we have endeavored to provide the reader with insight into the staffing of the San Luis Obispo Police Department.
CPSM recognizes that the recommendations, especially those involving added personnel, come at a cost. Please be assured that these recommendations were not made lightly, but with significant consideration regarding the operational necessity associated with each position.
We further recognize that implementing many of these recommendations, should the City of San Luis Obispo choose to do so, will take considerable time and resources. We would encourage the department leadership to work with city leadership to identify those that are most critical and develop and plan with a timeline for the others. As well, we would make ourselves available to consult as necessary and appropriate.
Additionally, a comprehensive data analysis report will follow. While the more pertinent aspects of that analysis are embedded in the operational assessment, readers are encouraged to review the data analysis report in its entirety.
§ § §
94 SECTION 9. DATA ANALYSIS
This data analysis report on police patrol operations for the San Luis Obispo Police Department focuses on three main areas: workload, deployment, and response times. These three areas are related almost exclusively to patrol operations, which constitute a significant portion of the police department’s personnel and financial commitment.
All information in this report was developed using data from the department’s computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system.
CPSM collected data for a one-year period of July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024. The majority of the first section of the report, concluding with Table 10-9, uses call data for one year. For the detailed workload analysis, we used two eight-week sample periods. The first period is from July 7 through August 31, 2023, or summer, and the second period is from January 4 through February 28, 2024, or winter.
WORKLOAD ANALYSIS
When CPSM analyzes a set of dispatch records, we go through a series of steps:
■ We first process the data to improve accuracy. For example, we remove duplicate patrol units recorded on a single event as well as records that do not indicate an actual activity. We also remove incomplete data, as found in situations where there is not enough time information to evaluate the record.
■ At this point, we have a series of records that we call “events.” We identify these events in three ways:
□ We distinguish between patrol and nonpatrol units.
□ We assign a category to each event based on its description. □ We indicate whether the call is “zero time on scene” (i.e., patrol units spent less than 30 seconds on scene), “police-initiated,” or “community-initiated.” ■ We then remove all records that do not involve a patrol unit to get the total number of patrolrelated events. ■ At important points during our analysis, we focus on a smaller group of events designed to represent actual calls for service. This excludes events with no officer time spent on scene and directed patrol activities.
In this way, we first identify a total number of records, then limit ourselves to patrol events, and finally focus on calls for service.
As with similar cases around the country, we encountered several issues when analyzing San Luis Obispo’s dispatch data. We made assumptions and decisions to address these issues. ■ 957 events (about 4 percent) involved patrol units spending zero time on scene. ■ The computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system used approximately 101 different event descriptions, which we condensed into 16 categories for our tables and 9 categories for our
95 figures (shown in Chart 9-1). Table 9-20 in the appendix shows how each call description was categorized.
Between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024, the communications center recorded approximately 24,680 events that were assigned call numbers, which included an adequate record of a responding patrol unit as either the primary or secondary unit. When measured daily, the department reported an average of 67.4 patrol-related events per day, approximately 4 percent of which (2.6 per day) had fewer than 30 seconds spent on the call.
In the following pages, we show two types of data: activity and workload. The activity levels are measured by the average number of calls per day, broken down by the type and origin of the calls, and categorized by the nature of the calls (crime, traffic, etc.). Workloads are measured in average work hours per day.
CHART 9-1: Event Descriptions for Tables and Figures
Table Category Figure Category
Alarm Alarm
Assist community member Assist Assist other agency
Crime against persons Crime Crime against property
Disturbance Disturbance
Animal call
General noncriminal Mental health
Miscellaneous
Warrant (or) arrest
Investigation Investigation
Suspicious incident Suspicious incident
Accident
Traffic enforcement Traffic
Traffic stop
Violation Violation
96 FIGURE 9-1: Percentage Events per Day, by Initiator
Note: Percentages are based on a total of 24,680 events.
TABLE 9-1: Events per Day, by Initiator
Initiator No. of Events Events per Day
Community-initiated 20,877 57.0
Police-initiated 2,846 7.8
Zero on scene 957 2.6
Total 24,680 67.4
Observations:
■ 4 percent of the events had zero time on scene.
■ 12 percent of all events were police-initiated.
■ 85 percent of all events were community-initiated.
■ There was an average of 67 events per day, or 2.8 per hour.
97 FIGURE 9-2: Percentage Events per Day, by Category
Note: The figure combines categories in the following table according to the description in Chart 9-1.
98 TABLE 9-2: Events per Day, by Category
Category No. of EventsEvents per Day
Accident 832 2.3
Alarm 1,262 3.4
Animal call 134 0.4
Assist community member 1,778 4.9
Assist other agency 685 1.9
Crime against persons 337 0.9
Crime against property 3,208 8.8
Disturbance 5,348 14.6
Investigation 3,562 9.7
Mental health 35 0.1
Miscellaneous 89 0.2
Suspicious incident 3,450 9.4
Traffic enforcement 849 2.3
Traffic stop 212 0.6
Violation 2,762 7.5
Warrant (or) arrest 137 0.4
Total 24,680 67.4
Note: Observations below refer to events shown within the figure rather than the table.
Observations:
■ The top four categories accounted for 64 percent of events:
□ 22 percent of events were disturbances.
□ 14 percent of events were investigations.
□ 14 percent of events were crimes.
□ 14 percent of events were suspicious incidents.
99 FIGURE 9-3: Percentage Calls per Day, by Category
Note: The figure combines categories in the following table according to the description in Chart 9-1.
100
TABLE 9-3: Calls per Day, by Category
Category No. of CallsCalls per Day
Accident 791 2.2
Alarm 1,227 3.4
Animal call 129 0.4
Assist community member 1,695 4.6
Assist other agency 654 1.8
Crime against persons 328 0.9
Crime against property 3,120 8.5
Disturbance 5,206 14.2
Investigation 3,435 9.4
Mental health 35 0.1
Miscellaneous 86 0.2
Suspicious incident 3,330 9.1
Traffic enforcement 775 2.1
Traffic stop 204 0.6
Violation 2,572 7.0
Warrant (or) arrest 136 0.4
Total 23,723 64.8
Note: The focus here is on recorded calls rather than recorded events. We removed 957 events with zero time on scene.
Observations:
■ On average, there were 64.8 calls per day, or 2.7 per hour. ■ The top three categories accounted for 65 percent of calls:
□ 22 percent of calls were disturbances.
□ 15 percent of calls were crimes.
□ 14 percent of calls were investigations.
□ 14 percent of calls were suspicious incidents.
101
FIGURE 9-4: Calls per Day, by Initiator and Month
TABLE 9-4: Calls per Day, by Initiator and Months
Initiator Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Community 60.7 55.6 58.0 61.4 56.8 52.3 54.5 55.8 52.5 54.8 58.5 63.6 Police 6.2 7.4 8.7 6.7 6.9 7.9 8.1 9.1 8.6 7.4 6.7 9.7
Total 66.9 63.0 66.7 68.1 63.8 60.2 62.6 64.9 61.2 62.2 65.3 73.3 Observations:
■ The number of calls per day was the lowest in December. ■ The number of calls per day was highest in June.
■ The months with the most calls had 22 percent more calls than the months with the fewest calls.
■ June had the most police-initiated calls, with 57 percent more than July, which had the fewest.
■ June had the most community-initiated calls, with 22 percent more than December and March, which had the fewest.
102
FIGURE 9-5: Calls per Day, by Category and Month
Note: The figure combines categories in the following table according to the description in Chart 9-1.
103
TABLE 9-5: Calls per Day, by Category and Month
Category Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Accident 2.3 1.9 1.8 1.8 2.0 2.2 2.1 2.1 1.8 2.6 2.4 3.0 Alarm 3.8 3.4 3.2 3.2 3.8 3.4 3.3 3.9 3.3 2.5 2.7 3.8
Animal call 0.7 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.5 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 Assist community member 4.0 3.9 3.8 6.3 5.3 4.1 5.0 4.0 3.7 4.4 5.2 5.9 Assist other agency 2.0 1.7 2.1 1.8 1.8 1.6 1.8 1.9 1.6 1.7 1.3 2.1 Crime against persons 1.1 0.6 1.1 0.7 0.4 0.9 1.2 1.0 1.1 0.8 1.0 0.8 Crime against property 7.8 8.5 7.8 7.9 8.1 9.4 8.8 8.7 9.0 9.7 7.9 8.7 Disturbance 15.4 13.2 15.9 15.4 12.7 13.0 14.0 14.6 13.6 11.6 15.0 16.2 Investigation 10.0 8.8 9.9 9.5 9.8 8.5 8.8 8.8 8.9 9.2 10.1 10.1 Mental health 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 Miscellaneous 0.6 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.1 0.2 0.4 Suspicious incident 9.6 10.1 10.0 10.1 9.3 7.2 7.2 9.3 7.1 9.6 9.1 10.6 Traffic enforcement 2.0 1.9 2.1 2.6 2.1 1.7 1.6 1.8 1.9 2.4 2.4 2.8 Traffic stop 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.5 0.5 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.8 1.1 Violation 6.8 7.8 7.6 8.0 7.2 6.5 7.1 6.7 7.4 6.1 6.3 6.8 Warrant (or) arrest 0.2 0.2 0.4 0.2 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.4 0.3 0.4 0.6 Total 66.9 63.0 66.7 68.1 63.8 60.2 62.6 64.9 61.2 62.2 65.3 73.3 Note: Calculations were limited to calls rather than events.
Observations:
■ The top four categories averaged between 63 and 67 percent of calls throughout the year. □ Disturbance calls averaged between 11.6 and 16.2 calls per day throughout the year. □ Crime calls averaged between 8.5 and 10.5 calls per day throughout the year. □ Investigation calls averaged between 8.5 and 10.1 calls per day throughout the year. □ Suspicious incident calls averaged between 7.1 and 10.6 calls per day throughout the year. ■ Crime calls accounted for 13 to 17 percent of total calls throughout the year.
104
FIGURE 9-6: Primary Unit’s Average Occupied Times, by Category and Initiator Note: The figure combines categories using weighted averages from the following table according to the description in Chart 9-1.
105
TABLE 9-6: Primary Unit’s Average Occupied Times, by Category and Initiator Category Community-Initiated Police-Initiated
Minutes Calls Minutes Calls
Accident 42.9 754 24.6 37
Alarm 13.9 1,224 9.6 3
Animal call 25.0 126 12.5 3
Assist community member 27.8 1,633 17.5 62
Assist other agency 40.5 632 25.0 22
Crime against persons 62.0 304 45.7 24
Crime against property 29.1 2,894 16.1 226
Disturbance 22.8 5,085 24.7 121
Investigation 28.2 3,226 20.1 209
Mental health 54.7 34 17.4 1
Miscellaneous 33.0 47 34.4 39
Suspicious incident 24.1 2,535 17.1 795
Traffic enforcement 21.0 594 30.1 181
Traffic stop 20.5 2 28.8 202
Violation 20.8 1,778 9.9 794
Warrant (or) arrest 82.9 9 41.8 127
Weighted Average/Total Calls 26.3 20,877 18.9 2,846
Note: The information in Figure 9-6 and Table 9-6 is limited to calls and excludes all events that show zero time on-scene.
A unit’s occupied time is measured as the time from when the unit was dispatched until the unit becomes available again. The times shown are the average occupied minutes per call for the primary unit, rather than the total occupied minutes for all units assigned to a call. Observations below refer to times shown within the figure rather than the table.
Observations:
■ A unit's average time spent on a call ranged from 10 to 39 minutes overall. ■ The longest average times were for police-initiated general noncriminal calls. ■ The average time spent on crime calls was 32 minutes for community-initiated calls and 19 minutes for police-initiated calls.
106
FIGURE 9-7: Number of Responding Units, by Initiator and Category Note: The figure combines categories using weighted averages from the following table according to the description in Chart 9-1.
107
TABLE 9-7: Average Number of Responding Units, by Initiator and Category Category Community-Initiated Police-Initiated
No. of Units Calls No. of Units Calls
Accident 1.9 754 1.5 37
Alarm 2.1 1,224 3.3 3
Animal call 1.4 126 1.3 3
Assist community member 1.4 1,633 1.4 62
Assist other agency 2.2 632 1.8 22
Crime against persons 2.1 304 2.5 24
Crime against property 1.7 2,894 1.4 226
Disturbance 2.1 5,085 2.2 121
Investigation 1.8 3,226 1.3 209
Mental health 2.7 34 2.0 1
Miscellaneous 1.2 47 1.5 39
Suspicious incident 2.0 2,535 1.7 795
Traffic enforcement 1.6 594 1.9 181
Traffic stop 1.0 2 2.2 202
Violation 1.5 1,778 1.2 794
Warrant (or) arrest 2.9 9 2.2 127
Weighted Average/Total Calls 1.9 20,877 1.6 2,846
Note: The information in Figure 9-7 and Table 9-7 is limited to calls and excludes all events that show zero time on-scene.
Observations refer to the number of responding units shown within the figure rather than the table.
108
FIGURE 9-8: Number of Responding Units, by Category, Community-initiated Calls
Note: The figure combines categories using weighted averages from the following table according to the description in Chart 9-1.
109
TABLE 9-8: Number of Responding Units, by Category, Community-initiated Calls Category Responding Units
One Two Three or More
Accident 396 206 152
Alarm 153 867 204
Animal call 89 33 4
Assist community
member
1,191 347 95
Assist other agency 209 250 173
Crime against persons 139 78 87
Crime against property 1,294 1,240 360
Disturbance 1,113 2,982 990
Investigation 1,182 1,605 439
Mental health 2 17 15
Miscellaneous 39 5 3
Suspicious incident 796 1,307 432
Traffic enforcement 359 176 59
Traffic stop 2 0 0
Violation 1,039 608 131
Warrant (or) arrest 1 3 5
Total 8,004 9,724 3,149
Observations:
■ The overall mean number of responding units was 1.6 for police-initiated calls and 1.9 for community-initiated calls.
■ The mean number of responding units was as high as 3.3 for alarm calls that were policeinitiated. At the same time, there were only 3 calls of this type, ■ Police-initiated disturbance calls had the second-highest mean number of 2.2 responding units.
■ 38 percent of community-initiated calls involved one responding unit. ■ 47 percent of community-initiated calls involved two responding units. ■ 15 percent of community-initiated calls involved three or more responding units. ■ The largest group of calls with three or more responding units involved disturbances.
110
FIGURE 9-9: Percentage Calls and Work Hours, by Area
Note: The “other” category includes calls at headquarters, in miscellaneous areas, and calls missing area information.
Miscellaneous areas include calls located in PC, California Polytechnic State University, and LZ0.
111
TABLE 9-9: Calls and Work Hours by Area, per Day
Area
Per Day Square
Calls Work Hours Miles
1 4.8 3.3 1.58
2 7.1 5.0 0.54
3 2.1 1.4 0.38
4 0.3 0.3 0.36
5 12.9 7.0 0.31
6 8.6 5.4 0.66
7 4.3 3.6 1.87
8 3.3 2.8 2.23
9 4.0 3.1 0.46
10 4.6 3.3 1.63
11 2.6 1.9 0.58
12 2.4 2.0 0.89
13 6.0 4.8 2.12
Other-HQ 1.5 0.7 NA
Other-Miscellaneous 0.2 0.3 NA
Other-Unknown 0.1 0.1 NA
Subtotal Other 1.9 1.1 NA
Total 64.8 45.1 13.59
Observations:
■ Area 5 had the largest number of calls and workload, accounting for 20 percent of total calls and approximately 16 percent of the total workload.
■ Excluding calls in other areas, an even distribution would allot 4.8 calls and 3.4 work hours per area.
112
FIGURE 9-10: Percentage Calls and Work Hours, by Category, Summer 2023
113
TABLE 9-10: Calls and Work Hours per Day, by Category, Summer 2023 Category Per Day
CallsWork Hours
Accident 2.2 2.4
Alarm 3.7 1.6
Animal call 0.4 0.2
Assist community member 4.0 2.7
Assist other agency 1.9 2.4
Crime against persons 0.8 1.4
Crime against property 8.0 5.4
Disturbance 13.9 9.2
Investigation 9.3 6.4
Mental health 0.1 0.2
Miscellaneous 0.4 0.3
Suspicious incident 9.7 7.1
Traffic enforcement 1.9 1.7
Traffic stop 0.3 0.3
Violation 7.5 3.0
Warrant (or) arrest 0.2 0.4
Total 64.5 44.6
Note: Workload calculations focused on calls rather than events.
Observations, Summer:
■ The average number of calls per day was higher in summer than in winter. ■ Total calls averaged 64 per day, or 2.7 per hour.
■ The total workload averaged 45 hours per day, meaning that on average 1.9 units per hour were busy responding to calls.
■ Disturbance calls constituted 22 percent of calls and 21 percent of the workload. ■ Crime calls constituted 14 percent of calls and 15 percent of the workload. ■ Investigation calls constituted 14 percent of calls and 14 percent of the workload. ■ Suspicious incident calls constituted 15 percent of calls and 16 percent of the workload. ■ These top four categories constituted 65 percent of calls and 66 percent of the workload.
114
FIGURE 9-11: Percentage Calls and Work Hours, by Category, Winter 2024
115
TABLE 9-11: Calls and Work Hours per Day, by Category, Winter 2024 Category Per Day
CallsWork Hours
Accident 2.1 3.2
Alarm 3.6 1.5
Animal call 0.3 0.1
Assist community member 4.3 2.5
Assist other agency 1.9 2.5
Crime against persons 1.1 1.9
Crime against property 8.8 6.0
Disturbance 14.1 11.0
Investigation 8.8 6.4
Mental health 0.1 0.2
Miscellaneous 0.3 0.2
Suspicious incident 8.2 5.0
Traffic enforcement 1.8 1.5
Traffic stop 0.6 0.5
Violation 6.9 2.5
Warrant (or) arrest 0.5 0.7
Total 63.4 45.7
Note: Workload calculations focused on calls rather than events.
Observations, Winter:
■ The average daily workload was higher in winter than in summer. ■ Total calls averaged 63 per day, or 2.6 per hour.
■ The total workload averaged 46 hours per day, meaning that on average 1.9 units per hour were busy responding to calls.
■ Disturbance calls constituted 22 percent of calls and 24 percent of the workload. ■ Crime calls constituted 16 percent of calls and 17 percent of the workload. ■ Investigation calls constituted 14 percent of calls and 14 percent of the workload. ■ Suspicious incident calls constituted 13 percent of calls and 11 percent of the workload. ■ These top four categories constituted 65 percent of calls and 66 percent of the workload.
116
OUT-OF-SERVICE ACTIVITIES
In the period from July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024, the dispatch center also recorded out-ofservice activities that lacked incident numbers. We focused on those activities that involved a patrol unit. We also limited our analysis to out-of-service activities that occurred during shifts where the same patrol unit was also responding to calls for service. There were a few problems with the data provided and we made assumptions and decisions to address these issues:
■ We excluded activities that lasted less than 30 seconds. These are irrelevant and contribute little to the overall workload.
■ After these exclusions, 39,068 activities remained. These activities had an average duration of
29.1 minutes.
In this section, we report out-of-service activities and workload by descriptions. In the next section, we include these activities in the overall workload when comparing the total workload against available personnel in summer and winter.
117
TABLE 9-12: Activities and Occupied Times by Description Status Code Description Occupied Time Count
1110 Report writing 48.6 7,646
16 At the traffic division office 61.6 597
19 Briefing 38.4 1,960
Court/evidence 33.0 198
Equipment maintenance 21.8 492
Follow up 28.3 202
Report writing 35.8 219
RIPA 41.3 137
Training 50.7 207
Miscellaneous 38.7 2,351
BCKP Backup 6.8 1,401
BUSY
11-24 (Abandoned vehicle) 34.5 233
Court/evidence 52.7 321
Equipment maintenance 33.4 142
Follow up 19.7 376
Fuel 8.0 476
Meeting 67.4 135
Miscellaneous 36.5 3,144
JAIL Jail 55.5 1,102
OVIOL On-view violation 6.9 1,640
PC Positive contact 21.6 105
SE Special enforcement 16.4 6,918
TS Traffic stop 5.5 5,331
Miscellaneous Miscellaneous 78.6 97
Administrative - Weighted Average/Total Activities 28.8 35,430 19 Break 18.7 970
Meal break 31.2 710
BUSY Break 16.3 186
CODE7 Meal break 41.5 1,772
Personal - Weighted Average/Total Activities 32.1 3,638 Weighted Average/Total Activities 29.1 39,068
Observations:
■ The most common out-of-service activity was for report writing. ■ Except for the miscellaneous category, the activities with the longest average times were for meetings.
118
FIGURE 9-12: Activities per Day, by Month
TABLE 9-13: Activities and Workload per Day, by Month
Month Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
Administrative 94.2 94.7 91.7 89.0 88.7 86.1 85.3 95.6 91.5 92.8 119.5 133.2 Personal 8.8 8.8 9.5 10.8 10.4 7.8 10.0 10.7 11.0 8.9 10.8 11.9 Total 103.0 103.5 101.3 99.8 99.1 93.9 95.2 106.2 102.5 101.7 130.3 145.1 Observations:
■ The number of activities per day was the lowest in January. ■ The number of activities per day was highest in June.
119
FIGURE 9-13: Activities per Day, by Day of Week
TABLE 9-14: Activities per Day, by Day of Week
Day of Week Administrative Personal Activities per Day
Sunday 79.1 7.0 86.1
Monday 80.6 8.9 89.6
Tuesday 96.1 10.1 106.1
Wednesday 106.7 11.2 117.9
Thursday 116.6 12.6 129.2
Friday 101.7 10.5 112.2
Saturday 97.2 9.3 106.5
Weekly Average 96.8 9.9 106.7
Observations:
■ The number of out-of-service activities per day was lowest on Sundays. ■ The number of out-of-service activities per day was highest on Thursdays.
120
FIGURE 9-14: Activities per Day, by Hour of Day
121
TABLE 9-15: Activities per Hour, by Hour of Day
Hour Personal Administrative Total
0 0.29 4.56 4.85
1 0.28 3.78 4.06
2 0.33 2.46 2.79
3 0.10 2.14 2.24
4 0.07 1.70 1.77
5 0.04 1.12 1.16
6 0.01 2.09 2.10
7 0.15 3.57 3.72
8 0.20 4.38 4.59
9 0.28 4.29 4.57
10 0.24 4.61 4.85
11 0.67 4.83 5.50
12 1.33 4.38 5.70
13 1.04 4.41 5.45
14 0.79 4.65 5.44
15 0.59 4.60 5.19
16 0.61 5.23 5.84
17 0.33 4.02 4.34
18 0.10 6.39 6.49
19 0.50 3.00 3.50
20 0.73 4.58 5.31
21 0.55 4.72 5.27
22 0.41 5.86 6.27
23 0.30 5.45 5.75
Hourly Average 0.41 4.03 4.45
Observations:
■ The number of activities per hour was lowest between 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. ■ The number of activities per hour was highest between 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
122
DEPLOYMENT
For this study, we examined deployment information for eight weeks in summer (July 7 through August 31, 2023) and eight weeks in winter (January 4 through February 28, 2024). The department’s main patrol force consists of patrol officers and patrol sergeants, operating on
12.25-hour shifts starting at 6:45 a.m. and 6 :45 p.m. The department’s main patrol force deployed an average of 5.6 officers per hour during the 24-hour day in summer 2023 and an average of 6.5 officers per hour in winter 2024. When additional traffic units are included, the department averaged 6.4 units per hour during the 24-hour day in summer 2023 and 7.1 units per hour during the 24-hour day in winter 2024.
In this section, we describe the deployment and workload in distinct steps, distinguishing between summer and winter and between weekdays (Monday through Friday) and weekends (Saturday and Sunday):
■ First, we focus on patrol deployment alone.
■ Next, we compare “all” workload, which includes community-initiated calls, police-initiated calls, directed patrol activities, and out-of-service activities. ■ Finally, we compare the workload against deployment by percentage.
Comments follow each set of four figures, with separate discussions for summer and winter.
123
FIGURE 9-15: Deployed Officers, Weekdays, Summer 2023
FIGURE 9-16: Deployed Officers, Weekends, Summer 2023
124
FIGURE 9-17: Deployed Officers, Weekdays, Winter 2024
FIGURE 9-18: Deployed Officers, Weekends, Winter 2024
125
Observations:
■ For Summer (July 7 through August 31, 2023):
□ The average deployment was 6.8 units per hour during the week and 5.5 units per hour on the weekend.
□ Average deployment varied from 4.3 to 9.1 units per hour on weekdays and 4.0 to 7.3 units per hour on weekends.
■ For Winter (January 4 through February 28, 2024):
□ The average deployment was 7.2 units per hour during the week and 6.9 units per hour on the weekend.
□ Average deployment varied from 5.0 to 10.5 units per hour on weekdays and 5.3 to 9.6 units per hour on weekends.
126
FIGURE 9-19: Deployment and All Workload, Weekdays, Summer 2023 FIGURE 9-20: Deployment and All Workload, Weekends, Summer 2023
127
FIGURE 9-21: Deployment and All Workload, Weekdays, Winter 2024 FIGURE 9-22: Deployment and All Workload, Weekends, Winter 2024 Note: Figures 9-19 to 9-22 show deployment along with all workloads from community-initiated calls and police-initiated calls, directed patrol work, and out-of-service work.
128
Observations:
Summer:
■ Community-initiated work:
□ Average community-initiated workload was 1.8 units per hour during the week and 1.6 units per hour on weekends.
□ This was approximately 26 percent of hourly deployment during the week and 30 percent of hourly deployment on weekends.
■ All work:
□ Average workload was 4.3 units per hour during the week and 3.1 units per hour on weekends.
□ This was approximately 63 percent of hourly deployment during the week and 57 percent of hourly deployment on weekends.
Winter:
■ Community-initiated work:
□ Average community-initiated workload was 1.7 units per hour during the week and 1.8 units per hour on weekends.
□ This was approximately 24 percent of hourly deployment during the week and 26 percent of hourly deployment on weekends.
■ All work:
□ Average workload was 4.2 units per hour during the week and 3.7 units per hour on weekends.
□ This was approximately 58 percent of hourly deployment during the week and 54 percent of hourly deployment on weekends.
129
FIGURE 9-23: Percentage of Workload, Weekdays, Summer 2023 FIGURE 9-24: Percentage of Workload, Weekends, Summer 2023
130
FIGURE 9-25: Percentage of Workload, Weekdays, Winter 2024 FIGURE 9-26: Percentage of Workload, Weekends, Winter 2024
131
Observations:
Summer:
■ Community-initiated work:
□ During the week, workload reached a maximum of 44 percent of deployment between 5:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. and between 7:15 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. □ On weekends, workload reached a maximum of 47 percent of deployment between 7:15 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
■ All work:
□ During the week, workload reached a maximum of 81 percent of deployment between 7:15 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
□ On weekends, workload reached a maximum of 83 percent of deployment between 7:15 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Winter:
■ Community-initiated work:
□ During the week, workload reached a maximum of 41 percent of deployment between 5:30 p.m. and 5:45 p.m.
□ On weekends, workload reached a maximum of 42 percent of deployment between 1:45 p.m. and 2:00 p.m.
■ All work:
□ During the week, workload reached a maximum of 74 percent of deployment between 12:15 p.m. and 12:30 p.m. and between 12:45 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. □ On weekends, workload reached a maximum of 72 percent of deployment between 1:30 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. and between 5:30 p.m. and 5:45 p.m.
132
RESPONSE TIMES
We analyzed the response times to various types of calls, separating the duration into dispatch processing and travel time, to determine whether response times varied by call type. Response time is measured as the difference between when a call is received and when the first unit arrives on-scene. This is further divided into dispatch processing and travel time. Dispatch processing is the time between when a call is received and when the first unit is dispatched.
Travel time is the remaining time until the first unit arrives on-scene.
We begin the discussion with statistics that include all calls combined. We started with calls for 3,611 in summer and 3,549 calls in winter. We limited our analysis to community-initiated calls, which amounted to 3,227 calls in the summer and 3,069 calls in the winter. In addition, we removed the calls lacking a recorded arriving unit and calls outside San Luis Obispo. We were left with 2,854 calls in summer and 2,709 calls in winter for our analysis. For the entire year, we began with 23,723 calls and limited our analysis to 20,877 community-initiated calls. With similar exclusions, we were left with 18,398 calls.
Our initial analysis does not distinguish calls based on priority; instead, it examines the difference in response to all calls by time of day and compares winter and summer periods. We then present a brief analysis of response time for high-priority calls alone.
133
All Calls
This section looks at all calls without considering their priorities. In addition to examining the differences in response times by both time of day and season (summer vs. winter), we show differences in response times by category.
FIGURE 9-27: Average Response Time and Dispatch Processing, by Hour of Day, Summer 2023 and Winter 2024
Observations:
■ Average response times varied significantly by the hour of the day. ■ In summer, the longest response times were between 6:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m., with an average of 23.2 minutes.
■ In summer, the shortest response times were between 1:00 a.m. and 2:00 a.m., with an average of 8.7 minutes.
■ In winter, the longest response times were between 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., with an average of 19.8 minutes.
■ In winter, the shortest response times were between 4:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m., with an average of 10.2 minutes.
134
FIGURE 9-28: Average Response Time by Category, Summer 2023 FIGURE 9-29: Average Response Time by Category, Winter 2024
135
TABLE 9-16: Average Response Time Components, by Category Category
Summer Winter
Minutes
Count
Minutes
Count
DispatchTravelResponse DispatchTravelResponse
Accident 5.8 8.5 14.3 104 4.4 8.5 12.9 103
Alarm 4.8 6.4 11.3 178 3.4 6.0 9.4 179
Animal call 6.1 10.7 16.8 23 4.9 9.9 14.8 13
Assist community member 8.3 8.3 16.6 158 7.7 9.0 16.7 164 Assist other agency 7.1 6.5 13.6 84 7.7 6.8 14.5 76
Crime against persons 6.8 9.1 15.9 40 7.1 7.6 14.7 52
Crime against property 9.1 9.6 18.7 390 7.5 9.9 17.4 397 Disturbance 6.0 7.5 13.5 709 5.6 7.3 12.9 712
Investigation 7.7 8.9 16.6 434 6.6 8.4 15.0 406
Mental health 4.6 5.6 10.2 7 12.9 7.5 20.4 5
Miscellaneous 5.8 13.8 19.5 8 6.7 11.5 18.3 10
Suspicious incident 6.3 7.5 13.8 387 6.3 7.3 13.7 328
Traffic enforcement 6.2 8.6 14.8 72 5.2 8.1 13.3 60
Violation 7.1 9.7 16.8 260 6.1 10.8 16.9 204
Total Average 6.9 8.3 15.2 2,854 6.2 8.2 14.4 2,709
Note: The total average is weighted according to the number of calls per category.
Observations:
■ In summer, the average response time was between 11 minutes and 17 minutes. ■ In summer, the average response time was as short as 11 minutes (for alarms) and as long as 18 minutes (for crimes).
■ In winter, the average response time was between 9 minutes and 17 minutes. ■ In winter, the average response time was as short as 9 minutes (for alarms) and as long as 17 minutes (for crimes and general noncriminal calls).
■ The average response time for crimes was 18 minutes in summer and 17 minutes in winter.
136
TABLE 9-17: 90th Percentiles for Response Time Components, by Category Category Minutes in Summer Minutes in Winter
Dispatch Travel Response Dispatch Travel Response
Accident 15.4 16.3 26.1 10.3 17.5 26.4
Alarm 10.8 13.9 22.2 7.0 11.6 18.1
Animal call 11.1 20.0 30.4 9.5 15.5 18.8
Assist community member 16.7 18.2 30.2 19.9 20.9 35.0
Assist other agency 16.4 12.4 29.8 20.9 11.9 33.0
Crime against persons 16.9 31.5 47.3 13.5 14.3 24.4
Crime against property 23.6 22.5 42.7 18.5 21.9 35.3
Disturbance 13.8 15.7 28.4 13.1 14.1 25.3
Investigation 16.9 17.8 34.7 12.8 17.2 28.5
Mental health 10.6 8.3 17.9 36.0 10.8 43.7
Miscellaneous 11.2 29.8 38.6 13.9 27.4 36.6
Suspicious incident 12.7 15.1 26.0 12.9 13.9 27.9
Traffic enforcement 13.4 18.6 25.9 10.7 16.5 25.6
Violation 14.9 19.4 36.2 13.2 24.1 34.0
Total Average 16.6 17.4 32.9 13.8 17.1 28.5
Note: A 90th percentile value of 32.9 minutes means that 90 percent of all calls are responded to in fewer than 32.9 minutes. For this reason, the columns for dispatch processing and travel time may not be equal to the total response time.
Observations:
■ In summer, the 90th percentile value for response time was as short as 22 minutes (for alarms) and as long as 44 minutes (for crimes).
■ In winter, the 90th percentile value for response time was as short as 18 minutes (for alarms) and as long as 35 minutes (for assists).
137
FIGURE 9-30: Average Response Time Components, by Area
138
TABLE 9-18: Average Response Time Components, by Area
Area
Minutes
Calls
Sq.
Dispatch Miles Travel Response
1 6.7 9.0 15.7 1,535 1.58
2 6.7 7.1 13.8 2,062 0.54
3 7.0 7.4 14.4 675 0.38
4 6.5 8.7 15.2 109 0.36
5 6.1 6.9 13.1 3,356 0.31
6 6.6 7.4 14.0 2,331 0.66
7 7.5 9.7 17.2 1,397 1.87
8 7.0 9.5 16.5 1,082 2.23
9 7.0 8.6 15.6 1,133 0.46
10 6.6 8.6 15.2 1,358 1.63
11 7.3 10.1 17.5 810 0.58
12 7.0 9.7 16.8 761 0.89
13 6.8 8.1 14.9 1,756 2.12
Unknown 7.4 8.7 16.1 33 NA
Total 6.7 8.2 14.9 18,398 13.59
Observations:
■ Area 5 had the shortest average dispatch time of 6.1 minutes. ■ Area 5 had the shortest average response time of 13.1 minutes. ■ Area 11 had the longest average response time of 17.5 minutes.
139
High-Priority Calls
The department assigned priorities to calls with priority “*” and “1” as the highest priority. The following table shows average response times by priority. In addition, we identified injury accidents based on the call descriptions, “COLL EXTRICATIO” and “COLL INJ,” to see if these provided an alternate measure for emergency calls.
TABLE 9-19: Average and 90th Percentile Response Times, by Priority Priority
Minutes
Calls 90th Percentile Response
Dispatch Travel Response Time, Minutes
* 1.8 5.1 6.8 66 11.8
1 5.7 5.5 11.2 527 24.3
2 4.3 6.0 10.4 2,051 19.0
3 6.4 7.7 14.1 6,719 27.6
4 7.6 9.1 16.6 8,384 34.8
5 8.4 10.5 19.0 651 44.3
Total 6.7 8.2 14.9 18,398 30.6
Injury accident 2.4 4.4 6.8 123 10.5
Note: The total average is weighted according to the number of calls within each priority level.
FIGURE 9-31: Average Response Times and Dispatch Processing for High-priority Calls, by Hour
140
Observations:
■ High-priority calls had an average response time of 10.8 minutes, lower than the overall average of 14.9 minutes for all calls.
■ Average dispatch processing was 5.3 minutes for high-priority calls, compared to 6.7 minutes overall.
■ For high-priority calls, the longest response times were between 3:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m., with an average of 16.4 minutes.
■ For high-priority calls, the shortest response times were between 11:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m., with an average of 7.1 minutes.
■ Average response time for injury accidents was 6.8 minutes, with a dispatch processing of 2.4 minutes.
141
APPENDIX A: CALL TYPE CLASSIFICATION
Call descriptions for the department’s calls for service from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, were classified into the following categories.
TABLE 9-20: Call Type, by Category
Call Type Description Table Category Figure Category
ALARM AUDIBLE
Alarm Alarm
ALARM FIRE
ALARM SILENT
ALARM WATERFLOW
ASSIST REQ
Assist community member
Assist
KEEP THE PEACE
PUBLIC ASSIST
ASSIST O FIRE
Assist other agency
ASSIST O POLICE
FIRE ELECTRICAL
FIRE FLAMES
FIRE ILL BURN
FIRE LG TRASH
FIRE RPTED OUT
FIRE SM TRASH
FIRE STRUCTURE
FIRE VEHICLE
FIRE WILDLAND
FIRE WILDLAND L
GAS OUTSIDE
HAZMAT SMALL
LEAKING HYDRANT
MEDICAL
MEDICAL ARREST
MEDICAL SPECIAL
PUBLIC WORKS
SMOKE CHECK OUT
CRIME AGAINST PERSONS* Crime against persons
Crime
ARSON
Crime against property
ATTEMPT THEFT
BURG COM
BURG RES
BURG VEHICLE
CONTROLLED NARC
EMBEZZLEMENT
FRAUD
142
Call Type Description Table Category Figure Category
GRAFFITI
PROPERTY DAMAGE
PROWLER
THEFT
THEFT-VEHICLE
TRESPASSING
VANDALISM
VANDALISM IP
COMMUNITY MEMBER DISPUTE
Disturbance Disturbance
DISORDERLY
FIREWORKS
JUVENILE PROB
LOITERING
NOISE 2ND RESP
NOISE OTHER
NOISE PARTY
NOISE POLICE
PROTEST
ANIMAL PROBLEM Animal call
General noncriminal
MENTAL ASSIST
MENTAL SUBJ Mental health
SUICIDE ATTEMPT
COMMUNICATIONS
INFORMATION Miscellaneous
TOWED VEHICLE
WARRANT Warrant (or) arrest
9-1-1 ABANDON
Investigation Investigation
ABAND VEHICLE
ATTEMPT-LOCATE
CUSTODIAL INT.
DECEASED SUBJ
ELECTRICAL HAZ
FOUND PROPERTY
IN PROGRESS
LOST PROPERTY
MISSING PERSON
PROBATION SEARC
RECOVERED VEH
WELFARE CHECK
SUSPICIOUS Suspicious incident Suspicious incident
COLL EXTRICATIO Accident Traffic
COLL FREEWAY
143
Call Type Description Table Category Figure Category
COLL HIT AND RU
COLL INJ
COLL NON INJ
COLL PED/BIKE
DUI
TRAFFIC HAZARD Traffic enforcement
TRAFFIC OFFENSE
TRAFFIC STOP Traffic stop
ALCOHOL OFFENSE
Violation Violation
LITTERING
MC-ALCOHOL
MC-CAMPING
MC-LOITERING
MC-PANHANDLING
MC-SLEEPING
MC-SMOKING
MC-SOLICITING
MUNI CODE VIOL
PARKING PROBLEM
PARTY REG
POSTING VEHS
PROBATION VIOL
WEAPON OFFENSE
Note: * The “crime against persons” category includes the following original call descriptions: “assault in progress (assault ip),” “assault,” “bomb threat,” “carjacking,” “child abuse,” “domestic violence in progress (domestic vio ip),” “domestic violence (domestic viol),” “elder abuse/neglect (elder abuse/neg),” “homicide,” “kidnapping,” “robbery in progress (robbery ip),” “robbery,” “resisting,” “sex offense,” and “threatening.”
144
APPENDIX B: UNIFORM CRIME REPORT INFORMATION
This section presents information obtained from Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the California Department of Justice’s Open Justice Data Portal. The tables and figures include the most recent information that is publicly available at the national level. This includes crime reports for 2014 through 2023, along with clearance rates for 2022 and 2023. Crime rates are expressed as incidents per 100,000 population.
TABLE 9-21: Reported Crime Rates in 2022 and 2023, by City Municipality State
2022 2023
Population Crime Rates Population Crime Rates
Violent Property Total Violent Property Total
Atascadero CA 30,226 390 1,403 1,793 30,323 214 999 1,214 Goleta CA 32,296 152 1,657 1,808 32,503 172 1,449 1,621 Hollister CA 42,681 323 806 1,129 42,547 343 879 1,222
Lompoc CA 43,654 499 1,936 2,435 43,591 484 1,762 2,246 Paso Robles CA 30,906 317 1,695 2,013 30,792 403 1,598 2,001 Porterville CA 62,653 487 2,086 2,573 62,508 445 2,070 2,515 Santa Barbara CA 85,847 480 2,152 2,631 85,382 611 1,815 2,427 Santa Cruz CA 62,809 712 3,544 4,256 62,929 655 2,390 3,045 Santa Maria CA 109,348 650 2,780 3,430 109,687 617 2,367 2,984 Santa Paula CA 31,118 328 1,102 1,430 31,400 382 847 1,229 Seaside CA 32,390 417 1,216 1,633 30,187 434 831 1,265
San Luis Obispo CA 47,394 563 3,682 4,245 48,249 526 2,628 3,154 California 39,114,785 500 2,343 2,843 39,109,070 511 2,273 2,784 National 332,403,650 380 1,954 2,334 NA
Note: National crime statistics are not yet available for 2023. The FBI usually reports these statistics in late September or early October of the following year. We used population estimates from the State of California’s Department of Finance.
145
FIGURE 9-32: Reported San Luis Obispo Violent and Property Crime Rates, by Year
FIGURE 9-33: Reported San Luis Obispo and California Crime Rates, by Year 0 500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
4,500
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Violent Property
0 500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
4,500
5,000
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
San Luis Obispo California
146
TABLE 9-22: Reported San Luis Obispo, California, and National Crime Rates, by Year Year
San Luis Obispo California National
Population Violent Property Total Population Violent Property Total Population Violent Property Total 2014 46,672 514 3,083 3,597 38,970,399 389 2,430 2,819 324,699,246 357 2,464 2,821 2015 47,116 410 3,914 4,323 39,315,550 424 2,605 3,029 327,455,769 368 2,376 2,744 2016 47,774 373 4,345 4,718 39,421,283 443 2,541 2,984 329,308,297 383 2,353 2,736 2017 47,934 371 3,718 4,089 39,536,653 449 2,497 2,946 325,719,178 383 2,362 2,745 2018 47,885 401 3,778 4,179 39,557,045 447 2,380 2,828 327,167,434 369 2,200 2,568 2019 47,735 402 3,641 4,043 39,959,095 434 2,290 2,724 328,239,523 379 2,010 2,489 2020 46,986 441 3,448 3,888 39,538,223 442 2,139 2,581 331,449,281 399 1,958 2,357 2021 47,326 475 3,892 4,368 39,368,613 466 2,178 2,645 332,031,554 396 1,933 2,329 2022 47,394 563 3,682 4,245 39,114,785 500 2,343 2,843 332,403,650 380 1,954 2,334 2023 48,249 526 2,628 3,154 39,109,070 511 2,273 2,784 NA Note: National crime statistics are not yet available for 2023.
147
TABLE 9-23: Reported San Luis Obispo, California, and National Crime Clearance Rates, 2022 Crime San Luis Obispo California National
Crimes Clearances Rate Crimes Clearances Rate Crimes Clearances Rate Murder Manslaughter 0 0 NA 2,206 1,294 59% 21,797 10,752 49% Rape 38 2 5% 14,346 3,970 28% 132,997 27,856 21%
Robbery 40 22 55% 47,669 13,356 28% 215,760 51,930 24%
Aggravated Assault 189 96 51% 128,798 60,502 47% 756,601 334,405 44% Burglary 254 25 10% 143,429 14,348 10% 916,970 125,838 14% Larceny 1,372 96 7% 577,733 12,817 2% 4,947,709 633,098 13% Vehicle Theft 119 16 13% 181,815 37,846 21% 953,827 87,140 9% TABLE 9-24: Reported San Luis Obispo and California Crime Clearance Rates, 2023 Crime San Luis Obispo California
Crimes Clearances Rate Crimes Clearances Rate
Murder Manslaughter 0 0 NA 1,892 1,166 62%
Rape 32 4 13% 13,723 3,685 27%
Robbery 44 29 66% 49,177 13,943 28%
Aggravated Assault 178 102 57% 135,046 61,055 45%
Burglary 181 32 18% 132,574 13,168 10%
Larceny 997 125 13% 560,414 11,042 6%
Vehicle Theft 90 19 21% 195,853 45,464 8%
Note: National crimes and clearances are not yet available for 2023.
148
APPENDIX C: CALLS EXCLUDED FROM THE STUDY
According to records obtained from the CAD system, the San Luis Obispo Police Department was associated with 34,658 calls from July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024. 24,680 events were recorded with at least one patrol unit. In other words, 9,978 calls were excluded from our analysis.
■ 86 calls had no unit assigned.
■ 9,863 calls were responded to by the department’s non-patrol units. ■ 29 calls had recorded patrol units but lacked adequate unit statuses or timestamps.
TABLE 9-25: All Excluded Calls
Summary of Calls Excluded Count Percentage
No dispatched units 86 1%
Only nonpatrol units responded 9,863 99%
Inaccurate unit time stamps 29 0%
Total 9,978 100%
The following table shows the descriptions of these calls without units.
TABLE 9-26: Calls Without Units, By Description
Call Type Description Count Cumulative Percentage
Parking Problem 35 41%
9-1-1 ABANDON 14 57%
Towed Vehicle 8 66%
ABAND VEHICLE 5 72%
Welfare Check 5 78%
Alarm Audible 3 81%
Suspicious 3 85%
Other* 13 100%
Total 86 100%
Note: *These 13 calls include an additional 11 different call descriptions. Within this group, the most frequent type accounts for less than 1 percent of the total 86 calls.
149
9,863 calls were handled by nonpatrol units only. The following table summarizes the most frequent call descriptions. Table 9-28 focuses on the types of nonpatrol units that responded to these calls.
TABLE 9-27: Calls with Only Nonpatrol Units, By Description Call Type Description Count Cumulative Percentage
9-1-1 ABANDON 3,903 40%
ABAND VEHICLE 1,023 50%
Towed Vehicle 633 56%
Noise Party 596 62%
Traffic Offense 465 67%
Assist Req 388 71%
Information 303 74%
Public Works 283 77%
Suspicious 226 79%
Parking Problem 207 81%
Welfare Check 143 83%
Alarm Audible 140 84%
COLL NON INJ 138 86%
Disorderly 125 87%
Trespassing 117 88%
Loitering 93 89%
Traffic Hazard 81 90%
Other* 999 100%
Total 9,863 100%
Note: *These 999 calls include an additional 67 different call descriptions. Within this group, the most frequent type accounts for less than 1 percent of the total 9,863 calls.
150
The 9,863 calls with a responding nonpatrol unit included 10,155 responding units (responses).
The following table summarizes the responding units grouped by unit type. The column “unit count” indicates the number of distinct units of each type included in this count.
TABLE 9-28: Calls with Only Nonpatrol Units, By Unit Type Unit Type Responses Unit Count Percent
Dispatcher 6,928 12 68%
Chaplain 702 2 75%
Metro Bicycle Officer 659 3 82%
Dispatcher Supervisor 571 2 87%
Motor Officer 446 3 92%
CANCEL 222 1 94%
Captain 204 1 96%
Detective 125 5 97%
Mislabeled Unit ID 74 4 98%
Non-Patrol Sergeant 63 2 98%
School Resource Officer 59 1 99%
Trainee 59 2 100%
Narcotics Officer 22 1 100%
Lieutenant 19 3 100%
Chief 2 1 100%
Total 10,155 43 100%
END
The City of San Luis Obispo is committed to including disabled persons in all of our services, programs and activities.
Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (805) 781-7410.
Notice Requesting Proposals for a Police Staffing Assessment The City of San Luis Obispo is requesting proposals for professional consulting services to work with the Police Department to perform a comprehensive staffing assessment.
All firms interested in receiving further correspondence regarding this Request for Proposals (RFP) will be required to complete a free registration using BidSync (https://www.bidsync.com/bidsync-appweb/vendor/register/Login.xhtml). All proposals must be received via BidSync by the Department of Finance at or before February 26, 2024 at 3 pm.
The preferred method for bid submission is electronic via BidSync. However, if you wish to submit a paper copy, please submit it in a sealed envelope to the Department of Finance, City of San Luis Obispo, 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, CA, 93401.
Project packages and additional information may be obtained at the City’s BidSync website at www.BidSync.com. Please contact Brian Amoroso, Deputy Chief, at [email protected] with any questions.
For technical help with BidSync please contact BidSync tech support at 800-990-9339.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................................... 2 B. SCOPE OF WORK ....................................................................................................................................... 2 C. PROJECT SCHEDULE .................................................................................................................................. 3 D. GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS ........................................................................................................ 3 E. SPECIAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS............................................................................................................ 4 F. PROPOSAL CONTENT................................................................................................................................. 7 H. EXHIBIT A : FORM OF AGREEMENT ........................................................................................................ 15
2 A. INTRODUCTION
The San Luis Obispo Police Department has 95 full time employees (61 sworn positions and 34 civilian positions) and serves a community of approximately 47,000 residents. San Luis Obispo is the County seat and is also home to Cal Poly University. The day-time population increases to an estimated 90,000 due to tourism and individuals that work in the city but live outside of the city limits.
The San Luis Obispo Police Department is seeking proposals for a qualified consultant, with expertise in law enforcement operations, to conduct a comprehensive staffing assessment. The department provides the highest quality of service in partnership with our community to reduce the effects of crime through enhanced Community Policing strategies. The staffing study will assess the effectiveness of Police Department operations with regard to resources and identify the appropriate level of staffing needed to respond efficiently to emergencies, investigate crime, provide critical emergency response, and proactively reduce crime. In addition, the assessment will also consider future growth impacts and the level of service that will be required to provide ongoing effective police services to the community.
B. SCOPE OF WORK
Key components of the staffing assessment must include:
1. Assess current sworn and professional (civilian) staff levels. Evaluate the adequacy of staffing levels for current workload and meeting the Police Department’s goals without limiting or reducing levels of service or requiring excessive overtime work. Consider existing schedules, time for training, professional development, legal mandates, time off, lost time from illness, injuries, and attrition.
2. Provide a structured and defensible methodology for Police Department staff to use in projecting future staffing needs.
3. Recommend staffing levels that will allow the Police Department to maintain or increase its current high levels of service, including responding to all crimes and requests for service; maintaining robust crime prevention and community service programs, investigation and forensic crime scene evidence collection, crime suppression, and other services currently offered by the Police Department.
4. Analyze the impact on staffing levels and calls for service resulting from current and future City plans for economic development, future annexations and new housing developments.
5. Wherever possible, use existing data for the analysis, such as the City’s General Plan and other published planning documents, crime statistics, payroll and overtime work records, and computeraided dispatch data. The San Luis Obispo Police Department staff will help provide historical data from the agency’s computer systems and other City sources.
6. Use a compilation of community-oriented policing, predictive policing, and data driven policing strategies. Assess efficiencies of calls for service. Assess community-policing efforts as an on-going strategy; leverage the performance and evaluative processes in place, verifying the current effectiveness and efficiencies of the agency.
3 7. Conduct interviews with stakeholders, including, City management and Police Department staff, to assess goals, expectations, and perceived workload levels. May be required to solicit additional public input from other sources as well.
The final work product will be a formal report and presentation to the City Council during a regular meeting with key policy questions and options clearly identified.
C. PROJECT SCHEDULE
Preliminary Schedule Tasks
January 17, 2024 • Release RFP
February 15, 2024 • Proposals due via BidSync
February 19, 2024 • Internal Proposal Reviews
February 26, 2024 • Award Contract & Project Implementation D. GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS
PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS
1. Requirement to Meet All Provisions. Each individual or firm submitting a proposal (bidder) shall meet all the terms, and conditions of the Request for Proposals (RFP) project package. By virtue of its proposal submittal, the bidder acknowledges agreement with and acceptance of all provisions of the RFP specifications.
2. Proposal Submittal. Each proposal must be submitted on the form(s) provided in the specifications and accompanied by any other required submittals or supplemental materials. Proposal documents shall be submitted electronically via BidSync. However, if you can’t submit electronic please send your bid copy in a sealed envelope to the Department of Finance, City of San Luis Obispo, 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, CA, 93401. To guard against premature opening, the proposal should be clearly labeled with the proposal title, project number, name of bidder, and date and time of proposal opening. No FAX submittals will be accepted.
3. Insurance Certificate. Each proposal must include a certificate of insurance showing:
a. The insurance carrier and its A.M. Best rating.
b. Scope of coverage and limits.
c. Deductibles and self-insured retention.
The purpose of this submittal is to generally assess the adequacy of the bidder’s insurance coverage during proposal evaluation; as discussed under paragraph 12 below, endorsements are not required until contract award. The City’s insurance requirements are detailed in Section E.
4. Proposal Quotes and Unit Price Extension. The extension of unit prices for the quantities indicated and the lump sum prices quoted by the bidder must be entered in figures in the spaces provided on the Proposal Submittal Form(s). Any lump sum bid shall be stated in figures. The Proposal Submittal Form(s) must be totally completed. If the unit price and the total amount stated by any bidder for
4 any item are not in agreement, the unit price alone will be considered as representing the bidder’s intention and the proposal total will be corrected to conform to the specified unit price.
5. Proposal Withdrawal and Opening. A bidder may withdraw its proposal, without prejudice prior to the time specified for the proposal opening, by submitting a written request to the Director of Finance for its withdrawal, in which event the proposal will be returned to the bidder unopened. No proposal received after the time specified or at any place other than that stated in the “Notice Inviting Bids/Requesting Proposals” will be considered. All proposals will be opened and declared publicly. Bidders or their representatives are invited to be present at the opening of the proposals.
6. Submittal of One Proposal Only. No individual or business entity of any kind shall be allowed to make or file, or to be interested as the primary submitter in more than one proposal, except an alternative proposal when specifically requested; however, an individual or business entity that has submitted a sub-proposal to a bidder submitting a proposal, or who has quoted prices on materials to such bidder, is not thereby disqualified from submitting a sub-proposal or from quoting prices to other bidders submitting proposals.
7. Communications. All timely requests for information submitted in writing will receive a written response from the City. Telephone communications with City staff are not encouraged but will be permitted. However, any such oral communication shall not be binding on the City.
CONTRACT AWARD AND EXECUTION
8. Proposal Retention and Award. The City reserves the right to retain all proposals for a period of 60 days for examination and comparison. The City also reserves the right to waive non-substantial irregularities in any proposal, to reject any or all proposals, to reject or delete one part of a proposal and accept the other, except to the extent that proposals are qualified by specific limitations. See the “special terms and conditions” in Section C of these specifications for proposal evaluation and contract award criteria.
9. Competency and Responsibility of Bidder. The City reserves full discretion to determine the competence and responsibility, professionally and/or financially, of bidders. Bidders will provide, in a timely manner, all information that the City deems necessary to make such a decision.
10. Contract Requirement. The bidder to whom award is made (Contractor) shall execute a written contract with the City within ten (10) calendar days after notice of the award. The contract shall be made in the form adopted by the City and incorporated in these specifications.
CONTRACT PERFORMANCE
11. The City’s contract terms and conditions that [Contractor/Consultant] will be expected to execute and be bound by are attached hereto as Exhibit A.
E. SPECIAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS
1. Contract Award. Subject to the reservations set forth in Paragraph 9 of Section B (General Terms and Conditions) of these specifications, the contract will be awarded to the lowest responsible,
5 responsive proposer.
2. Sales Tax Reimbursement.
For sales occurring within the City of San Luis Obispo, the City receives sales tax revenues. Therefore, for bids from retail firms located in the City at the time of proposal closing for which sales tax is allocated to the City, 1% of the taxable amount of the bid will be deducted from the proposal by the City in calculating and determining the lowest responsible, responsive proposer.
3. Labor Actions.
In the event that the successful proposer is experiencing a labor action at the time of contract award (or if its suppliers or subcontractors are experiencing such a labor action), the City reserves the right to declare said proposer is no longer the lowest responsible, responsive proposer and to accept the next acceptable low proposal from a proposer that is not experiencing a labor action, and to declare it to be the lowest responsible, responsive proposer.
4. Failure to Accept Contract.
The following will occur if the proposer to whom the award is made (Contractor) fails to enter into the contract: the award will be annulled; any bid security will be forfeited in accordance with the special terms and conditions if a proposer's bond or security is required; and an award may be made to the next lowest responsible, responsive proposer who shall fulfill every stipulation as if it were the party to whom the first award was made.
5. Contract Term.
The supplies or services identified in this specification will be used by the City for the term of the contract. The prices quoted for these items must be valid for the entire period indicated above unless otherwise conditioned by the proposer in its proposal.
6. Contract Extension.
The term of the contract may be extended by mutual consent for an additional one-year, and annually thereafter, for a total of four years.
7. Supplemental Purchases
Supplemental Purchases. Supplemental purchases may be made from the successful proposer during the contract term in addition to the items listed in the Detail Proposal Submittal Form. For these supplemental purchases, the proposer shall not offer prices to the City in excess of the amounts offered to other similar customers for the same item. If the proposer is willing to offer the City a standard discount on all supplemental purchases from its generally prevailing or published price structure during the contract term, this offer and the amount of discount on a percentage basis should be provided with the proposal submittal.
8. Contractor Invoices. The Contractor may deliver either a monthly invoice to the City with attached copies of detail invoices as supporting detail, or in one lump-sum upon completion.
9. Non-Exclusive Contract. The City reserves the right to purchase the items listed in the Detail proposal Submittal Form, as well as any supplemental items, from other vendors during the contract term.
10. Unrestrictive Brand Names. Any manufacturer's names, trade names, brand names or catalog numbers used in the specifications are for the purpose of describing and establishing general quality levels. Such references are not intended to be restrictive. Proposals will be considered for any brand that meets or exceeds the quality of the specifications given for any item. In the event an alternate
6 brand name is proposed, supplemental documentation shall be provided demonstrating that the alternate brand name meets or exceeds the requirements specified herein. The burden of proof as to the suitability of any proposed alternatives is upon the proposer, and the City shall be the sole judge in making this determination.
11. Delivery. Prices quoted for all supplies or equipment to be provided under the terms and conditions of this RFP package shall include delivery charges, to be delivered F.O.B. San Luis Obispo by the successful proposer and received by the City within 90 days after authorization to proceed by the City.
12. Start and Completion of Work. Work on this project shall begin immediately after contract execution and shall be completed within a reasonable timeframe, unless otherwise negotiated with City by mutual agreement.
13. Change in Work. The City reserves the right to change quantities of any item after contract award. If the total quantity of any changed item varies by 25% or less, there shall be no change in the agreed upon unit price for that item. Unit pricing for any quantity changes per item in excess of 25% shall be subject to negotiation with the Contractor.
14. Submittal of References. Each proposer shall submit a statement of qualifications and references on the form provided in the RFP package.
15. Statement of Contract Disqualifications. Each proposer shall submit a statement regarding any past governmental agency bidding or contract disqualifications on the form provided in the RFP package.
7 F. PROPOSAL CONTENT
1. Proposal Content. Your proposal must include the following information:
Submittal Forms
a. Proposal submittal summary.
b. Certificate of insurance.
c. References from at least three firms for whom you have provided similar services.
Qualifications
d. Experience of your firm and those of sub-consultants in performing work and projects relevant to the Scope of Services outlined and described in the request. e. Resumes of the individuals who would be assigned to this project, including any subconsultants, with their corollary experience highlighted and specific roles in this project clearly described.
f. Standard hourly billing rates for the assigned staff, including any sub-consultants. g. Statement and explanation of any instances where your firm or sub-consultant has been removed from a project or disqualified from proposing on a project.
Work Program
h. Detailed description of your approach to completing the work. i. Detailed schedule by task and sub-task for completing the work. j. Estimated hours for your staff in performing each phase and task of the work, including subconsultants, so we can clearly see who will be doing what work, and how much time it will take.
k. Detailed budget by task and sub-task for completing the work. l. Services or data to be provided by the City.
m. Services and deliverables provided by the Consultant(s). n. Any other information that would assist us in making this contract award decision. o. Description of assumptions critical to development of the response which may impact cost or scope.
Requested Changes to Terms and Conditions
p. The City desires to begin work soon after selecting the preferred Consultant Team and expects the Consultant to execute the City’s contract and all of the terms therein, as set forth in Exhibit A. To expedite the contracting process, each submittal shall include requested redlined changes to terms and conditions, if necessary. Please be advised that Consultant’s requested changes to the City’s terms and conditions will be considered by City staff when scoring and determining the competency and responsibility of the bidder.
Proposal Length
8 q. Proposal length should only be as long as required to be responsive to the RFP, including attachments and supplemental materials.
2. Proposal Evaluation and Selection. Proposals will be evaluated by a review committee and evaluated on the following criteria:
a. Understanding of the work required by the City.
b. Quality, clarity and responsiveness of the proposal. c. Demonstrated competence and professional qualifications necessary for successfully performing the work required by the City.
d. Recent team experience in successfully performing similar services. e. Creativity of the proposed approach in completing the work. f. Value
g. Writing skills.
h. References.
i. Background and experience of the specific individuals managing and assigned to this project. j. Information about how your company mitigates the environmental impact of its services, such as greenhouse gas emissions, amount of waste generated, water and energy use, or other areas related to your products and services.
As reflected above, contract award will not be based solely on price, but on a combination of factors as determined to be in the best interest of the City. After evaluating the proposals and discussing them further with the finalists or the tentatively selected contractor, the City reserves the right to further negotiate the proposed work and/or method and amount of compensation.
3. Proposal Review and Award Schedule. The following is an outline of a preliminary schedule for proposal review and contract award:
1/17/24
2/15/24
by 2/19/24
a. Release RFP
b. Proposals are due via BidSync
c. Proposal Review
d. Award Contract by 2/26/24
4. Ownership of Materials. All original drawings, plan documents and other materials prepared by or in possession of the Contractor as part of the work or services under these specifications shall become the permanent property of the City and shall be delivered to the City upon demand.
5. Release of Reports and Information. Any reports, information, data, or other material given to, prepared by or assembled by the Contractor as part of the work or services under these specifications shall be the property of the City and shall not be made available to any individual or organization by the Contractor without the prior written approval of the City.
6. Copies of Reports and Information. If the City requests additional copies of reports, drawings, specifications, or any other material in addition to what the Contractor is required to furnish in limited quantities as part of the work or services under these specifications, the Contractor shall
9 provide such additional copies as are requested, and City shall compensate the Contractor for the costs of duplicating of such copies at the Contractor's direct expense.
7. Required Deliverable Products. The Contractor will be required to provide:
a. One electronic submission - digital-ready original .pdf of all final documents. If you wish to file a paper copy, please submit in sealed envelope to the address provided in the RFP. b. Corresponding computer files compatible with the following programs whenever possible unless otherwise directed by the project manager:
Word Processing: MS Word
Spreadsheets: MS Excel
Desktop Publishing: InDesign
Virtual Models: Sketch Up
Digital Maps: Geodatabase shape files in
State Plan Coordinate System as
specified by City GIS staff
c. City staff will review any documents or materials provided by the Contractor and, where necessary, the Contractor will be required to respond to staff comments and make such changes as deemed appropriate.
ALTERNATIVE PROPOSALS
8. Alternative Proposals. The proposer may submit an alternative proposal (or proposals) that it believes will also meet the City's project objectives but in a different way. In this case, the proposer must provide an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of each of the alternative and discuss under what circumstances the City would prefer one alternative to the other(s).
9. Attendance at Meetings and Hearings. As part of the work scope and included in the contract price is attendance by the Contractor at up two public meetings to present and discuss its findings and recommendations. Contractor shall attend as many "working" meetings with staff as necessary in performing work-scope tasks.
10. Accuracy of Specifications. The specifications for this project are believed by the City to be accurate and to contain no affirmative misrepresentation or any concealment of fact. Bidders are cautioned to undertake an independent analysis of any test results in the specifications, as City does not guaranty the accuracy of its interpretation of test results contained in the specifications package. In preparing its proposal, the bidder and all subcontractors named in its proposal shall bear sole responsibility for proposal preparation errors resulting from any misstatements or omissions in the plans and specifications that could easily have been ascertained by examining either the project site or accurate test data in the City's possession. Although the effect of ambiguities or defects in the plans and specifications will be as determined by law, any patent ambiguity or defect shall give rise to a duty of bidder to inquire prior to proposal submittal. Failure to so inquire shall cause any such ambiguity or defect to be construed against the bidder. An ambiguity or defect shall be considered patent if it is of such a nature that the bidder, assuming reasonable skill, ability and diligence on its part, knew or should have known of the existence of the ambiguity or defect. Furthermore, failure of the bidder or subcontractors to notify City in writing of specification or plan defects or ambiguities prior to proposal submittal shall waive any right to assert said defects or ambiguities subsequent to submittal of the proposal.
10 To the extent that these specifications constitute performance specifications, the City shall not be liable for costs incurred by the successful bidder to achieve the project’s objective or standard beyond the amounts provided there for in the proposal.
In the event that, after awarding the contract, any dispute arises as a result of any actual or alleged ambiguity or defect in the plans and/or specifications, or any other matter whatsoever, Contractor shall immediately notify the City in writing, and the Contractor and all subcontractors shall continue to perform, irrespective of whether or not the ambiguity or defect is major, material, minor or trivial, and irrespective of whether or not a change order, time extension, or additional compensation has been granted by City. Failure to provide the hereinbefore described written notice within one (1) working day of contractor's becoming aware of the facts giving rise to the dispute shall constitute a waiver of the right to assert the causative role of the defect or ambiguity in the plans or specifications concerning the dispute.
11 Section I: PROPOSAL SUBMITTAL FORM - Sample
The undersigned declares that she or he has carefully examined [__________] which is hereby made a part of this proposal; is thoroughly familiar with its contents; is authorized to represent the proposing firm; and agrees to perform the specified work for the following cost quoted in full:
BID ITEM:
Total Base Price
Sales tax []
Other
TOTAL $
Delivery of equipment to the City to be within _______ calendar days after contract execution and written authorization to proceed.
Certificate of insurance attached; insurance company’s A.M. Best rating: __________________.
Firm Name and Address
Contact Phone
Signature of Authorized Representative
Date
12 REFERENCES
Number of years engaged in providing the services included within the scope of the specifications under the present business name: .
Describe fully the last three contracts performed by your firm that demonstrate your ability to provide the services included with the scope of the specifications. Attach additional pages if required. The City reserves the right to contact each of the references listed for additional information regarding your firm's qualifications.
Reference No. 1:
Agency Name
Contact Name
Telephone & Email
Street Address
City, State, Zip Code
Description of services provided
including contract amount, when
provided and project outcome
Reference No. 2:
Agency Name
Contact Name
Telephone & Email
Street Address
City, State, Zip Code
Description of services provided
including contract amount, when
provided and project outcome
13 Reference No. 3
Agency Name
Contact Name
Telephone & Email
Street Address
City, State, Zip Code
Description of services provided
including contract amount, when
provided and project outcome
14 STATEMENT OF PAST CONTRACT DISQUALIFICATIONS
The proposer shall state whether it or any of its officers or employees who have a proprietary interest in it, has ever been disqualified, removed, or otherwise prevented from bidding on, or completing a federal, state, or local government project because of the violation of law, a safety regulation, or for any other reason, including but not limited to financial difficulties, project delays, or disputes regarding work or product quality, and if so to explain the circumstances.
◼ Do you have any disqualification as described in the above paragraph to declare? Yes No
◼ If yes, explain the circumstances.
Executed on at _______________________________________ under penalty of perjury of the laws of the State of California, that the foregoing is true and correct. ______________________________________
Signature of Authorized Proposer Representative
15 H. EXHIBIT A : FORM OF AGREEMENT
CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO AGREEMENT
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
This agreement (Agreement) is made and entered into in the City of San Luis Obispo on ____________[date], by and between the City of San Luis Obispo, a municipal corporation and charter city (City) and [Consultant](Consultant) (collectively referred to as the “Parties”).
W I T N E S S E T H:
WHEREAS, the City wants to hire a consultant to develop a comprehensive staffing study for the Police Department (the “Services”); and
WHEREAS, Consultant is qualified to perform this type of Services and has submitted a written proposal to do so, which has been accepted by City; and NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of their mutual promises, obligations, and covenants hereinafter contained, the Parties hereto agree as follows:
1. TERM. The term of this Agreement shall be from the date this Agreement is made and entered, as first written above, until acceptance and completion of said Services.
2. INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE. [Title of City’s RFP/RFQ/IFB] and Consultant's proposal dated [date] are hereby incorporated in and made a part of this Agreement, attached as Exhibit A. The City’s insurance requirements are hereby incorporated in and made part of this Agreement, attached as Exhibit B. To the extent that there are any conflicts between the Consultant’s fees and scope of work and the City’s terms and conditions as stated herein, the City’s terms and conditions shall prevail unless specifically agreed otherwise in writing signed by both Parties.
3. CITY’S OBLIGATIONS. For providing services as specified in this Agreement, City will pay and Consultant shall receive therefor compensation in a sum of [________]
4. CONSULTANT’S OBLIGATIONS. For and in consideration of the payments and agreements herein before mentioned to be made and performed by City, Consultant agrees with City to do everything required by this Agreement including that work as set forth in Exhibit A.
5. PAYMENT OF TAXES. The contract prices shall include full compensation for all taxes that Consultant is required to pay.
6. LICENSES AND PERMITS. At all times during the term of this Agreement, Consultant shall have in full force and effect, all licenses required of it by law for the performance of the Services described in this Agreement. The Consultant shall procure all permits and licenses, pay all charges and fees, and give all notices necessary under this Agreement.
7. COMPLIANCE WITH LAW. The Consultant shall keep itself informed of and shall observe and comply with all applicable State and Federal laws and regulations, and county and City of San Luis Obispo ordinances, regulations and adopted codes, which in any manner affect those employed by Consultant or in any way affect the performance of the Services pursuant to this Agreement. The City, and its officers and employees, shall not be liable at law or in equity occasioned by failure of the Consultant to comply with this Section. Failure to comply with local ordinances may result in monetary fines and cancellation of this Agreement.
8. COMPLIANCE WITH INDUSTRY STANDARD. Consultant shall provide services acceptable to City in strict conformance with the Agreement. Consultant shall also provide in accordance with the standards customarily called for under this Agreement using the degree of care and skill ordinarily exercised by reputable providers of such services. Where approval by the City, the City Manager,
16 the Mayor, or other representative of City is required, it is understood to be general approval only and does not relieve Consultant of responsibility for complying with all applicable laws, codes, policies, regulations, and good business practices.
9. INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR.
a. Consultant is and shall at all times remain as to the City a wholly independent contractor.
The personnel performing the Services under this Agreement on behalf of Consultant shall at all times be under Consultant's exclusive direction and control. Neither City nor any of its officers, employees, or agents shall have control over the conduct of Consultant or any of Consultant's officers, employees, or agents, except as set forth in this Agreement.
Consultant shall not at any time or in any manner represent that it or any of its officers, employees, or agents are in any manner officers, employees, or agents of the City.
Consultant shall not incur or have the power to incur any debt, obligation, or liability whatsoever against City, or bind City in any manner.
b. No employee benefits shall be available to Consultant in connection with the performance of this Agreement. Except for the fees paid to Consultant as provided in the Agreement, City shall not pay salaries, wages, or other compensation to Consultant for performing the Services hereunder for City. City shall not be liable for compensation or indemnification to Consultant for injury or sickness arising out of performing services hereunder.
10. PRESERVATION OF CITY PROPERTY. The Consultant shall provide and install suitable safeguards, approved by the City, to protect City property from injury or damage. If City property is injured or damaged resulting from Consultant’s operations, it shall be replaced or restored at Consultant’s expense. The City’s facilities shall be replaced or restored to a condition as good as when the Consultant began the work.
11. IMMIGRATION ACT OF 1986. The Consultant warrants on behalf of itself and all subconsultants engaged for the performance of the Services that only persons authorized to work in the United States pursuant to the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 and other applicable laws shall be employed in the performance of the Services hereunder.
12. NON-DISCRIMINATION. In the performance of the Services, the Consultant agrees that it will not engage in, nor permit such subconsultants as it may employ, to engage in discrimination in employment of persons because of age, race, color, sex, national origin or ancestry, sexual orientation, or religion of such persons.
13. PAYMENT TERMS. The City’s payment terms are 30 days from the receipt of an original invoice and acceptance by the City of the materials, supplies, equipment, or services provided by the Consultant (Net 30). Consultant will submit invoices monthly for actual services performed.
Invoices shall be submitted on or about the first business day of each month, or as soon thereafter as practical, for services provided in the previous month. Payment shall be made within thirty (30) days of receipt of each invoice as to all non disputed fees. If the City disputes any of Consultant's fees it shall give written notice to Consultant within thirty (30) days of receipt of an invoice of any disputed fees set forth on the invoice. Any final payment under this Agreement shall be made within forty-five (45) days of receipt of an invoice, therefore.
14. INSPECTION. City shall at all times have the right to inspect the work being done under this Agreement and Consultant shall furnish City with every reasonable opportunity and assistance required for City to ascertain that the Services of the Consultant are being performed in accordance with the requirements and intentions of this Agreement. All work done, and all materials furnished, if any, shall be subject to the City’s inspection and approval. The inspection of such work shall not relieve Consultant of any of its obligations under the Agreement.
15. RELEASE OF INFORMATION.
a. All information gained by Consultant in performance of this Agreement shall be considered confidential and shall not be released by Consultant without City's prior written authorization. Consultant, its officers, employees, agents, or subconsultants, shall not, without written authorization from the City Manager or unless requested by the City
17 Attorney, voluntarily provide declarations, letters of support, testimony at depositions, response to interrogatories, or other information concerning the work performed under this Agreement. Response to a subpoena or court order shall not be considered "voluntary" provided Consultant gives City notice of such court order or subpoena. b. Consultant shall promptly notify City should Consultant, its officers, employees, agents, or subconsultants be served with any summons, complaint, subpoena, notice of deposition, request for documents, interrogatories, request for admissions, or other discovery request (“Discovery”), court order, or subpoena from any person or party regarding this Agreement, unless the City is a party to any lawsuit, arbitration, or administrative proceeding connected to such Discovery, or unless Consultant is prohibited by law from informing the City of such Discovery. City retains the right, but has no obligation, to represent Consultant and/or be present at any deposition, hearing, or similar proceeding as allowed by law. Unless City is a party to the lawsuit, arbitration, or administrative proceeding and is averse to Consultant in such proceeding, Consultant agrees to cooperate fully with City and to provide the opportunity to review any response to Discovery requests provided by Consultant. However, City's right to review any such response does not imply or mean the right by City to control, direct, or rewrite said response.
16. OWNERSHIP OF DOCUMENTS.
a. Consultant shall maintain complete and accurate records with respect to sales, costs, expenses, receipts, and other such information required by City that relate to the performance of the Services under this Agreement. Consultant shall maintain adequate DocuSign Envelope ID: F0BEE24F-70C5-414A-A197-4CE0753C3B40 17 records of services provided in sufficient detail to permit an evaluation of services. All such records shall be maintained in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and shall be clearly identified and readily accessible. Consultant shall provide free access to the representatives of City or its designees at reasonable times to such books and records; shall give City the right to examine and audit said books and records; shall permit City to make transcripts or copies therefrom as necessary; and shall allow inspection of all work, data, documents, proceedings, and activities related to this Agreement. Such records, together with supporting documents, shall be maintained for a period of three (3) years after receipt of final payment. b. Upon completion of, or in the event of termination or suspension of this Agreement, all original documents, designs, drawings, maps, models, computer files, surveys, notes, and other documents prepared in the course of providing the Services under this Agreement shall become the sole property of the City and may be used, reused, or otherwise disposed of by the City without the permission of the Consultant. With respect to computer files, Consultant shall make available to the City, at the Consultant's office and upon reasonable written request by the City, the necessary computer software and hardware for purposes of accessing, compiling, transferring, copying and/or printing computer files. Consultant hereby grants to City all right, title, and interest, including any copyright, in and to the documents, designs, drawings, maps, models, computer files, surveys, notes, and other documents prepared by Consultant in the course of providing the Services under this Agreement.
17. INDEMNIFICATION AND DEFENSE. To the fullest extent permitted by law (including, but not limited to California Civil Code Sections 2782 and 2782.8), Consultant shall indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the City, and its elected officials, officers, employees, volunteers, and agents (“City Indemnitees”), from and against any and all causes of action, claims, liabilities, obligations, judgments, or damages, including reasonable legal counsels’ fees and costs of litigation (“claims”), arising out of the Consultant’s performance or Consultant’s failure to perform its obligations under this Agreement or out of the operations conducted by Consultant, including the City’s passive negligence, except for such loss or damage arising from the sole or active negligence or willful misconduct of the City. In the event the City Indemnitees are made a party to any action, lawsuit,
18 or other adversarial proceeding arising from Consultant’s performance of this Agreement, the Consultant shall provide a defense to the City Indemnitees or at the City’s option, reimburse the City Indemnitees their costs of defense, including reasonable legal fees, incurred in defense of such claims.
18. SUSPENSION OR TERMINATION OF AGREEMENT WITHOUT CAUSE. a. The City may at any time, for any reason, with or without cause, suspend or terminate this Agreement, or any portion hereof, by serving upon the Consultant at least thirty (30) days prior written notice. Upon receipt of said notice, the Consultant shall immediately cease all work under this Agreement, unless the notice provides otherwise. If the City suspends or terminates a portion of this Agreement such suspension or termination shall not make void or invalidate the remainder of this Agreement.
b. In the event this Agreement is terminated pursuant to this Section, the City shall pay to Consultant the actual value of the work performed up to the time of termination, provided that the work performed is of value to the City. Upon termination of the DocuSign Envelope ID: F0BEE24F-70C5-414A-A197-4CE0753C3B40 18 Agreement pursuant to this Section, the Consultant will submit an invoice to the City pursuant to Section 14.
19. TERMINATION FOR CAUSE. If, during the term of the Agreement, the City determines the Consultant is not faithfully abiding by any term or condition contained herein, the City may notify the Consultant in writing of such defect or failure to perform. This notice must give the Consultant a ten (10) calendar day notice of time thereafter in which to perform said work or cure the deficiency.
a. If the Consultant has not performed the work or cured the deficiency within the ten (10) days specified in the notice, such shall constitute a breach of the Agreement and the City may terminate the Agreement immediately by written notice to the Consultant to said effect (“Notice of Termination”). Thereafter, neither party shall have any further duties, obligations, responsibilities, or rights under the Agreement except to comply with the obligations upon termination.
b. In said event, the Consultant shall be entitled to the reasonable value of its services performed from the beginning date in which the breach occurs up to the day it received the City’s Notice of Termination, minus any offset from such payment representing the City’s damages from such breach. “Reasonable value” includes fees or charges for goods or services as of the last milestone or task satisfactorily delivered or completed by the Consultant as may be set forth in the Agreement payment schedule; compensation for any other work or services performed or provided by the Consultant shall be based solely on the City’s assessment of the value of the work-in progress in completing the overall scope. c. The City reserves the right to delay such payment until completion or confirmed abandonment of the project, as may be determined in the City’s sole discretion, so as to permit a full and complete accounting of costs. In no event, however, shall the Consultant be entitled to receive in excess of the not to exceed amount shown in this Agreement.
20. INSURANCE. Consultant shall maintain prior to the beginning of and for the duration of this Agreement insurance coverage as specified in Exhibit B attached to and made part of this Agreement
21. BUSINESS LICENSE & TAX. The Consultant must have a valid City of San Luis Obispo business license & tax certificate before execution of the contract. Additional information regarding the City’s business tax program may be obtained by calling (805) 781-7134.
22. SAFETY PROVISIONS. The Consultant shall conform to the rules and regulations pertaining to safety established by OSHA and the California Division of Industrial Safety.
23. PUBLIC AND EMPLOYEE SAFETY. Whenever the Consultant operations create a condition hazardous to the public or City employees, it shall, at its expense and without cost to the City, furnish, erect and maintain such fences, temporary railings, barricades, lights, signs and other
19 devices and take such other protective measures as are necessary to prevent accidents or damage or injury to the public and employees.
24. UNDUE INFLUENCE. Consultant declares and warrants that no undue influence or pressure was used against or in concert with any officer or employee of the City in connection with the award, terms or implementation of this Agreement, including any method of coercion, confidential financial arrangement, or financial inducement. No officer or employee of the City has or will receive compensation, directly or indirectly, from Consultant, or from any officer, employee or agent of Consultant, in connection with the award of this Agreement or any work to be conducted as a result of this Agreement. Violation of this Section shall be a material breach of this Agreement entitling the City to any and all remedies at law or in equity.
25. ASSIGNMENT. The Consultant shall not assign, transfer, convey or otherwise dispose of the contract, or its right, title or interest, or its power to execute such a contract to any individual or business entity of any kind without the previous written consent of the City.
26. AMENDMENT. Any amendment, modification, or variation from the terms of this Agreement shall be in writing and shall be effective only upon approval by the appropriate review authority according to the City’s Financial Management Manual. Consultant shall not be compensated for any services rendered in connection with its performance of this Agreement which are in addition to those set forth herein, unless such additional services are authorized by the City in advance and in writing.
27. COMPLETE AGREEMENT. This written Agreement, including all writings specifically incorporated herein by reference, shall constitute the complete Agreement between the Parties hereto. No oral agreement, understanding, or representation not reduced to writing and specifically incorporated herein shall be of any force or effect, nor shall any such oral Agreement, understanding, or representation be binding upon the Parties hereto. Each party is entering into this Agreement based solely upon the representations set forth herein and upon each party's own independent investigation of any and all facts such party deems material.
28. NOTICE. All notices to the Parties hereto under this Agreement shall be in writing and shall be sent either by (i) personal service, (ii) delivery by a reputable document delivery service, such as, but not limited to, Federal Express, which provides a receipt showing date and time of delivery, or (iii) United States Mail, certified, postage prepaid, return receipt requested. All such notices shall be delivered to the addressee or addressed as set forth below:
To City: Police Department
City of San Luis Obispo
1042 Walnut Street
Attention: Brian Amoroso, Deputy Chief
To Consultant: Name
Mailing Address
29. GOVERNING LAW. Any action arising out of this Agreement shall be brought in the Superior Court of San Luis Obispo County, California, regardless of where else venue may lie. The validity, interpretation, construction and performance of this Agreement, and all acts and DocuSign Envelope ID: F0BEE24F-70C5-414A-A197-4CE0753C3B40 20 transactions pursuant hereto and the rights and obligations of the Parties hereto shall be governed, construed and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the State of California, without giving effect to principles of conflicts of law.
30. AUTHORITY TO EXECUTE AGREEMENT. Both City and Consultant do covenant that each individual executing this Agreement on behalf of each party is a person duly authorized and empowered to execute Agreements for such party.
20 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Parties hereto have caused this instrument to be executed the day and year first above written.
CITY
_______________________________
By: Rick Scott
Its: Chief of Police
CONSULTANT
_______________________________
By: [Name]
Its: [Title]
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
_______________________________
By: J. Christine Dietrick, City Attorney
21 EXHIBIT B
Insurance Requirements – Standard Professional Services The Contractor shall procure and maintain for the duration of the contract insurance against claims for injuries to persons or damages to property which may arise from or in connection with the performance of the work hereunder by the Contractor, its agents, representatives, employees or subcontractors.
Minimum Scope of Insurance. Coverage shall be at least as broad as:
1. Insurance Services Office Commercial General Liability coverage (occurrence form CG 0001).
2. Insurance Services Office form number CA 0001 (Ed. 1/87) covering Automobile Liability, code1 (any auto).
3. Workers' Compensation insurance as required by the State of California and Employer's Liability Insurance.
Minimum Limits of Insurance. Contractor shall maintain limits no less than:
1. General Liability: $1,000,000 per occurrence for bodily injury, personal injury and property damage.
If Commercial General Liability or other form with a general aggregate limit is used, either the general aggregate limit shall apply separately to this project/location or the general aggregate limit shall be twice the required occurrence limit of $2,000,000.
2. Automobile Liability: $1,000,000 per accident for bodily injury and property damage.
3. Employer's Liability: $1,000,000 per accident for bodily injury or disease.
Deductibles and Self-Insured Retentions. Any deductibles or self-insured retentions must be declared to and approved by the City. At the option of the City, either: the insurer shall reduce or eliminate such deductibles or self-insured retentions as respects the City, its officers, officials, employees and volunteers; or the Contractor shall procure a bond guaranteeing payment of losses and related investigations, claim administration and defense expenses.
Other Insurance Provisions. The general liability and automobile liability policies are to contain, or be endorsed to contain, the following provisions:
1. The City, its officers, officials, employees, agents and volunteers are to be covered as insureds as respects: liability arising out of activities performed by or on behalf of the Contractor; products and completed operations of the Contractor; premises owned, occupied or used by the Contractor; or automobiles owned, leased, hired or borrowed by the Contractor. The coverage shall contain no special limitations on the scope of protection afforded to the City, its officers, official, employees, agents or volunteers.
2. For any claims related to this project, the Contractor's insurance coverage shall be primary insurance as respects the City, its officers, officials, employees, agents and volunteers. Any insurance or self-insurance maintained by the City, its officers, officials, employees, agents or volunteers shall be excess of the Contractor's insurance and shall not contribute with it.
3. The Contractor's insurance shall apply separately to each insured against whom claim is made or suit is brought, except with respect to the limits of the insurer's liability.
4. Each insurance policy required by this clause shall be endorsed to state that coverage shall not be suspended, voided, canceled by either party, reduced in coverage or in limits except after thirty (30) days' prior written notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, has been given to the City.
22 Acceptability of Insurers. Insurance is to be placed with insurers with a current A.M. Best's rating of no less than A:VII.
Verification of Coverage. Contractor shall furnish the City with a certificate of insurance showing maintenance of the required insurance coverage. Original endorsements effecting general liability and automobile liability coverage required by this clause must also be provided. The endorsements are to be signed by a person authorized by that insurer to bind coverage on its behalf. All endorsements are to be received and approved by the City before work commences.
1 CENTER FOR PUBLIC SAFETY MANAGEMENT, LLC
475 K STREET NW, SUITE 702 • WASHINGTON, DC 20001
WWW.CPSM.US • (616) 813-3782
Exclusive Provider of Public Safety Technical Services for International City/County Management Association
CENTER FOR PUBLIC SAFETY MANAGEMENT, LLC
Proposal for
Police Staffing Assessment,
Solicitation No. 2401-001
City of San Luis Obispo
February 26, 2024, 3:00 p.m. PST
February 26, 2024
Chief Rick Scott
Department of Finance,
City of San Luis Obispo
990 Palm Street, San
Luis Obispo, CA, 93401.
Submitted electronically via: BidSync.com
Chief Rick Scott:
Response to Bid 2401-001, Police Staffing Assessment
The Center for Public Safety Management, LLC (CPSM), as the exclusive provider of public safety technical assistance for the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), is pleased to submit this proposal to the City of San Luis Obispo for a comprehensive analysis of its police operations.
We are providing two prices: one for a data-based analysis of staffing and the second for the comprehensive staffing and operational analysis with recommendations that would normally be included in a strategic plan (short and long term). The operational analysis can also feed into demands for future facilities.
The CPSM approach is unique and more comprehensive than ordinary accreditation or competitor studies.
In general, our analysis involves the following major outcomes:
Conducting a forensic data analysis to identify actual workload and locations of incidents that will create a picture of the as-is condition of service delivery and service demands. We will look at all facets of the department to establish workloads and service demands.
Identifying and recommending appropriate staffing and deployment levels for every discrete operational and support function for policing.
Examining the department’s organizational structure and culture. Performing gap analysis, comparing the as is state of the department to the industry’s best practices. Recommending a management framework to ensure accountability, increased efficiency, enhanced safety for responders and the community, and improved performance. Determining staffing analysis using workload and performance using research conducted by ICMA, IPMAHR, CALEA, and CPSM.
Chief Rick Scott
February 26, 2024
We understand that Jacob Green & Associates is in the final stages of completing a strategic plan for the Police Department and one of the objectives identified in that process is to conduct a staffing assessment. The SLOPD has 91 FTEs, 61 sworn, and 30 civilian, which includes dispatch. While the city demographics have changed considerable, especially population, staffing has remained at the same levels. Open positions have not been filled in some time, like many similarly challenged departments across the United States.
Our first deliverable is to conduct a forensic analysis of workload with information gleaned from the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system. That forms the basis for an operational review by our team of experts, which will look at all facets of the organization with recommendations that can be included in a short- and long-term strategic plan.
This proposal is specifically designed to provide the local government with a thorough and unbiased analysis of emergency services in your community. We have developed a unique approach by combining the experience of dozens of emergency services subject matter experts. The team assigned to the project will have hundreds of years of practical experience managing emergency service agencies; a record of research, academic, teaching and training, and professional publications; and extensive consulting experience from hundreds of projects completed for municipalities nationwide.
The team we assemble for you will be true subject matter experts with hands-on emergency services experience, not research assistants or interns.
CPSM has built upon nearly 40 years of research by ICMA and other academic researchers to develop the CPSM Data Analytic Report™. While other firms conduct interviews, charettes, and other intelligence gathering, only CPSM combines those processes by forensically analyzing and reporting an agency’s workload and performance which incorporates metrics for future analysis of deployment change. CPSM and ICMA developed the “60% rule” that was authored by one of our subject matter experts which serves as one more benchmark for staffing of police agencies and is often cited by CALEA as a best practice. That report is currently being updated by CPSM’s current team of researchers.
ICMA has provided direct services to local governments worldwide for almost 100 years, which has helped to improve the quality of life for millions of residents in the United States and abroad. My colleagues at CPSM and I greatly appreciate this opportunity and would be pleased to address any comments you may have. I will be the authorized signatory on any documents and can be reached at (616) 813-3782 or via email at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Thomas J. Wieczorek
Director
Center for Public Safety Management, LLC
iv
Contents
1 Submittal Forms...............................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Proposal Submittal Summary ............................................................................................................1
1.2 Certificate of Insurance .....................................................................................................................2
1.3 References.........................................................................................................................................3
1.4 Statement of Past Contract Disqualifications....................................................................................5 2 Qualifications...................................................................................................................................................6
2.1 Firm Experience in Performing Relevant Work/Projects ...................................................................6
2.1.1. Firm History and Background..............................................................................................6
2.1.2. CPSM Relevant Experience..................................................................................................6
2.2 Client References...............................................................................................................................7
2.3 Project Team Qualifications and Experience .....................................................................................7
2.4 Principal/Project Manager.................................................................................................................8
2.5 Corporate Compliance Police Unit.....................................................................................................9
2.5.1. Project Manager—Thomas Wieczorek................................................................................9
2.5.2. Managing Partner—Leonard A. Matarese, MPA, ICMA-CM, IPMA-CP................................9
2.6 Operations Assessment Team.........................................................................................................10
2.6.1. Police Project Manager— Chief Jarrod Burguan, BS, MA..................................................10
2.6.2. Chief Craig Junginger (Ret), BS, MPA.................................................................................10
2.6.3. Senior Associate—Chief John E. Perez, BS, MS, PhD .........................................................11
2.6.4. Senior Associate—Deputy Chief Wayne Hiltz (Ret), BS .....................................................12
2.7 Forensic Data Analysis Team...........................................................................................................12
2.7.1. Data Assessment Team – Project Leader—Dov Chelst, Ph.D. ...........................................12
2.7.2. Public Safety Data Analyst—Shan Zhou, Ph.D. ..................................................................12
2.7.3. Public Safety Data Analyst-GIS—Monicque Lee, MS, BS ...................................................13
2.7.4. Senior Public Safety Subject Matter Expert – GIS—David Martin, Ph.D. ...........................13
2.8 Standard Billing Rates......................................................................................................................13
2.9 Statement of Instance(s) of Removal or Disqualification from Project............................................13 3 Proposed Work Program ...............................................................................................................................14
3.1 Approach to Completing the Work..................................................................................................14
3.1.1. Project Understanding ......................................................................................................14
3.1.2. CPSM’s Approach/Work Plan............................................................................................14
3.2 Project Schedule..............................................................................................................................24
3.3 Estimated Staff Hours......................................................................................................................25
3.4 Budget by Task ................................................................................................................................26
3.5 Services or Data to Be Provided by City...........................................................................................26
3.6 Services and Deliverables Provided by CPSM ..................................................................................26
3.6.1. Deliverables.......................................................................................................................26
3.6.2. Presentation......................................................................................................................26
3.7 Other Information ...........................................................................................................................27
3.8 Critical Assumptions........................................................................................................................27 4 Conclusion .....................................................................................................................................................28 Appendix: Past and Current Engagements...................................................................................................................29 Tables
Table 1. Police Department Assessment Projects Completed by CPSM in 2023 and 2022 ............................................7 Table 2. Hourly Billing Rates.........................................................................................................................................13 Table 3. Estimated Staff Hours for San Luis Obispo Police Staffing Assessment ..........................................................25 Table 4. Budget by Task for San Luis Obispo Police Staffing Assessment.....................................................................26 Table 5. CPSM List of Past and Current Engagements..................................................................................................29
1 1 Submittal Forms
1.1 Proposal Submittal Summary
2 1.2 Certificate of Insurance
3 1.3 References
4
5 1.4 Statement of Past Contract Disqualifications
6 2 Qualifications
2.1 Firm Experience in Performing Relevant Work/Projects
2.1.1. Firm History and Background
International City/County Management Association (ICMA) The International City/County Management Association (ICMA) is a 110-year-old, non-profit professional association of local government administrators and managers, with approximately 13,000 members located in 32 countries.
Since its inception in 1914, ICMA has been dedicated to assisting local governments and their managers in providing services to their citizens in an efficient and effective manner. ICMA advances the knowledge of local government best practices with its website, www.icma.org, publications, research, professional development, and membership.
Center for Public Safety Management (CPSM)
The ICMA Center for Public Safety Management (ICMA/CPSM) was launched in 2006 by ICMA as “Consulting Services.” In 2010, it was renamed Center for Public Safety Management (CPSM) to provide support to local governments in the areas of police, fire, and Emergency Medical Services. It has remained focused on public safety issues with the addition of dispatch, strategic planning, and Homeland Security.
CPSM also represents local governments at the federal level and has been involved in numerous projects with the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security. In 2014 as part of a restructuring at ICMA, CPSM spun out as a separate company and is now the exclusive provider of public safety technical assistance for ICMA.
CPSM provides training and research for the association’s members and represents ICMA in its dealings with the federal government and other public safety professional associations such as CALEA, PERF, IACP, IFCA, IPMA-HR, DOJ, BJA, COPS, NFPA, etc.
CPSM maintains the same team of individuals performing the same level of service that it had for ICMA. We use our team of eight employees and 30 SMEs to respond to our clients’ project needs. With such expertise, we are able to evaluate any size organization and the challenges faced from every perspective. CPSM’s local government technical assistance experience includes workload and deployment analysis, using our unique methodology and subject matter experts to examine department organizational structure and culture, identify workload and staffing needs as well as industry best practices.
2.1.2. CPSM Relevant Experience
CPSM offers more than 16 years of corporate experience performing comprehensive assessments of police, fire, EMS, and dispatch departments and providing assistance to departments/agencies for standards of response coverage, risk assessment, and strategic planning. We have conducted over 450 such studies in 46 states and provinces and more than 300 communities ranging in population size 269 (Bald Head Island, NC) to 800,000 (Indianapolis, IN).
Table 1 lists the government entities for which CPSM completed police department assessment projects in 2023 and 2022. A more comprehensive list of our clients is included in Table 4 in the appendix to this proposal. CPSM has completed 25+ studies of law enforcement agencies in California and several of our subject matter experts have served as police chiefs for California municipalities.
7 Table 1. Police Department Assessment Projects Completed by CPSM in 2023 and 2022 2023 Projects 2022 Projects
Delaware, OH
Powell, OH
Norristown, PA
West Des Moines, IA
Kalispell, MT
Roanoke, VA
Cocoa Beach, FL
Alpharetta, GA
Celina, TX
Maricopa County, AZ
Kent County, MI
Minot, ND
Olympia, WA
Plymouth, MA
Chattanooga, TN
Pulaski County AR
Battle Creek MI
Brookings, SD
El Mirage, AZ
Little Rock, AR
Medford, OR
Myrtle Beach, SC
National City, CA
New Braunfels, TX
Pembroke Park, FL
Petaluma, CA
Santa Rosa, CA
Sugar Land, TX
Sylvester, GA
Upper Arlington, OH
Yuma, AZ
2.2 Client References
We offer client references on the completed form in Section 1.3 of this proposal as evidence of our performance.
CPSM has a record of completing its projects on time, within the established budget, and in compliance with contractual requirements. Many of our clients are repeat clients, coming back to us for additional studies or to update previously performed studies.
2.3 Project Team Qualifications and Experience
For this project, CPSM has assembled a premier team of subject matter experts that have experience performing similar projects for counties and municipalities nationwide. Our proposed project team members will be available to support the project as needed through completion. Our subject matter experts have a long history with the firm, which means staff turnover is not a significant concern. Based on our experience, a dedicated, consistent project team works more efficiently and effectively, ensuring both continuity of project knowledge and budget management. Because we have a stable workforce, our project team members have a history of collaborating on similar police department assessment projects including comprehensive staffing assessments.
The organizational chart for the project is provided in Figure 1. Brief resumes/bios follow the figure.
8 Figure 1. CPSM Project Team Organization
CPSM performs all work using in-house resources and does not subcontract any portion of the work scope. The firm has adequate in-house subject matter experts to perform multiple concurrent public safety studies at any time.
2.4 Principal/Project Manager
CPSM assigns a project manager to each project it performs. Our project manager is responsible for all aspects of project execution and contractual compliance and will serve as the principal in charge of the project. Thomas Wieczorek will be the project manager for this contract.
As project manager, Tom will serve as a principal point of contact with the City and Department regarding this project. He has led similar public safety agency assessment projects and will ensure that CPSM performs the required evaluation with the same exceptional quality and service for which CPSM is recognized.
After contract award, at the project kickoff meeting, our project manager will solicit input on our proposed approach and schedule and document the mutually agreed upon final plan that CPSM will follow to complete the project. He will lead our project team in performing the required scope of services in accordance with the contract scope of work, CPSM’s quality standards, and the established project budget and schedule.
PROJECT MANAGER
Thomas J. Wieczorek
Director
DATA TEAM LEADER
Dov Chelst, PhD
DATA ANALYSTS
GIS SPECIALISTS
POLICE TEAM LEADER
Jarrod Burguan, BS,
MA
POLICE SUBJECT MATTER
EXPERTS
9 2.5 Corporate Compliance Police Unit
2.5.1. Project Manager—Thomas Wieczorek
Director, Center for Public Safety Management; retired City Manager Ionia, MI; former Executive Director Center for Public Safety Excellence.
Thomas Wieczorek is an expert in fire and emergency medical services operations. He has served as a police officer, fire chief, director of public safety and city manager and is former Executive Director of the Center for Public Safety Excellence (formerly the Commission on Fire Accreditation International, Inc.).
He has taught numerous programs for the International City-County Management Association, Grand Valley State University, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), State of Michigan’s Transportation Asset Management Council, and Grand Rapids Community College. He often testified for the Michigan Municipal League before the legislature and in several courts as an expert in the field of accident reconstruction and fire department management. He is the past president of the Michigan Local Government Manager’s Association (MLGMA, now MME); served as the vice-chairperson of the Commission on Fire Officer Designation; served as ICMA’s representative on the International Accreditation Service (IAS), a wholly owned subsidiary of the International Code Council (ICC); and currently serves on the NFPA 1710 and 1730 committee.
He worked with the National League of Cities and the Department of Homeland Security to create and deliver a program on emergency management for local officials titled, “Crisis Leadership for Local Government Officials.” It has been presented in 43 states and has been assigned a course number by the DHS. He represents ICMA on the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) Board and other fire service participation areas. In 2022 he worked with ICMA to create a FEMA program on economic recovery from disasters for local government managers. It has been delivered via webinar and in person across the United States.
He received the Mark E. Keane “Award for Excellence” in 2000 from the ICMA, the Association’s highest award and was honored as City Manager of the Year (1999) and Person of the Year (2003) by the Rural Water Association of Michigan, and distinguished service by the Michigan Municipal League in 2005.
2.5.2. Managing Partner—Leonard A. Matarese, MPA, ICMA-CM, IPMA-CP Director of Research and Project Development, Center for Public Safety Management Mr. Matarese is a specialist in public sector administration with expertise in public safety issues. He has 44 years’ experience as a law enforcement officer, police chief, public safety director, city manager and major city Human Resources Commissioner.
He was one of the original advisory board members and trainer for the first NIJ/ICMA Community Oriented Policing Project which has subsequently trained thousands of municipal practitioners on the techniques of the community policing philosophy over the past 18 years. He has managed several hundred studies of emergency services agencies with attention to matching staffing issues with calls for service workload.
Recognized as an innovator by his law enforcement colleagues, he served as the Chairman of the SE Quadrant, Florida, Blue Lighting Strike Force, a 71-agency, U.S. Customs Service anti-terrorist and narcotics task force and as president of the Miami-Dade County Police Chief’s Association – one of America’s largest regional police associations. He represents ICMA on national projects involving the United States Department of Homeland Security, The Department of Justice, Office of Community Policing and the Department of Justice, Office Bureau of Justice Assistance. He has also served as a project reviewer for the National Institute of Justice and is the subject matter expert on several ICMA / USAID police projects in Central America. As a public safety director, he has
10 managed fire / EMS systems including ALS transport. He was an early proponent of public access and police response with AEDs.
Mr. Matarese has presented before most major public administration organizations’ annual conferences on numerous occasions and was a keynote speaker at the 2011 annual PERF conference. He was a plenary speaker at the 2011 TAMSEC Homeland security conference in Linköping, Sweden and at the 2010 UN Habitat PPUD Conference in Barcelona, Spain.
He has a master’s degree in Public Administration and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science. He is a member of two national honor societies and has served as an adjunct faculty member for several universities. He holds the ICMA Credentialed Manager designation, as well as Certified Professional designation from the International Public Management Association- Human Resources. He also has extensive experience in labor management issues, particularly in police and fire departments. Mr. Matarese is a life member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police and of ICMA.
2.6 Operations Assessment Team
2.6.1. Police Project Manager— Chief Jarrod Burguan, BS, MA Chief of Police, San Bernardino Police Department
Chief Burguan served 29 years in local law enforcement, with 10 years of that experience in senior management positions. He retired as the Chief of Police for the San Bernardino Police Department in 2019.
During his career, Chief Burguan worked a variety of assignments in the patrol, traffic, investigative and administrative divisions of the department. He has the unique experience of managing a police department through a municipal bankruptcy while maintaining day to day operational effectiveness. He has been an invited speaker at conferences and training events throughout the country and internationally on police response to active shooter events following both an elementary school active shooter in 2016 and the 2015 terrorist attack in San Bernardino.
Since retiring from the department in 2019, Chief Burguan has continued to work as a consultant for municipal government and media organizations and has served as an advisor for the Department of Justice – ICITAP program. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business and a master’s degree in management from the University of Redlands. He is also a graduate of the California Command College, the FBI’s Law Enforcement Executive Development program and the Senior Management Institute for Police through the PERF.
2.6.2. Chief Craig Junginger (Ret), BS, MPA
Retired Chief of Police, Gresham, Oregon, former Huntington Beach Police Captain Chief Junginger had over 38 years’ experience as a law enforcement professional. He served as the Chief of the Gresham, Oregon Police from December 2008 until his retirement in June 2016. Gresham is a community with a population of 110,000 just to the east of Portland. He led a department of 130 sworn officers and 47 civilian employees, with a budget of $31 million. He also served on the board of the Oregon Police Chief’s Association.
Chief Junginger began his career at the Bell-Cudahy Police department in 1979. He worked as a K-9 Officer, Detective, and Patrol Officer. In 1985 he transferred to the Huntington Beach Police Department where he remained until his retirement in November 2008. While at Huntington Beach, he was a Patrol Officer, Beach Detail Officer, Field Training Officer, SWAT Officer, Traffic Motor Officers, Community Policing Officer, and Narcotics Detective. In 1999 he promoted to
11 Sergeant where he worked Patrol, Downtown Foot Beat, Support Services, Vice and Intelligence and Internal Affairs. He promoted to Lieutenant in 2003 and worked as the Community Policing Commander responsible for all major event planning, Watch Commander and as the Chief’s Executive Officer. In 2007 he promoted to the rank of Captain and was assigned to Administrative Operations consisting of Communications, Budget, Personnel, and Property and Evidence.
He holds a master’s degree from California State University, Long Beach, a bachelor’s degree from University of La Verne and an associate degree from Rio Hondo Community College.
He attended the FBI National Academy Class 224 in Quantico Virginia, California Post Command College, West Point Leadership Program, POST Executive Development Program and the POST Supervisory Leadership Institute.
While in Command College he was published for his article “How will we train police recruits of the millennial generation in the year 2012,” and as the Chief of Gresham he was published for an article he authored on leadership.
He was awarded the Medal of Valor in 1989 for his encounter with an armed bank robber.
2.6.3. Senior Associate—Chief John E. Perez, BS, MS, PhD Chief of Police, City of Pasadena Police Department
John E. Perez has served as the Chief of Police for the City of Pasadena since 2018 and has been with the Department since 1985. His 35 years of public safety experience includes an array of specialized assignments in enforcement, special tactics, administration, and community initiatives. He served as the Counter-Terrorism Intelligence Officer immediately after the 9/11 terrorist attack in developing security/safety measures for Pasadena’s Tournament of Roses Parade, Rose Bowl, and special events. After serving as the Special Enforcement Section Sergeant and developing policing initiatives in lowering gang violence while improving community trust and confidence, he was appointed by California’s Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training to provide best practices on developing statewide initiatives.
He is the recipient of the Mayor’s Special Service Award for his work in developing community initiatives and has been twice awarded with the Police Chief’s Excellence in Policing merit award. Chief Perez has served in the various ranks of the Department to include Deputy Chief of Police from 2016–2018.
Chief Perez led the development of several internal initiatives that decreased the use of force by 50% through immersive training and self-improvement from use of Body-Worn Camera (BWC), as well other initiatives to increase community awareness of policing challenges through programs such as “Policing 101” and “Community Conversations” — each intended to develop and educate community members, youth, and the media on policing topics as well as learning from the community.
Chief Perez serves on the Pasadena Educational Foundation, Patron Saints Foundation, and is a graduate of the California Peace Officers and Standards Executive Management School as well as holding a POST executive certificate. Chief Perez possesses a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice, a master’s degree in Behavior Science, and a PhD in Public Administration. He serves on the board of the California Police Chiefs Association and the National Police Foundation.
12 2.6.4. Senior Associate—Deputy Chief Wayne Hiltz (Ret), BS Former Interim Chief of Police at Pasadena and Irwindale Police Departments Wayne has 33 years of experience in municipal law enforcement. This includes a broad range of experience in nearly every facet of policing from patrol, gang enforcement, and undercover narcotics to internal affairs investigations and community relations.
The last 13 years were spent at command and executive levels. In his capacity as Deputy Police Chief, he served as the chief operating officer of the Pasadena Police Department, responsible for all day-to-day operations including internal audits and inspections. As well, he was responsible for operations related to the Tournament of Roses Parade and Rose Bowl events to include World Cup Soccer and BCS Championship games. For a period of nearly two years, he served in the capacity of Interim Chief of Police at both the Pasadena and Irwindale Police Departments.
He has extensive experience in managing budgets and has served as a budget instructor for the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. He was selected by the Los Angeles County Police Chiefs Association to represent the 45 member agencies in negotiations for Homeland Security Grants for a three-year period. He also served as President of the San Gabriel Peace Officers Association. He has served on the boards of community-based organizations with a focus on addressing homeless issues, substance abuse, and juvenile violence. Wayne holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Police Science and Administration from California State University at Los Angeles. Executive training includes the FBI Southwest Command College and the Senior Management Institute for Police.
2.7 Forensic Data Analysis Team
2.7.1. Data Assessment Team – Project Leader—Dov Chelst, Ph.D.
Director of Quantitative Analysis
Dr. Chelst is an expert in analyzing public safety department’s workload and deployment. He manages the analysis of all public safety data for the Center. He is involved in all phases of The Center’s studies from initial data collection, on-site review, large-scale dataset processing, statistical analysis, and designing data reports. To date, he has managed over 140 data analysis projects for city and county agencies ranging in population size from 8,000 to 800,000.
Dr. Chelst has a Ph.D. Mathematics from Rutgers University and a B.A. Magna Cum Laude in Mathematics and Physics from Yeshiva University. He has taught mathematics, physics and statistics, at the university level for 9 years. He has conducted research in complex analysis, mathematical physics, and wireless communication networks and has presented his academic research at local, national and international conferences, and participated in workshops across the country.
2.7.2. Public Safety Data Analyst—Shan Zhou, Ph.D.
Dr. Shan Zhou specializes in the analysis of police data. Shan brings extensive experience in scientific and clinical data analysis. Prior to CPSM, she worked as an associate scientist at Yale School of Medicine. Shan has a MS in Business Analytics and Project Management from University of Connecticut and a PhD in Cell biology, Genetics and Development from University of Minnesota.
13 2.7.3. Public Safety Data Analyst-GIS—Monicque Lee, MS, BS Ms. Lee has extensive experience in the areas of data and geospatial analysis, hydrographic data processing, mapping platforms, and project management. She has worked as a GIS consultant, and with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers where she received a U.S. Army commendation, and the United States Geological Survey, Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center. Ms. Lee has a Master of Science in Geographic Information Science & Technology.
2.7.4. Senior Public Safety Subject Matter Expert – GIS—David Martin, Ph.D.
Senior Researcher in the Center for Urban Studies, Wayne State University Dr. Martin specializes in public policy analysis and program evaluation. He has worked with several police departments to develop crime mapping and statistical analysis tools.
In these projects, he has developed automated crime analysis tools and real-time, dashboard-style performance indicator systems for police executive and command staff.
Dr. Martin teaches statistics at Wayne State University. He is also the program evaluator for four Department of Justice Weed and Seed sites. He is an expert in the use of mapping technology to analyze calls for service workload and deployments.
2.8 Standard Billing Rates
CPSM’s hourly billing rates are provided in Table 2.
Table 2. Hourly Billing Rates
Labor Category Hourly Rate
Partners $300
Project Lead $250
Subject Matter Expert $200
Data Analyst $125
Office Staff $25
2.9 Statement of Instance(s) of Removal or Disqualification from Project CPSM has never been removed from a project nor disqualified from proposing on a project. A completed Statement of Past Contract Disqualifications is provided in Section 1.4 of this proposal.
14 3 Proposed Work Program
3.1 Approach to Completing the Work
3.1.1. Project Understanding
The City of San Luis Obispo is seeking a qualified firm to work with its Police Department to perform a comprehensive staffing assessment. The required staffing study will assess Department operations and resources and identify the level of staffing needed to respond efficiently to emergencies, investigate crime, provide critical emergency response, and proactively reduce crime. The assessment will also consider future growth impacts and the level of service that will be required to provide ongoing effective police services to the San Luis Obispo community. The assessment will be documented in a formal report and presented to the City Council during a regular meeting.
3.1.2. CPSM’s Approach/Work Plan
Phase I of our projects normally includes a forensic analysis to determine workload in patrol (which also requires some subject matter expert work to finalize a staffing recommendation. Phase II would involve a comprehensive analysis of operations and, using the Phase I data, provide recommendations for the community both short and long term. These would normally be incorporated in a strategic plan with assignments to individuals for completion.
CPSM has developed a standard process that it implements for conducting analyses of police and sheriff’s departments. This process has been developed over decades with input from numerous operations researchers, practicing administrators and elected officials, as well as academic studies and research. Much like a municipal audit, this standard approach builds on each component to enable our client team to make the best decision with community engagement. It also allows the ability to monitor the results of the decisions made, adjust as needed, and achieve the desired goals and objectives.
We begin projects with a request for data, documents, and worksheets.
Next, we extract raw data on calls for service from an agency’s computer-aided dispatch system. The data are sorted and analyzed to identify performance indicators (i.e., response times, workload by time, multiple unit dispatching, etc.) for comparison to industry benchmarks. Performance indicators are valuable measures of agency efficiency and effectiveness. The findings are shown in tabular as well as graphic form and follow a standard format for presentation of the analyzed data. While the format will be similar from community to community, the data reported are unique to the specific agency.
During Phase II, CPSM conducts an
onsite operational review. Here the
performance indicators serve as the
basis for the operational reviews.
Prior to any onsite review, agencies
are asked to compile several key
operational documents (i.e., policies
and procedures, assets lists, etc.).
Most onsite reviews consist of
interviews with management and
supervisors, as well as rank and file
officers, attendance at roll calls and
ride-alongs with officers. We review
case files with investigators and
observe dispatch operations to assess compliance with the provided written documentation.
15 As a result of onsite visits and data assessments, our subject matter experts produce a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) of the department. We have found that this standardized approach ensures that we measure and observe all the critical components of agencies.
Additionally, this methodology can be integrated with ongoing support customized to the unique needs of your community. Strategic planning, risk assessment, and training services are also available to assist with the implementation of CPSM recommendations and developing new processes and programs that may arise as implementation evolves.
The following information describes the CPSM approach to studying, understanding, evaluating, and reporting on police and sheriff’s departments around the country. Although no two departments are the same, a standardized approach to department evaluation ensures a rigorous and methodological process that permits benchmarking, comparing, and assessing within the context of the best practices of American law enforcement. However, each locality has unique characteristics that present policing challenges. Integrating a standardized approach within the context of local variability permits an accurate assessment of the organization in its political environment, and further permits CPSM to offer recommendations that comport with the best practices in policing yet customized for the client community.
Data…why data?
CPSM has found that there are tremendous amounts of data collected on a daily, even hourly basis on many departments. The challenge is how to access that data; how to clean that data; how to quantify that data; and how to present the product so that everyone understands.
CPSM does not use hypotheticals. We don’t use “national averages” upon which to base our client team’s individual recommendations and findings. We begin analyzing your data to establish your performance and paint a complete picture of how you are deploying with the accompanying results.
It is critical to have data and one of the biggest challenges for departments because rarely do they have the depth of our analytical team and its decades of research and trademarked processes. If we are going to recommend change, and if our client team is going to make change—they need data to measure impacts on outcomes. It’s not enough to say, “this is what happens wherever.” We need to provide you with the tools and launch point so that you can measure and report to your stakeholders—citizens, elected officials, appointed officials, and staff—how those changes affected the outcome.
The raw Computer-Aided Dispatch data and our process is like a financial audit. No city, county or community ever imagines just skipping the annual audit. It’s usually a mandate in the charter or state law. Yet we find few communities are willing to extend the same effort to delve into the operations of their largest emergency response departments whose actions can literally result in life and death. Our process is the same for each community so that we can build national data reporting tables and compare data to like demographics, but we create our recommendations and findings based on your individual performance. The CAD system is also the official record of public safety services for communities. Like minute books for the County clerk, it is the record of times and actions taken by your response community. The information at dispatch needs to be collected; it needs to be correct; and it should be a resource to assist with decision making daily.
CPSM ensures this information and system is working and correct before we proceed to other facets of our work.
16 Begins at Dispatch
Armed with the data and information we gather; we start your project at the dispatch center. Benchmarks have been
established for dispatch centers across the country in National Fire Protection Association Standards (NFPA 1220, NFPA 1221, NFPA 1710, NFPA 1720, etc.). Many of those same
benchmarks and standards have also been adopted by the
Association of Public-Safety Communications OfficialsInternational (APCO).
The dispatch protocols are continually being studied,
particularly with the adoption of Priority Fire, Medical, and Police dispatch. The systems look at collecting what is happening, where, and alerting the right response to the right location for a positive outcome.
For that reason, it is important that two things occur at dispatch:
1. Caller expectations are established. In other words, if the dispatcher tells the caller that police and deputies will be “right there,” the expectation is immediate response. Instead, dispatch centers should advise callers that officers are tied up on other calls and establish expectations for service delivery.
2. Calls should be categorized, monitored, and reported using multiple response time metrics. Crimes in progress and serious felonies should have established and monitored times. Outliers should be examined daily, and a report produced on why there may be extended time periods. For non-criminal and nonemergent calls, different metrics should exist with an explanation of why there were extended times.
Dispatch Metrics
CPSM will look at the dispatch center to determine how often calls remain in the queue, trends on when lengthy queues develop, and whether the dispatch center is evaluating their operations on a regular basis to determine if they are meeting national standards and benchmarks.
The time that a police/sheriff’s, fire, or EMS call occurs and for an alarm to be raised can vary from community to community. In urban, rural, and remote areas, it can be lengthy periods of time before a situation is noticed, and the alert raised. In commuter communities, larcenies and break-ins may not be noticed until morning or when people return home from work. These types of calls should be tracked independent of true emergencies so as not to corrupt the ongoing analysis of response times.
17 For call answering, we will benchmark your time against the latest editions of NFPA and APCO standards. In 2022, that time process changed. If your dispatch is not performing at these levels—or if they are not using metrics to constantly evaluate performance (particularly in emergencies requiring rapid response), your team needs to be able to intervene. CPSM finds many communities and dispatch centers do not regularly look at this critical step on the successful outcome matrix.
By establishing different metrics for evaluating emergency and non-emergency travel times, unrealistic expectations and demands will be removed from the patrol force. Every call is not the same and does not require the same response.
The data is also critical to establishing where calls for service are being received, during what times of day, and adjusting for seasonal differences. The travel time will be reviewed by our Geographic Information and Data divisions to benchmark against national standards and key performance indicators (KPIs).
Our data team will also begin to produce analytics that look at statistical information reported and compiled by a wide variety of agencies. Crime rate comparisons, clearance rates, crime trends analysis, and other information will be integrated with our client team information that they will be uploading to a secure site for our subject matter experts’ review.
For Phase II and armed with information, our Operations Team will work with the client team to evaluate the following major areas of operations:
I. Benchmark the Community
It is essential to understand the service levels, protection needs, community dynamics, and overall environment within which the department operates.
18 The CPSM study may involve interviews directed at
stakeholders in the community, which could include
elected officials and employee labor representatives
who would be contacted to solicit their opinions about
the Department, the public safety needs of their
constituency, and the perceived gaps in service levels
currently provided. CPSM may work with the agency to
identify community members that can provide this
important information. Additionally, the department
will be compared to organizations of similar size with
respect to crime, demographics, and cost-efficiency.
CPSM reviews Census Information that may flag key
demographics to be studied further: are there minority
populations and are there disparities in service? In
actions? In communication?
II. Patrol Operations
Police and sheriff’s agencies routinely speak about recommended officers per 1,000 population or a National Standard for staffing or comparisons to other municipalities. There are no such standards, nor are there recommended numbers of officers per thousand. The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) states; “Ready-made, universally applicable patrol staffing standards do not exist. Ratios, such as officers-per-thousand population, are totally inappropriate as a basis for staffing decisions.” Staffing decisions, particularly in patrol, must be made based upon actual workload and very few law enforcement agencies have the capability of conducting that analysis. Once an analysis of the actual workload is made, then a determination can be made as to the amount of discretionary patrol time that should exist, consistent with the local government’s ability to fund.
CPSM’s team of doctoral level experts in Operations Research in Public Safety have created The CPSM Patrol Workload & Deployment Analysis System© with the ability to produce detailed information on workload even in those agencies without sophisticated management information systems.
Using the raw data extracted from the department’s CAD system, our team converts calls for service into service workload and then effectively graphs workload reflecting seasonally, weekday/weekend and time of day variables.
Using this information, the department can contrast actual workload with deployment and identify the amount of discretionary patrol time available (as well as time commitments to other activities —including special events.
Service workload differentiates from calls for service in that calls for service comprise a number reflecting the incidents recorded. Workload is a time measurement recording the actual amount of time required to handle calls for service from inception to completion. Various types of service calls require differing amounts of time (and thus affect staffing requirements). As such, call volume (number of calls) as a percentage of total number of calls could be significantly different than workload in a specific area as a percentage of total workload. The graph below demonstrates this difference in units.
CPSM has found that the most effective way to manage operations, including policing, is to make decisions based upon the interpretation and analysis of data and information. To achieve this, a data analysis of department workload, staffing and deployment will be conducted. By objectively looking at the availability of deployed hours and comparing those to the hours necessary to conduct operations, staffing expansion and/or reductions can be determined and projected. Additionally, the time necessary to conduct proactive activities (such as team-led enforcement, directed patrol, community policing and selected traffic enforcement) will be reviewed to provide the community with a meaningful methodology to determine appropriate costing allocation models.
19 Workload vs. deployment
analysis sample
This is one of the ways we
show the amount of
available, non-committed
patrol time compared to
workload. As you can see,
we break out the various
activities, convert them to
time and then compare to
available manpower. The
deployment is based upon
actual hours worked.
So, in this example, at noon
there are approximately
nine hours of work
(including citizen-initiated
and officer-initiated calls
for service, including traffic and administrative activities (meals, vehicle, reports, etc.). There are approximately 15 officer-hours of available resources meaning that at that hour, on average, of the 15 officers on duty, nine are busy on activities.
The area shown in green and brown is uncommitted time. This is the area where staffing decisions impact —it becomes a policy issue as to how much uncommitted time a community wants and is willing to pay for.
CPSM White Paper on Staffing
CPSM and ICMA conducted research on staffing for police departments that led to a white paper released in 2013.
More than 50 departments’ data was analyzed for staffing, workload, and patrol trends across 24/7 and 365 days a year.
The subsequent white paper has been regularly used and quoted by the International Chiefs of Police, the Commission for Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA), the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) and most consultants.
The white paper found that a best practice for evaluating departments would position 60 percent of the sworn resources into patrol activities. In addition, no more than 60% of their total available time would be encumbered with calls for service.
The research showed that when the 60% encumbered level was exceeded, officers moved from proactive into reactive mode. In other words, officers expected additional calls for service, understood there were no free resources, and thus disengaged and awaited dispatch to the next call in the queue at dispatch.
20 CPSM assembles the information on
how much “time” is available, what
various demands require against
that time, and calculates a
Saturation Index along with when
the 60% is exceeded.
Using this data-driven approach,
communities can determine how
much un-encumbered time they
desire and where they would like
that time dedicated. It also allows
communities to determine if
additional staffing is needed, when,
and how much.
The CPSM study will result in the
calculation of service demands
placed on the department,
workload levels, service times for
calls for service, and response times.
The product of this analysis is the
variance between service demands
and available personnel, and
appropriate recommendations
made for staffing levels and an optimal deployment schedule to meet these service demands. This permits exploration of the following questions:
What are the service demands made by the public as measured through the CAD system? Based on workload, is the staffing deployment appropriate? Based on the workload, is the shift schedule aligned appropriately and what alternatives to the current shift plan are most efficient?
How many officers and supervisors are needed to staff the patrol function in order to meet the workload demands placed on the agency?
How long does it take to respond to calls for service (both response time and total time) and what ways are there to reduce these times?
How many officers are assigned to each call and what are the ways to minimize these assignments? What categories of call, and in what frequency, does the agency handle and what measures can be adopted to minimize unnecessary responses?
How much time is spent on administrative duties?
How much time is spent on directed patrol activities and specialized enforcement?
21 In addition to the analysis of patrol operations from the CAD system and workload, the CPSM study will focus on the qualitative aspects of patrol. The study will observe officers on patrol through ride-alongs, interviews, and general observations. We will amass all available documents, plans, and data available to understand the patrol approach in the department. We will observe
the special operations teams, the problem/
nuisance unit, etc. to evaluate their role within
the overall mission of the department and
patrol operations. We will evaluate the
performance of the units, identify
improvement opportunities, and justify and
recommend appropriate staffing levels.
Our GIS team will use the analyzed data sets
to identify high crime locations, high accident
locations, and repeat calls for service
locations.
Our study will also evaluate the
implementation of technology on patrol,
weapons available, and equipment used with
opportunities for improvement.
CPSM advocates community policing as its
operational philosophy. Our study would
evaluate the implementation of community policing, in quantifiable and anecdotal terms, and identify improvement opportunities where appropriate.
Similarly, the CPSM study would evaluate the relationship of patrol operations with the rest of the department and community. San Luis Obispo is heavily impacted by the presence of a major university and tourism that often swells the population and changes demographics.
To what extent does this bureau work, coordinate, and communicate with the other operational and support functions of the department and other entities? How should it? What are the strategic, management, and planning functions of the department with regards to the patrol function and how does patrol operations respond to the mission of the organization? How are crime, traffic, disorder, and quality of life problems handled? III. Investigations
The CPSM study will assess investigations —both reactive and proactive. CPSM’s team will explore the following questions:
Staffing —Are there enough investigators available to handle the workload? Workload —What is the workload; how many cases do investigators handle; is the specialization appropriate?
Effectiveness and Efficiency —How much time does it take to investigate cases? Are victims kept informed? Are cases cleared and offenders held accountable? How much overtime is spent? Intelligence —How is intelligence gathered and disseminated (inside and outside the department)? Does the investigations’ function make use of intelligence?
Civilianization opportunities —What are the potential areas for civilianization? Technological opportunities —Is technology being leveraged to improve investigations? Crime scene —Are crime scenes being processed efficiently and are appropriate follow-up investigations being conducted?
22 IV. Administration and Support
Once again, CPSM will evaluate every administrative and support unit in the police department. This evaluation will involve:
Staffing
Workload
Civilianization possibilities
Cost-saving opportunities
Outsourcing opportunities
Best practice comparisons and opportunities for improvement.
Departments across the country are
struggling with recruitment, retention, and
attracting candidates for sworn positions.
We will look at opportunities that the
department can use non-sworn personnel
for non-criminal activities and keep sworn
officers available for calls for service
requiring certified officers.
CPSM has subject matter experts in police
management and administration and will
explore administration and support
activities in the area of professional
standards (internal investigations, hiring
and recruitment, disciplinary system,
promotional system), training (both
academy and in-service), records
management, evaluation of the critical, frequent, and high liability policies, facility, fleet, equipment, information technology, property management system, laboratory, planning and research, sick-time management, overtime, communications and dispatch, etc.
In general, we look at every unit identified as a discrete operational/support entity for the following:
Describe the functions of the unit.
Evaluate the performance of the unit. In most cases this is a quantitative evaluation, but in units not appropriate for quantification, a qualitative evaluation is provided. Identify improvement opportunities.
Perform evaluation and justification, and
recommendation for appropriate staffing levels.
V. Operation of Evidence and Property
CPSM will conduct a review of the evidence room and evidential processes of the departments. We will determine if there is adequate staffing and a technology system for managing
property and evidence.
CPSM starts by looking at the intake process: When officers seize property or evidence, what occurs next? How are items
transported to the evidence facility and what are the next steps? Evidence & Property Inventory, Intake, and
Release, 2019
Number of Items
Items in inventory 69,448
Items received 18,202
Items
released/disposed
19,807
Items awaiting
disposition
647
23 We will look to create totals for the workload of not only the evidence and property but other component functions of the department.
This data should be a performance benchmark, as it reflects an effective operation and the necessary workspace.
VI. Duty to Intercede and Report, De-escalation Provisions In recent years, law enforcement agencies nationwide have begun to include duty to intercede and report provisions in their use of force policies. Duty to intercede requires an officer to intercede if they witness a department member using force that is clearly beyond that which is necessary, as determined by an objectively reasonable officer under the circumstances. A duty to report policy requires any officer who observes a law enforcement officer or an employee use force that potentially exceeds what the officer reasonably believes to be necessary to report such observation to a supervisor.
Sample Duty to Intercede and Report policy from Lexipol states:
Any officer present and observing another law enforcement officer or an employee using force that is clearly beyond that which is necessary, as determined by an objectively reasonable officer under the circumstances, shall, when in a position to do so, intercede to prevent the use of unreasonable force. Any officer who observes a law enforcement officer or an employee use force that potentially exceeds what the officer reasonably believes to be necessary shall promptly report these observations to a supervisor as soon as feasible.
In addition, de-escalation requirements have been incorporated into use of force policies. This policy requires officers to utilize de-escalation techniques, crisis intervention tactics, and other alternatives to force when feasible.
Feasible has been defined for policy purposes in some jurisdictions as, “Reasonably capable of being done or carried out under the circumstances to successfully achieve the arrest or lawful objective without increasing risk to the officer or another person.”
Review of Use of Force Incidents
CPSM will review policies that authorize deadly force when an officer is justified and what actions were taken in monitoring, documenting, and investigating police use of force.
Use of Force Incidents, 2017–2019
VII. Organizational Culture
During the operational evaluation described above, organizational themes will emerge. What does the department “think” about providing police service to the community and how does this thinking align with the stated mission and department policies? How does the department interact with the community and internally with its own members? In general, what is the culture of the organization? The culture of an organization reflects its members and the community it serves. Through focus groups, interviews, and observations, the CPSM team will evaluate operational readiness and need. This part CPSM’s study is critical to the overall success of the project as it provides a better understanding of the department and how the workload, staffing, and community dynamics shape the mission, goals, operations, and needs of the organization. In addition, as an option, every member of the department can be given the opportunity to participate in an anonymous survey. This survey is designed to understand the culture of the department, assess internal and external communications, and determine what it “thinks” about various elements of organizational life.
Year Incidents PolicyViolations
2017 78 0
2018 90 1
2019 131 2
Total 299 3
24 VIII. Health and Safety
Officer physical and mental health are extremely important. In 2022, more officers died from suicide than in other line-of-duty incidents.
CPSM will review what programs the department has in place, and during interviews, charrettes, and focus groups we will seek to determine how those programs are being received.
IX. Performance Management
The overarching philosophy of the CPSM approach is to evaluate the department in terms of performance management. Identifying workload, staffing, and best practices is just the beginning. It is also important to assess the organization’s ability to carry out its mission.
Essentially, does the department know its goals, and how does it know they are being met. It is very difficult for an organization to succeed at any given level of staffing unless it has a clear picture of success. How does the department “think” about its mission, how does it identify and measure what’s important to the community, how does it communicate internally and externally, how does it hold managers accountable, and how does it know the job is getting done? CPSM’s team will evaluate the department and make recommendations to assist with improving capacity in this area, if necessary.
3.2 Project Schedule
Our proposed project schedule for completion of the Police Staffing Assessment is provided below. After contract award, we will discuss the proposed schedule with the City/Department after which we will finalize the project schedule.
Milestone 1 —Full Execution of the Agreement
Agreement will identify Project Launch date.
Milestone 2 —Project Launch
We will conduct an interactive telephone conference with local government contacts. Our project leads will launch the project by clarifying and confirming expectations, detailing study parameters, identifying agency point of contacts, and commencing information gathering.
Milestone 3a – Information Gathering and Data Extraction —30 Days Immediately following project launch, our operations lead will deliver an information request to the Department.
This is an extensive request which provides us with a detailed understanding of the Department's operations. Our experience is that it typically takes an agency several weeks to accumulate and digitize the information. We will provide instructions concerning uploading materials to our website. When necessary, the lead will hold a telephone conference to discuss items contained in the request. Our lead will review this material prior to an onsite visit.
Milestone 3b – Data Extraction and Analysis —14 Days
Also immediately following the project launch, CPSM’s data lead will submit a preliminary data request, which will evaluate the quality of the Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) system data. This will be followed by a comprehensive request for data from the CAD system to conduct the response and workload analysis. This request requires a
25 concerted effort and focused response from your Department to ensure the timely production of the data required for analysis. Delays in this process will likely extend the entire project and impact the delivery of final report. Our data team will extract one year’s worth of Calls for Service (CFS) from the CAD system. Once our data team is confident the data are accurate, they will certify that they have all the data necessary to complete the analysis.
Milestone 3c – Data Certification —14 days
Milestone 4a – Data Analysis and Delivery of Draft Data Report —30 days Within 30 days of data certification, the analysis will be completed, and a draft, unedited data report will be delivered to the Department for review and comment. After the data draft report is delivered, an onsite visit by the operations team will be scheduled.
Milestone 4b – Departmental Review of Draft Data Report —14 days The Department will have 10 days to review and comment on the draft unedited data analysis. During this time, our data team will be available to discuss the draft report. The Department must specify all concerns with the draft report at one time.
Milestone 4c – Final Data Report —10 days
After receipt of the Department's comments, the data report will be finalized within 10 days.
Milestone 5 – Conduct Onsite Visit —30 days
CPSM does have a concern about the availability of residents because this may occur during the winter months.
Subject matter experts will perform a site visit within 30 days of the delivery of the draft data report.
Milestone 6 – Draft Operations Report —30 days
Within 30 days of the last onsite visit, our operations team will provide a draft operations report to the Department point of contact. Again, the Department will have 10 days to review and comment.
Milestone 7 – Final Report —15 days
Once the department’s comments and concerns are received by CPSM, the combined final report will be delivered to the City/Department within 15 days.
TOTAL ELAPSED TIME: 120 — 145 days
3.3 Estimated Staff Hours
Table 3. Estimated Staff Hours for San Luis Obispo Police Staffing Assessment Phase/Task Estimated Staff Hours
Phase I Forensic Data Analysis Data Analysts 91 hours
Phase II Operational Assessment and Report
Preparation
Police Subject Matter Experts 96 hours
GIS Specialist 29 hours
Editing 20 hours
26 3.4 Budget by Task
Table 4. Budget by Task for San Luis Obispo Police Staffing Assessment Phase/Task Budget
Phase I Forensic Data Analysis $18,250
Phase II Operational Assessment and Report
Preparation
$59,907
Project Total $78,157
Travel (charged at actual cost without markup) $7,500
3.5 Services or Data to Be Provided by City
The City will be responsible for providing and/or obtaining the following data:
Certain administrative, operational, and response workload CAD data requested in the project kickoff meeting (i.e., data from dispatch, departments, GIS, etc.). Within the agreed upon timeframe, a consolidated set of comments on document drafts, including data analysis report and draft project report, which CPSM will address and incorporate into the final report.
CPSM expects the City to provide requested data and information in a timely manner. Delays in providing information and data will delay the delivery of the final report. Specific data and information requirements will be discussed with the City at the project kickoff meeting.
Additionally, we will be conducting a site visit and interviews with Department leadership, staff, and stakeholders, which will require the participation of some City and Department members. We are sensitive to your busy schedules and will conduct our work efficiently so as to minimize any impact on normal operations.
3.6 Services and Deliverables Provided by CPSM
3.6.1. Deliverables
For this project, CPSM will prepare a draft data report, draft project report, and a final version of the project plan that addresses the City’s/Department’s comments. Draft reports will be provided for department review in electronic format.
To be ecologically friendly, CPSM will deliver the final report in computer readable material either by email, CD or both. The final reports will incorporate the operational findings as well as data analysis. Should the municipality desire additional copies of the report, CPSM will produce and deliver the number of copies requested, which will be invoiced at cost.
3.6.2. Presentation
CPSM will prepare and conduct a presentation to be provided to the City Council at a date, time, and venue agreed upon with the City. The presentation will address the key findings of the assessment and recommendations and provide an opportunity to address audience questions.
We prepare in advance of our presentations to understand the intended audience and their specific needs and goals. This helps us present information in a manner that is sensitive to each presentation’s audience composition, interests, and goals. Our presentation will incorporate use of multi-media tools to ensure that the presentation
27 communicates pertinent information to the audience effectively both in terms of content and interest. CPSM’s subject matter experts are accustomed to providing such presentations to similar audiences for our other clients, and our presentations have been very well received both by our clients and stakeholder attendees.
3.7 Other Information
CPSM offers the City of San Luis Obispo a team of California-based policing subject matter experts each with extensive experience from their tenure as police chiefs for California municipalities. Our subject matter experts have collaborated on other similar comprehensive police department assessments, are accustomed to working together, and can hit the ground running.
Our firm experience includes performing 25 similar assessments for police departments in California. This experience in combination with our direct experience working in leadership positions for police departments in California gives us a strong knowledge of California laws and what is permitted in California, and a practical understanding of the issues faced by departments such as yours. For instance, our subject matter experts have dealt with the challenges of policing in communities that routinely experience significant day-time population increases.
We will not just produce a laundry list of “ideas” but rather recommendations based upon data with a legislative permission for use in California by California departments. This will carry through during and after the report — our team does not just parachute in and leave a report. Rather, we build relationships. We build team.
3.8 Critical Assumptions
CPSM has NEVER exceeded the agreed upon price but, instead, worked with clients to deliver every project at budget and on time. In our 10 years as a stand-alone firm and 10 years as part of ICMA—we have met this gold standard. A key factor is getting the data and department information uploads in a timely basis. Delays in working with our best-in-class data team can delay the onsite work of our operations team and production of the final report.
We do not base recommendations on assumptions, averages of other departments, or other studies. Each of our projects is created, analyzed, reviewed, and produced specifically for the community; much like an audit report for your finance department. You would not allow an auditor to give you another community’s report; you should expect the same when it comes to a function of government that is so critical to the community and citizens— public safety.
28 4 Conclusion
Part of ICMA’s mission is to assist local governments in achieving excellence through information and assistance.
Following this mission, CPSM acts as a trusted advisor, assisting local governments in an objective manner. CPSM’s experience in dealing with public safety issues combined with its background in performance measurement, achievement of efficiencies, and genuine community engagement, makes CPSM a unique and beneficial partner in dealing with issues such as those being presented in this proposal. We look forward to working with you further.
29 Appendix: Past and Current Engagements
Table 5. CPSM List of Past and Current Engagements
Locality State Project Description
Leduc County AB Fire Consolidation Plan
Leduc AB Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services.
Kenai AK Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Anniston AL Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Auburn AL Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Auburn AL Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Dothan AL Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Pelham AL Police Chief Selection
Pelham AL Comprehensive Analysis of Fire and EMS Services Little Rock AR Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Casa Grande AZ Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services EL Mirage AZ Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
EL Mirage AZ Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Florence AZ Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Glendale AZ Fire Data Analysis
Lake Havasu City AZ Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Lake Havasu City AZ Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services Florence AZ Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Paradise Valley AZ EMS Review
Pinal County AZ Comprehensive Analysis of Sheriff’s Office Pinal County AZ Sheriff’s Office Firearms Audit
Pinal County AZ Update of Sheriff’s Office Workload
Prescott AZ Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Prescott AZ Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Queen Creek AZ Fire Standards of Coverage Study
Queen Creek AZ Police Strategic Plan
Queen Creek AZ Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Scottsdale AZ Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Tucson AZ Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Youngtown AZ Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Yuma AZ Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Alameda CA Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Alameda CA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Burbank CA Analysis of Investigations Workload / Staffing Carlsbad CA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Culver City CA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services El Centro CA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
El Centro CA Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
30 Locality State Project Description
Fairfield CA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Greenfield CA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Hermosa Beach CA Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services Hermosa Beach CA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Huntington Park CA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Indio CA Police Patrol Workload Analysis
Kern County CA Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Laguna Woods CA Review of Sheriff’s Office Service
Laguna Woods CA Review of Sheriff’s Office Service 2017 Laguna Woods CA Review of Sheriff’s Office Service 2019 Morgan Hill CA Fire Staffing Study
National City CA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services National City CA Comprehensive Analysis of Fire/EMS Services Milpitas CA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Morgan Hill CA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Morgan Hill CA Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Oakland CA Analysis of Police Workload Data
Palm Desert CA Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Palo Alto CA Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Pasadena CA Police Patrol Workload Analysis
Petaluma CA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Petaluma CA Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Placentia CA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Placentia CA Analysis of Dispatch Operations
Placentia CA Fire Services Contract Analysis
Rohnert Park CA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Salinas CA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Salinas CA Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
San Diego County CA EMS Study
San Jose CA Fire Study Review
San Jose CA Police Study Review
San Mateo CA Dispatch Operations Review
Santa Ana CA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Santa Clara CA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Santa Cruz CA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Santa Clara LAFCO CA Analysis of Regional Fire Service
Santa Monica CA Police Chief Selection
Santa Rosa CA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Sonoma County CA Performance Measurement Analysis
Stockton CA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Stockton CA Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Torrance CA Police Strategic Plan
31 Locality State Project Description
Union City CA Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Whittier CA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Woodlands CA Police Chief Selection
Yuba City CA Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Yuba City CA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Federal Heights CO Comprehensive analysis of Police Services Federal Heights CO Comprehensive analysis of Fire Services Littleton CO Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Littleton CO Review of Fire Consolidation Proposal
Steamboat Springs CO Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services Cheshire CT Police Management Review
Darien CT Fire and Emergency Services Analysis
Greenwich CT Analysis of Fire Response Times
Norwich CT Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Southington CT Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Bethany Beach DE EMS Apparatus Review
Bethany Beach DE EMS Review
Lewes DE Review of Police Services
S. Bethany Beach DE Police Department Review
Dover DE Comprehensive Analysis of Police Department
Dover DE Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Alachua FL Expert Witness Law Enforcement Issues
BCCMA FL Review of Broward Sheriff’s Office Services
Tamarac FL Analysis of Sheriff’s Contract Services
Inverness FL Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Citrus County FL Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services Cocoa FL Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Coconut Creek FL Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Delray Beach FL Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Delray Beach FL Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services Dunedin FL Police Consolidation Review
Hollywood FL Police Internal Affairs Review
Indiantown FL Comprehensive Analysis of County Fire Services Indian River Shores FL Public Safety Staffing Analysis
Indian River Shores FL Public Safety Study
Jacksonville Bch FL Police Chief Selection
Jupiter Island FL Public Safety Department Review
Jupiter FL Police and Fire Department Studies
Jupiter FL Formation of Fire Department Consultation
Hobe Sound FL Public Safety Consolidation
Kenneth City FL Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Key Biscayne FL Fire Workforce Assessment
32 Locality State Project Description
Miami Beach FL Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Naples FL Presentation
North Port FL Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Orange County FL Dispatch Center Staffing Study
Palm Coast FL Sheriff’s Contract Workload Analysis
Parkland FL City Safety & Security Review
Pasco County FL Fire Workload Analysis
Pasco County FL Sheriff’s Budget Review
Land O' Lakes FL Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services New Port Richey FL Sheriff Budget Analysis
Pompano Beach FL Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Venice FL Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
West Melbourne FL Formation of Fire Department Consultation Alpharetta GA Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Alpharetta GA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Bulloch County GA Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services Camden County GA Police Consolidation Study
Camden County GA Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services Camden County GA Fire Consolidation Study
Kingsland GA Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Kingsland GA Fire Consolidation St Marys
Woodbine GA Police Consolidation Study
Garden City GA Preliminary Analysis Public Safety Merger Johns Creek GA Analysis of Fire Services
Kingsland GA Fire Consolidation Study
Roswell GA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Department
Roswell GA Fire Gap Analysis and Strategic Plan
Roswell GA Police Chief Selection
Sandy Springs GA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Department St. Marys GA Fire Consolidation Study
Sylvester GA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Ankeny IA Police Chief Selection
Boone IA Public Safety Consolidation
Boone IA Performance Measurement of Municipal
Hayden ID Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Jerome ID Analysis of Police Services
Algonquin IL Performance Measurement Analysis
Glenview IL Comprehensive Analysis of Police & Fire Services Glenview IL Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Glenview IL Dispatch Operations Review
Highland IL Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Highland Park IL Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Consolidation
33 Locality State Project Description
Highwood IL Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Consolidation Lake Bluff IL Analysis of Fire Consolidation
Lake Bluff IL Fire Data Review
Lake Forest IL Analysis of Fire Consolidation
Lake Zurich IL Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Naperville IL Workload, Staffing & Schedule Design
Roseville IL Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Skokie IL Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Springfield IL Comprehensive Analysis of Fire/EMS Services St. Charles IL Police Staffing Review
Western Springs IL Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Indianapolis IN Police Workload & Deployment Services
Plainfield IN Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Topeka KS Preliminary Review of Fire Department
Danville KY Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Danville KY Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Pikeville KY Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Haverhill MA Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Northborough MA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Northborough MA Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services Northbridge MA Fire Strategic Plan
Plymouth MA Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Lewiston ME Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Biddeford ME Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Cambridge MD Performance Measurement Study
Annapolis MD Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Ocean City MD Dispatch Operations Review
Rockville MD Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Montgomery County MD Re-Imagining Fire and EMS Services Ann Arbor MI Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Auburn Hills MI Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services Auburn Hills MI Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Battle Creek MI Comprehensive Analysis of Fire and EMS Services Benton Harbor MI Public Safety Consolidation
Chesterfield MI Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Charlevoix MI EMS Study
Lansing MI Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Lansing MI Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Delta Township MI Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services Delta Township MI Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Detroit Public Schools MI Police Department Review
Douglas MI Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
34 Locality State Project Description
Flint MI Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Flint MI Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Grand Blanc MI Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Grand Rapids MI Analysis of Police Services Consolidation Grand Rapids MI Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services Grand Traverse MI Fire Review
Grand Traverse MI Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services Green Lake Twp. MI Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services Grosse Pointe MI Public Safety Consolidation
Grosse Point Park MI Public Safety Consolidation Study
Kingsley MI Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Hamtramck MI Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Hamtramck MI Police Study
Interlochen MI Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Kalamazoo MI Police Workload / Contract for Services Analysis Kentwood MI Analysis of Fire Services Consolidation
Larkin Twp. MI Comprehensive Analysis of Fire and EMS Services Mott College MI Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Midland MI Comprehensive Analysis of Fire and EMS Services Novi MI Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Novi MI Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Oshtemo Twp. MI Review of Sheriff’s Office Contract Services Ottawa County MI Sheriff’s Office Staffing Study
Petoskey MI Public Safety Consolidation
Plymouth MI Fire Services Consolidation
Plymouth MI Fire Service Analysis
Plymouth MI Public Safety Department Report
Royal Oak MI Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Royal Oak MI Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Saginaw MI Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Saginaw MI Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Saginaw MI Public Safety Workload Analysis
Saint Joseph MI Public Safety Consolidation
So. Kalamazoo MI Fire Services Review
Sturgis MI Public Safety Analysis
Troy MI Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Troy MI Review of Fire Administration and Inspections
Vicksburg MI Financial Analysis of Fire Authority
Wyoming MI Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services 2012 Wyoming MI Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services 2012 Wyoming MI Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services 2009 Wyoming MI Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services 2009
35 Locality State Project Description
Forest Lake MN Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Mankato MN Public Safety Study
Moorhead MN Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
North St. Paul MN Public Safety Strategic Plan
Saint Cloud MN Police Strategic Planning Review
Saint Cloud MN Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Stearns County MN Comprehensive Analysis of Sheriff’s Office Stearns County MN Sheriff’s Office Strategic Plan
Brentwood MO Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Brentwood MO Police Chief Selection
Brentwood MO Police Data Update
Hazelwood MO Fire Services Consultation
Hazelwood MO Fire / EMS Analysis
Osage Beach MO Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Saint Louis MO Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Saint Louis MO Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Saint Louis MO Standard of Response / Risk Assessment
Billings MT Comprehensive Analysis of Fire/EMS Services Billings MT Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Bozeman MT Fire Protection Master Plan
Kalispell MT EMS Study
Bald Head Island NC Public Safety Staffing Review
Bald Head Island NC Public Safety Consolidation
Chapel Hill NC Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Cornelius NC Fire Consolidation Study
Davidson NC Fire Consolidation Study
Franklin County NC EMS Comprehensive Review
Greenville NC Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Hickory NC Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Huntersville NC Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services Matthews NC Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Oxford NC Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Oxford NC Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Rocky Mount NC AED Grant Assistance
Rocky Mount NC Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Grand Island NE Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Grand Island NE Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services South Sioux City NE Fire Services Strategic Plan
Exeter NH Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Exeter NH Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
East Brunswick NJ EMS Study
Oradell NJ Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
36 Locality State Project Description
Paterson NJ Review of Police Services
South Orange NJ Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Trenton NJ Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Westwood NJ Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Bernalillo NM Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Las Cruces NM Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Las Cruces NM Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Ruidoso NM Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Boulder City NV Police Organizational Study
Henderson NV Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Las Vegas NV Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
North Las Vegas NV Fire Workload Analysis
Reno NV Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Briar Cliff Manor NY Analysis of Police Consolidation
Canandaigua NY Regional Fire Services Study
Garden City NY Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Garden City NY Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Garden City NY Patrol Workload Analysis Update
Long Beach NY Comprehensive Analysis of Fire and EMS Services Oneonta NY Comprehensive Analysis of Fire and EMS Services Oneonta NY Fire Apparatus Review
Orchard Park NY Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Ossining NY Analysis of Police Consolidation
Ossining Town NY Analysis of Police Consolidation
Otsego County NY Comprehensive Analysis of EMS Services Ulster County NY Comprehensive Analysis of EMS Services Rye NY Police Chief Selection
Steuben County NY Regional EMS Analysis
Watertown NY Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Cincinnati OH Police Dispatch Review
Dayton OH Police Internal Affairs Review
Huron OH Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Huron OH Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Independence OH Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Independence OH Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services Sandusky OH Fire Study
Sandusky OH Police Study
Broken Arrow OK Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Broken Arrow OK Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services Edmond OK Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Jenks OK Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Jenks OK Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
37 Locality State Project Description
Muskogee OK Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Tulsa OK Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Bend OR Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Forest Grove OR Police Planning Study
Grants Pass OR Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Grants Pass OR Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Grants Pass OR Public Safety Strategic Plan Development Ontario OR Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Ontario OR Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Medford OR Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Medford OR Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Cumru Twp. PA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Cumru Twp. PA Police Chief Selection
Ephrata PA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Farrell PA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Haverford PA Comprehensive Analysis of Fire and EMS Services Manheim Twp. PA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Phoenixville Boro PA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Tredyffrin Twp. PA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Lower Windsor Twp. PA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Upper Providence PA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Upper Providence PS Fire Services Collective Bargaining Consultation Wrightsville PA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services East Providence RI Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services East Providence RI Expert Witness Fire Issues
Beaufort SC Review of Fire Service Contract
Beaufort SC Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Beaufort SC Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Myrtle Beach SC Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Walterboro SC Comprehensive Analysis of Public Safety Dept.
Brookings SD Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Rapid City SD Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Germantown TN Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Johnson City TN Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services Johnson City TN Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Smyrna TN Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Smyrna TN Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Addison TX Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Addison TX Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Allen TX Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Baytown TX EMS Study
Belton TX Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
38 Locality State Project Description
Belton TX Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Belton TX Police Chief Selection
Belton TX Fire Chief Selection
Brownsville TX Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Brownsville TX Comprehensive Analysis of Fire/EMS Services Bryan TX Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Buda TX Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Cedar Park TX Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services College Station TX Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services Conroe TX Fire Services Analysis and Standard of Response Corinth TX Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Frisco TX Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Garland TX Fire Master Plan
Highland Village TX Fire Review
Hutto TX Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Lucas TX Fire and EMS Analysis
Lufkin TX Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
New Braunfels TX Fire Study
New Braunfels TX Police Study
Prosper TX Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Round Rock TX Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Sugar Land TX Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Sugar Land TX Fire Department Overtime Analysis
Sugar Land TX Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Victoria TX Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Toole City UT Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Toole County UT Fire Feasibly / Cost Analysis
Washington City UT Comprehensive Public Safety Analysis Hampton VA Police Chief Selection
Loudoun County VA Comprehensive Analysis of Sheriff’s Services Loudoun County VA Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services Roanoke County VA Comprehensive Analysis of Fire and EMS Services Bonney Lake WA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Duvall WA Police Staffing Study
Edmonds WA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Kelso WA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Lacey WA Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Snoqualmie WA Police Workload & Deployment Analysis
Leavenworth WA Sheriff’s Contract Review
Marysville WA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Marysville WA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Mercer Island WA Fire Services Review
39 Locality State Project Description
Mill Creek WA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Mill Creek WA Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Spokane Valley WA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services Tukwila WA Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Vancouver WA Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Vancouver WA Police Chief Selection
Baraboo WI Fire / EMS Merger Study
Baraboo WI Fire Standard of Cover and Fire Strategic Plan Dunn County WI Sheriff Office Study
Wauwatosa WI Comprehensive Analysis of Fire Services
Wauwatosa WI Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Casper WY Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Jackson WY Police Consolidation Review
Laramie WY Comprehensive Analysis of Police Services
Recommended FTE's
FY 25-26 FY 26-27 FY 27-28 FY 28-29 FY 29-30 FY 30-31 FY 31-32 FY 32-33 Officer Positions:
Patrol Officer (6) 2 2 2
Detective (2) 1 1
School Resource Officer (1) 1
Sergeant Positions:
Patrol Sergeant (1) 1
Training / Internal Affairs Sergeant (1) 1
Dispatch Position:
Dispatcher (1) 1 1
1/2 Time Civilian Positions:
Admin Asst. Hiring (.5 FTE) 0.5
Admin Asst. Counter (.5 FTE) 0.5
Total Est. Salary, Benefits & Equipment* 575,554 290,175 593,272 517,929 530,466 295,031 273,562 0 Est. per Financial Plan
Est. Offsetting Revenue COPS Hiring Grant** (88,873) (81,493) (79,634) 0 0 0 0 0 Revised Total Est. per Financial Plan by Budget
Total Cumulative Costs
*Estimates are based on FY 25-26 salaries and include 2% inflator each year. Equipment includes officer safety equipment and vehicles. **Offsetting COPS funding totals $250,000 for a three year period for 2 officers.
Recommended FTE's
FY 25-26 FY 26-27 FY 27-28 FY 28-29 FY 29-30 FY 30-31 FY 31-32 FY 32-33 Officer Positions:
Patrol Officer (6) 2 2 2
Detective (2) 1 1
School Resource Officer (1) 1
Sergeant Positions:
Patrol Sergeant (1) 1
Training / Internal Affairs Sergeant (1) 1
Dispatch Position:
Dispatcher (1) 1 1
1/2 Time Civilian Positions:
Admin Asst. Hiring (.5 FTE) 0.5
Admin Asst. Counter (.5 FTE) 0.5
Total Est. Salary, Benefits & Equipment* 118,774 463,176 395,608 602,397 507,548 538,336 198,562 277,164 Est. per Financial Plan
Est. Offsetting Revenue COPS Hiring Grant** 0 (88,873) (81,493) (79,634) 0 0 0 0 Revised Total Est. per Financial Plan by Budget
Total Cumulative Costs
*Estimates are based on FY 25-26 salaries and include 2% inflator each year. Equipment includes officer safety equipment and vehicles. **Offsetting COPS funding totals $250,000 for a three year period for 2 officers.
Recommended FTE's
FY 25-26 FY 26-27 FY 27-28 FY 28-29 FY 29-30 FY 30-31 FY 31-32 FY 32-33 Officer Positions:
Patrol Officer (6) 2 2 2
Detective (2) 1 1
School Resource Officer (1) 1
Sergeant Positions:
Patrol Sergeant (1) 1
Training / Internal Affairs Sergeant (1) 1
Dispatch Position:
Dispatcher (1) 1 1
1/2 Time Civilian Positions:
Admin Asst. Hiring (.5 FTE) 0.5
Admin Asst. Counter (.5 FTE) 0.5
Total Est. Salary, Benefits & Equipment* 798,180 764,360 819,819 451,353 175,890 0 0 0 Est. per Financial Plan
Est. Offsetting Revenue COPS Hiring Grant** (88,873) (81,493) (79,634) 0 0 0 0 0 Revised Total Est. per Financial Plan by Budget
Total Cumulative Costs
*Estimates are based on FY 25-26 salaries and include 2% inflator each year. Equipment includes officer safety equipment and vehicles. **Offsetting COPS funding totals $250,000 for a three year period for 2 officers. 865,729 1,111,201 825,498 273,562
Implementation Option 1
2025-27 Financial Plan 2027-29 Financial Plan 2029-31 Financial Plan 2031-33 Financial Plan 776,856 1,031,567 825,498 273,562
695,363 1,726,930 2,552,428 2,825,990
Implementation Option 2
2025-27 Financial Plan 2027-29 Financial Plan 2029-31 Financial Plan 2031-33 Financial Plan 1,045,883 475,726
493,077 836,878 1,045,883 475,726
581,950 998,005
1,562,540 1,271,172 175,890 0
2,375,838 2,851,564
Implementation Option 3
2025-27 Financial Plan 2027-29 Financial Plan 2029-31 Financial Plan 2031-33 Financial Plan 493,077 1,329,955
1,392,174 2,583,712 2,759,602 2,814,794
1,473,667 1,191,538 175,890 0
City of San Luis Obispo, Council Memorandum
City of San Luis Obispo
Council Agenda Correspondence
DATE: January 14, 2025
TO: Mayor and Council
FROM: Matt Horn, Public Works Director
Prepared By: Greg Cruce, Deputy Director – Maintenance Operations VIA: Whitney McDonald, City Manager
SUBJECT: ITEM 7b – PUBLIC WORKS MAINTENANCE DIVISION STAFFING STUDY
Staff received the following questions, regarding the Public Works Maintenance Division Staffing Study Update. The questions are below with staff’s response shown in italics:
1) Have the two Maintenance Superintendent positions and Parks Crew Coordinator identified on page 473 been fully funded and filled? Yes, the two Maintenance Superintendent positions have been approved, funded and filled. The recommended second Parks Maintenance Coordinator was revised to a Parks Technician position and the job description has been approved and the position is funded. The selected candidate has accepted the conditional employment offer and is progressing through the background check and medical evaluation. Below is a chart with the recommended positions status.
Recommended New Positions
Program Position(s) Status
Fleet Lead Mechanic Not Approved
Parks/Streets Maintenance Superintendents (2
FTE)1
Approved, Both Positions are
Filled
Parks Parks Technician Approved, Employment Offer
Accepted
Facilities Facilities Technician Not Approved
Fleet Fleet Specialist (Increase .5 to
FTE)
Not Approved
PW Admin Business Analyst Not Approved
Not listed on this chart is a second Crew Coordinator position reclassification recommended by Baker Tilly within Streets Maintenance. This reclassification has been approved and the position is filled. The existing position funding was adequate to facilitate the reclass and no additional operating budget was requested.
1 One new Maintenance Superintendent was added and the second was a reclassification of an existing Maintenance Supervisor.
Item 7b. Public Works Maintenance Division Staffing Study Page 2 2) Is there a cost comparison for contracting out Fleet Maintenance services to a local automotive repair shop versus hiring in-house staff? Below is a comparison for hourly rates for a Heavy Equipment Mechanic versus a private auto repair shop. The City rate is assuming the employee is at top of scale with a full benefit package, and the private shop cost includes an 8.5% commercial account discount.
Fleet Repair Hourly Rates
City Hourly Rate $49.14/hour
Private Repair Shop $170.00/hour
While the hourly rate of work is an important factor when itemizing cost, other contributing factors that must also be considered for cost comparison are:
Transporting assets to and from the private shop requires two City staff members and two City vehicles.
Parts used to complete repairs are often billed at a higher rate than if purchased directly by the City.
All vendor completed work requires inspection, data entry into the assessment management system, and corrections by staff if sub-standard work is identified. Not all vehicles can be serviced by a private shop due to being specialty equipment or security concerns with law enforcement vehicles. 3) Please elaborate on Recommendation No. 12, a Locking Dumpster Ordinance. Would this apply only to City dumpsters, or would it be applied to the larger community?
The Utilities Department is the lead on this initiative, which has already been completed. Several Municipal Code updates were introduced on April 2, 2024, including a locking dumpster ordinance. The ordinance does not mandate that all commercial customers lock their dumpsters; instead, it allows staff to require a locking mechanism if a premises has recurring issues with overages, scavenging, or litter accumulation.
The ordinance was adopted following outreach to the business community and a Community Forum.
4) The report suggests increasing the existing Fleet Specialist to full-time.
Would this recommendation displace the current employee who is half-time? Staff is recommending increasing the current Fleet Specialist position from halftime to full-time. If this change is approved through the budget process, the current employee would be given the opportunity to continue in this role on a full-time basis.
Item 7b
Department: Public Works
Cost Center: 5000
For Agenda of: 1/14/2025
Placement: Business
Estimated Time: 30 Minutes
FROM: Matt Horn, Public Works Director
Prepared By: Greg Cruce, Deputy Director of Public Works – Maintenance Operations SUBJECT: PRESENT THE 2024 PUBLIC WORKS MAINTENANCE DIVISION
STAFFING STUDY
RECOMMENDATION
Receive and file the 2024 Public Works Maintenance Division staffing study final report.
POLICY CONTEXT
During the 2023-25 budget setting process, the City Council set four Major City Goals, which included: 1. Climate Action, Open Space & Sustainable Transportation, 2. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), 3. Economic Resiliency, Cultural Vitality and Fiscal Sustainability, and 4. Housing and Homelessness. The scope of services completed by the Public Works Maintenance Division is extensive and plays an integral part of all Major City Goals.
DISCUSSION
Background
The Public Works Department is one of ten departments within the City and has 116 fulltime and supplemental staff members. The department has three separate divisions:
Engineering, Maintenance Operations, and Mobility Services. The Public Works Maintenance Division (Maintenance Division) is the largest division within the department and consists of 53 staff members. The Maintenance Division is responsible for maintenance and repair of City facilities, fleet assets, parks and landscaped areas, and all City-owned infrastructure within the public right-of-way, which includes streets, streetlights, traffic signals, sidewalks, signs, furnishings, and trees. In addition to regular preventative and reactive maintenance, the division supports a wide array of special events and City emergencies throughout the year on a planned and unplanned basis.
The division is also responsible for managing clean ups of encampments and abandoned trash in the public-right-of-way, City parks and City facilities. This work is completed by seven separate operating programs within the division: Facilities Maintenance, Fleet Maintenance, Parks Maintenance, Streets and Sidewalk Maintenance, Signals and Streetlight Maintenance, Swim Center Maintenance, and Urban Forest Services.
Item 7b
Over the past five years, the City has experienced considerable growth in residential and commercial development, resulting in additional infrastructure maintenance needs. For example, new parks are often required as part of a larger residential development, which necessitate added maintenance services to maintain the new parks. Additionally, the passage of Measure G-20 in the 2020 November general election increased the local sales tax revenue in the City by an additional 1% (from 0.5% to 1.5%), enabling the City to deliver a larger capital plan annually, expanding the City’s maintenance needs. Lastly, implementation of new technology such as AskSLO, sustainability goals, and addressing homelessness and community expectations are resulting in a higher level of maintenance needs.
As the roles, responsibilities, and expectations of the Maintenance Division have increased in the past five years, department leadership has explored structural changes within the division and evaluated methods of service delivery to meet the changing and dynamic environment. The purpose of this Council discussion is to provide a current overview of the City’s different maintenance programs, a recently completed assessment of the Maintenance Division by consulting firm Baker Tilly, and their recommendations on immediate resource augmentation priorities. Staff further invite City Council comments, questions, and general input on the Public Works Maintenance Division.
Attachment A provides the current context for the Maintenance Division in detail and an overview of the Baker Tilly report. This supplemental report includes an overview of the major maintenance functions, historic staffing levels, current challenges and opportunities, as well as immediate and long-term needs.
Attachment B is the resource report provided by Baker Tilly. Their assessment was supported by review of relevant City documents and work order data, interviews of City staff and key stakeholders, and review of peer city data review and maintenance best management practices.
Baker Tilly considered the current context and analyzed all the data to form 24 recommendations. The recommendations fall into five major categories:
Organizational Structure and Staffing
Performance Measurement/Management
Technology and Tools
Service Level Agreements
Strategic Communication
Several of their recommendations are minor in cost (staff time primarily), such as evaluating the need for future resources as new assets like parks come online in the future, developing performance measurements, and improving communications and expectations with regard to the online tool Ask SLO.
Item 7b
Other recommendations are more resource heavy. Those come in the form of recommendations for additional staffing. The table below outlines Baker Tilly’s recommendations for immediate staffing additions. (Some of the recommendations have already been implemented).
Baker Tilly Recommended Immediate FTE Needs
Priority Program Request Annual Cost
1 Fleet Lead Mechanic*1 $100,447
2 PW Admin Maintenance Superintendent (2 FTE)** N/A
3 Parks Parks Crew Coordinator** N/A
4 Facilities Facilities Technician* $92,325
5 Fleet Fleet Specialist (Half Time to Full Time)* $41,223 6 PW Admin Business Analyst $119,828
Total $353,823
* Request titles that are appended by an asterisk (*) indicate the request is considered internal services and support work efforts from different departments and programs within the City. These positions result in partial reimbursement to the General Fund for work that is specific to the Parking, Sewer and Water Enterprise funds. ** The addition of two superintendents was recommended to enhance operations, longrange planning, and overall management support. These positions were added at the 2024-25 Supplemental Budget, with one Superintendent managing the Parks Maintenance and Urban Forestry Programs and the other overseeing Streets Maintenance, Signals and Streetlight Programs. The new management layer will also aid with succession planning and opportunities for staff advancement. One Parks Crew Coordinator position was also created in the 2024-25 Supplemental Budget, utilizing existing financial resources to not increase the department’s overall budget.
Previous Council or Advisory Body Action
The City had a third party conduct an organizational assessment of the Public Works Department as a whole in 2011, which included an analysis of the Maintenance Division as part of the work.
Public Engagement
Engagement work for this resources report was focused on City Management, Department Directors and Deputy Directors, and Maintenance Supervisors. External engagement was completed with the Downtown SLO CEO as a frequent stakeholder in maintenance activities and downtown partner.
CONCURRENCE
The staffing study final report has been shared with the Human Resources and Finance Departments.
1 The Lead Mechanic job description does not currently exist; the anticipated expense was used from similar positions in the City’s salary schedule.
Item 7b
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The California Environmental Quality Act does not apply to the recommended action in this report, because the action does not constitute a “Project” under CEQA Guidelines Sec. 15378.
FISCAL IMPACT
Budgeted: No Budget Year: 2025-2033
Funding Identified: No
Fiscal Analysis:
Funding
Sources
Total Budget
Available
Current
Funding
Request
Remaining
Balance
Annual
Ongoing
Cost
General Fund $ $ $ $
State
Federal
Fees
Other:
Total $TBD $TBD $ $TBD
The implementation of new positions will have a fiscal impact to the City. The exact impact is unknown at this time as it will vary depending on the number of positions added and hired and the cadence at which they are hired. Included as Attachment C to this report are three different options for phased implementation of the Baker Tilly report’s recommendations as well as ongoing costs. It should be noted that future costs shown in future years will need to be escalated with the appropriate inflationary index.
ALTERNATIVES
Council could decide to not receive and file the staffing study. This action is not recommended by staff as the staffing study provides an updated, comprehensive department analysis and identifies areas for procedural and staffing improvements.
ATTACHMENTS
A - Maintenance Division Overview
B - Baker Tilly Resources Report
C - Phased Resource Implementation Options
ATTACHMENT A
MAINTENANCE DIVISION ORGANIZATIONAL REVIEW UPDATE
(Supplement to the 2024 Baker Tilly Resource Report)
BACKGROUND
In June 2023, Baker Tilly a consulting firm that focuses on municipal needs related to executive support, organizational enhancements, performance and process improvements, and strategic planning began work on a Maintenance Division Organizational Review for the City of San Luis Obispo’s Public Works Department. That update was completed, and a report was submitted to the City on May 14, 2024 and is included as an attachment to the staff report.
The roles, responsibilities, and expectations of the Maintenance Division within the Public Works Department have increased in the past five years, causing department leadership to explore structural changes within the division and evaluate methods of service delivery to meet the changing and dynamic environment.
This report is based upon information gathered from a resource review completed by the consulting firm Baker Tilly and provides additional background and, as appropriate, recommendations for the Department’s future resource planning based on Baker Tilly’s analysis.
Part 1: Maintenance Division and Resource Assessment Introduction Division Overview and Project Approach
The Public Works Department is one of ten departments within the City and has 116 fulltime and supplemental staff members. The department has three separate divisions:
Engineering, Maintenance Operations, and Mobility Services. The Public Works Maintenance Division (PWMD) is the largest division within the department and consists of 53 staff members. The PWMD is responsible for maintenance and repair of City facilities, fleet assets, parks and landscaped areas, and all City-owned infrastructure within the public right-of-way, which includes streets, streetlights, traffic signals, sidewalks, signs, furnishings, and trees. In addition to regular preventative and reactive maintenance, the division supports a wide array of special events and City emergencies throughout the year on a planned and unplanned basis. The division is also responsible for managing homeless encampment clean ups and abandoned trash in the public-rightof-way, City parks and City facilities. This work is completed by seven separate operating programs within the PWMD: Facilities Maintenance, Fleet Maintenance, Parks Maintenance, Streets and Sidewalk Maintenance, Signals and Streetlight Maintenance, Swim Center Maintenance, and Urban Forest Services.
Over the past five years, the City has experienced considerable growth in residential and commercial development, resulting in additional infrastructure maintenance needs. For
Document
Review
Key
Stakeholder
Interviews
Peer
Agencies
Comparison
Best
Management
Practices
example, new parks are often required as part of a larger residential development, which necessitate added maintenance services to maintain the new parks. Additionally, the passage of Measure G-20 in the 2020 November general election increased the local sales tax revenue in the City by an additional 1% (from 0.5% to 1.5%), which is allowing the City to deliver a larger capital plan annually, expanding the City’s maintenance needs.
Lastly, implementation of new technology, sustainability goals, and addressing homelessness and community expectations are resulting in a higher level of maintenance needs.
To address this, the department contracted with Baker Tilly, a local government consulting firm, to perform an organizational assessment of the PWMD. The assessment was focused on the Maintenance Division’s organizational structure, work practices, and staffing levels to ensure the division is contributing to a clean, safe, and beautiful SLO.
In preparation to provide the final report and recommendations to the City, Baker Tilly’s primary areas of focus were:
Summary of Findings
Baker Tilly reviewed the local survey data and comparative analysis with other cities to develop 24 different recommendations, which fit into three themes:
A comprehensive explanation of the recommendations can be found in the consultant’s report (Attachment B to the staff report) and will be discussed below at a high level. Within the 2024-25 Supplemental Budget, the department was able to implement some recommendations that did not increase the department’s overall budget. These recent organizational changes will be discussed in this section with specific staffing positions being covered in Part 2 of this attachment.
Organizational Structure and Staffing
One of the critical challenges facing the PWMD is the span of control in certain programs is rather broad. While there is no universal ideal number of direct reports, the ratio in the Parks and Streets Maintenance Programs is large with the supervisor managing 15 direct reports. This has led to many staff working independently and on different complex tasks without sufficient supervision. The ratio within the programs results in overburdened supervisors, which impact the programs’ ability to allocate adequate attention to strategic planning, process improvements, and performance management.
Organizational
Structure and
Staffing
Performance
Measures
Technology and
Tools
The PWMD has a relatively flat structure, with five maintenance supervisors reporting to the Deputy Director – Maintenance Operations. Additionally, not all of the programs have the support of Maintenance Coordinators (a position in between front-line staff and supervisors), which hinders effective management oversight of the operations. The addition of two superintendents was recommended to enhance operations, long-range planning, and overall management support. These positions were added at the 2024-25 Supplemental Budget, with one Superintendent managing the Parks Maintenance and Urban Forestry Programs and the other overseeing Streets Maintenance, Signals and Streetlight Programs. The new management layer will also aid with succession planning and opportunities for staff advancement.
Capital projects implemented by the City generally require an increased level of maintenance, but additional resources are not always available to support this need.
Baker Tilly recommends that an analysis of maintenance resources and requirements be reviewed and discussed prior to implementing new work programs and the investment into new City assets (such as parks and facilities). While this work does occur currently, the level of detail and depth of analysis varies from project to project.
The assessment includes multiple recommendations specific to Parks Maintenance staffing aside from creating new positions. These recommendations are targeted to increase efficiencies, which include:
Create a maintenance plan for the parks system and update the plan as new parks come on-line. The program has individual maintenance plans for select parks, but many are outdated, and the current staffing capacity does not allow for the continual update to these documents.
Assign a Parks Maintenance Specialist to respond to impacts related to homelessness and vandalism within the parks. Adding an FTE position to address these impacts such as vandalism, trash, graffiti, and encampments in the City’s parks would allow this need to be addressed without re-tasking a Parks Maintenance Specialist from their assigned duties. While this workload would vary, it is thought this person could also address recycling trash collections in the parks system as a recycling program in all parks continues to be a community priority. Evaluate dividing the parks into sections and utilize a team-based approach to parks maintenance. This maintenance approach is common in mid to larger sized municipalities for maintaining parks. The City’s current model has an assigned staff member to specific parks to complete all maintenance. This has proven effective by allowing the staff member to become more familiar with the facilities they maintain and the community members who frequent the facilities. Staff recommends continuing with the site-specific Parks Specialist approach as the benefits of having staff familiar with all aspects of the facility, including the community who use them is greater than the benefits of a team-based approach.
Evaluate the consolidation of golf maintenance with parks maintenance.
Currently, maintenance of the Laguna Lake Golf Course is managed by the Parks and Recreation Department. Staff have had discussions about the consolidation, and these conversations will continue as appropriate.
Baker Tilly also recommends that maintenance programs increase the use of contract services for reoccurring routine tasks, such as mowing of turf and cleaning of downtown sidewalks for cleanliness. Due to the amount of time spent on these tasks by current staff, increasing contract services in these areas would be a good value for the City and allow staff to focus on higher level tasks within their current scope and job descriptions.
Performance Measures
Performance Measurement is an important tool for evaluating service effectiveness and efficiency. This is done through continuous data collection and reporting on selected services and programs. When the PWMD first implemented its asset management software, CityWorks, each program supervisor was responsible for the implementation, which resulted in an inconsistent approach. Prior to the assessment of Baker Tilly, staff identified this issue and has been working to create consistency among the different maintenance programs. More work is needed in this area and staff is evaluating how best to use existing resources to complete the day-to-day work and focus on and complete higher-level tasks, strategic planning, which would include a comprehensive performance measure reporting system.
Technology and Tools
In 2022, the City launched an online (website and smartphone app formats) resident engagement platform, known as “Ask SLO”. This program is very popular with the community with nearly 2,000 requests in the first year of service. The popularity continued to grow in the second year with over 2,200 requests submitted to the Public Works Department alone, with approximately 80% of those requests assigned to PWMD programs. This high volume of work orders has strained PWMDs capacity and required staff to prioritize requests based on type. This can cause angst by the reporting party and a perception the City has forgotten about the request. The division continues to refine the use of Ask SLO with standard responses qualifying requests that include:
Notification that a work order has been assigned to the appropriate program. Notification that the work order has been completed, and the issue is resolved. The work requested is part of a routine work program with links to schedules and details on the work program.
The request is not within the City’s jurisdiction and the appropriate agency has been notified.
The repairs are the responsibility of the private property owner, and the City has noticed the responsible party.
The PWMD provides service to both internal and external customers. Internal customers are typically other departments, programs or staff that work within the City organization and external customers are the community the City organization services. Service Level
Agreements (SLAs) are formal agreements between a service provider (PWMD) and an internal customer group, in this case, other departments and programs within the City.
SLAs are an effective way to define the expected level of service by outlining the specific services provided to the customer. The PWMD has implemented multiple SLAs with various City departments. This has proven an effective way for maintenance programs to focus on core services first ahead of other requests that may be unique or outside the program’s typical work parameters as resources permit. The division could benefit from implementing additional SLAs and intends to do so as capacity grows.
Part 2: Overview of the Public Works Maintenance Division Programs Part 2 of this supplemental report includes an overview of each of the Maintenance Division Programs. Each section includes recommendations made by Baker Tilly, with a focus on the immediate resource needs. Baker Tilly alludes to the need to perform an evaluation of long-term needs, in several of their recommendations, when contemplating new capital projects and new assets.
Facilities Maintenance & Swim Center Maintenance
The Facilities Maintenance Program consist of two programs, Facilities and the Swim Center.
Programs Description
The Facilities Maintenance Program provides interior and exterior maintenance services for most City building types, except for the Treatment Plants, Pump Stations, Parking Garages, Transit Yard, Parks Restrooms, Laguna Lake Golf Course, and City Adobes.
The program oversees unplanned repairs to existing building features such as roofs, ceilings, walls, floors, doors, windows, plumbing, electrical systems, Hayworth systems furniture, security and fire alarm systems and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems (HVAC). The program also oversees planned and budgeted minor capital improvement projects related to building maintenance that are not costly or complex enough to require engineering oversight, as well as contract services for HVAC, janitorial services, fire suppression, limited first aid kit service, elevator inspection, alarm monitoring and testing, sprinkler system testing and certification, and pest control.
The Swim Center Maintenance Program maintains the swimming/diving pool and the therapy pool including all water treatment and mechanical equipment in compliance with Health Department Standards. Additionally, this program oversees the two bathhouses and swim deck area. These facilities are located at the pool complex located at Sinsheimer Park and referred to as the SLO Swim Center.
Core Services & Objectives
Maintain the aquatic facilities in a clean, safe, and efficient manner Provides skilled maintenance and specialized technical services Oversee contract maintenance services
Operates the aquatic facilities in compliance with Health Department Regulatory requirements
Maintain City buildings in a clean, safe, and efficient manner Provides skilled maintenance and specialized technical services Oversee contract maintenance services
Provides technical support and consultation services for building improvements Recommendations
Each of the two Facilities Maintenance Programs has
a specific operating budget; however, roles and
responsibilities are similar and the five technicians
often cross program lines to assist with completing
the work as both programs are managed by the same
supervisor. The Programs are currently responsible
for maintaining approximately 238,000 square feet of
City facilities and two pools. The current mechanical,
security, and electrical systems within the facilities
are becoming increasingly more complex, requiring
an increased workload for the program.
Baker Tilly is recommending one additional full-time
Facilities Aid to assist the program completing the
lower-level technical work, which will allow the senior technicians to focus on more complex work and
provide an opportunity for proper training of complex
mechanical systems as the new technician gains
experience. The division transitioned to Skills Based
Pay in 2015, with a single job description and nine
steps, depending on skill level. The recommended Facilities Aid would be comparable to a Facilities Maintenance Technician, step 1, which staff has included in the recommendations.
Facilities Maintenance Program has maintained the same staffing levels since 1998.
Since that time the program has added the following facilities: Public Safety Dispatch Center, Fire Department Museum and Warehouse, 919 Palm Offices, Corp Yard Warehouse, Therapy Pool, Railroad Museum, and the new Police facility at 1106 Walnut.
Facilities Maintenance Historic Program Staffing Levels 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 Historic Work Order Count
N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 1021 1365 1308 1174 1026 1202 1228 1188 1372 1649 1656 Resources
Existing Recommended
1 – Supervisor 1 - FTE Facilities Maintenance Aid
5 – Facilities Technicians
0.5 – Supplemental Pool Aid
Fleet Maintenance
Programs Description
The Fleet Services Program is responsible for the procurement, disposal, maintenance and repairs of all City vehicles and construction equipment except those used in the Transit Program and Fire Department.
Core Services & Objectives
Provides a safe and reliable City fleet balancing maintenance and capital costs Provides comprehensive support for Police fleet asset maintenance and repair Responsible for safeguarding and disposal of automotive waste material stored at the Corporation Yard
Provides specialized maintenance and fabrication services Completes vehicle procurement and disposal
Completes reporting for State and Federal regulatory programs Completes fuel purchasing
Maintains fuel dispensing station, EV chargers, and vehicle wash facility at the Corp Yard
Recommendations
The current inventory consists of approximately 300
assets, which are maintained by three mechanics,
one supervisor, and one half-time fleet specialist.
The total number of assets maintained by the
program has risen over the years with the addition of
more vehicles and equipment to meet increased
service demands by other programs and
departments. Industry standard for municipalities is
one mechanic per 55-60 assets, in addition to support
staff such as management, service writers, and
administrative assistants.
Fleet Maintenance provides core backbone services
to other programs and departments throughout City
operations that require vehicles and heavy equipment
to complete work. Fleet staff is routinely called upon
throughout the day to assist with breakdowns, dead
batteries, trailer/equipment issues, warning lights,
and other issues that must be prioritized in order to
keep customer operations efficient and productive.
Baker Tilly is recommending that a lead mechanic and a mechanic helper position be added to fleet. Staff supports the recommendation of the Lead Mechanic and is proposing increasing the current half-time Fleet Specialist to full-time and adding a half-time Intern position in lieu of the Mechanic Helper, which will result in similar cost, and increase support for the program. Increasing the Fleet Specialist to full-time will assist in recruiting
and retaining a qualified employee as well as ensure mechanics work is scheduled appropriately and staff has the parts needed to complete their work.
Fleet Maintenance Historic Program Staffing Levels
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
3.5 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 Historic Work Order Count1
N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 794 1385 1368 1262 1290 1075 1514 Resources
Existing Recommended
1 – Supervisor 1 – Lead Mechanic
3 – Fleet Mechanics 1 – Mechanic Helper
0.5 – Fleet Specialist
Parks Maintenance
Program Overview
The Park Maintenance Program maintains City parks and landscaped areas and oversees contract services for janitorial maintenance of restrooms and park buildings and landscape maintenance of smaller parks and medians.
Core Services & Objectives
Provides the community with safe park facilities
Partner with the Parks and Recreation Department to provide venues for recreational programs and services
Provides maintenance of park and other landscaped areas Provides special event support
Recommendations
1 AssetWorks, the current fleet software was implemented in 2017, statistical data prior to this was not available.
Parks Maintenance current inventory of facilities is
26 parks and nearly 100 landscaped locations
throughout the City, all of which are maintained by
10 Specialists. The Specialists, who maintain
anywhere from one to four facilities depending on
size, are supported by a Crew Coordinator,
Beautification Gardener, Technician, Supervisor,
and Superintendent. Additional facilities in the
Righetti and Avila Ranch Developments are
currently in design. Upon completion, it will
ultimately increase the number of parks to 35 in the
next several years. It should be noted that the Avila
Ranch Parks, North Broad Street Park, and Righetti
Ranch Parks were not considered for the staffing
recommendations by Baker Tilly. The Avila Ranch
Development has six additional facilities planned
within the development, including a sport complex,
and additional resources will be needed to maintain
these parks. As designs are finalized with all
amenities included, staff will have a better
understanding of the overall resource need. The
Community Services District funds for Avila Ranch will be recommended for use to fund the maintenance costs of these facilities.
Baker Tilly’s report recommends adding a Maintenance Superintendent and a second Crew Coordinator to the program. The existing Crew Coordinator splits their time between supporting field staff and performing technical work such as electrical, plumbing, and locksmithing. Adding a Parks Technician position in lieu of a second Crew Coordinator was the preferred approach for staff and will allow the current Coordinator to solely focus on crew support, while the Parks Technician will spend their time on technical repairs within the parks. The program was successful in adding two recommended positions during the 2024-25 Supplemental Budget process, one Maintenance Superintendent and a Parks Maintenance Technician which is already showing positive results.
Parks Maintenance Historic Program Staffing Levels
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 9 9 9 9 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 13 15 16 Historic Work Order Count
N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 1260 7481 8547 9373 8497 6154 3526 3109 2245 4827 5245 5531 Resources
Existing Recommended
1 – Superintendent (shared with Urban Forest) Completed 1 – Supervisor
1 – Crew Coordinator
1 – Beautification Gardener
1 – Parks Technician
10 – Parks Specialist
6 – Supplemental Staff
Urban Forestry
Program Description
The Urban Forestry Program maintains the urban forest located in the public right-of-way and park areas by pruning, removing, replacing, and planting trees.
Core Services & Objectives
Provide and maintains a sustainable urban forest to increase neighborhood wellness, increase carbon sequestration to mitigate impacts of climate change, and provides aesthetic and other quality of life improvements to the community Maintains the City’s inventory of publicly owned and maintained trees within streets and parks
Recommendations
The Urban Forestry Program within the Public Works
Department contracts out a majority of preventative
zone pruning and uses the contractor for large-scale
planting projects. The in-house crew currently consist
of two urban foresters who respond to tree related
emergencies, complete work orders and Ask SLO
requests, and prune trees at City parks and facilities.
Baker Tilly did not make any recommendations since
the program was extensively assessed in 2022
through an organizational assessment, staffing plan,
and community forest plan.
Urban Forest Historic Program Staffing Levels
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 2 2 2 2
Historic Work Order Count
N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 712 731 476 532 333 608 663 213 166 133 157 Recommended Resource Augmentation
Existing Recommended
1 – Superintendent (shared with Parks) None
2 – Urban Foresters
Streets Maintenance
Program Description
The Street Maintenance Program maintains the paved portion of the City’s streets and manages the sidewalk maintenance program. Staff within this program repair and
reconstruct streets, as well as sidewalks damaged by City owned street trees. They maintain street furnishings, signs, and pavement markings, provides regular downtown trash pickup, oversees sidewalk scrubbing, and provides weekly traffic control for the Farmers’ Market.
Core Services & Objectives
Provides the community safe public transportation Infrastructure Maintains existing roadway infrastructure including pavement, striping and signs Provides traffic control services and vehicle barrier protection for Farmer’s Market Provides sidewalk pressure washing services, cleaning, and downtown specific maintenance
Recommendations
Streets Maintenance plays an integral role in the
City’s Pavement Management Plan, working ahead
of the bi-annual slurry seal project. The core
functions of the program’s work include inspection of
143 miles of pavement and 240 miles of sidewalk in
nine zones throughout the City, which is completed
by eight Streets Operators and supported by two
Crew Coordinators, one Supervisor, and
Superintendent. Sidewalks with defects are
temporarily repaired in conformance with the City’s
adopted Sidewalk Inspection Program by grinding,
ramping, or patching (GPR); and replacement when
extensive damage exists that is a result of a City
street tree. When sidewalks are damaged beyond
the crew’s ability to effectively mitigate with temporary GPR repairs, the adjacent property owner is sent a Notice to Correct, informing them of their responsibility to repair the sidewalk.
Crews also prepare the pavement for a slurry seal treatment by replacing deteriorating sections of asphalt followed by crack sealing. The final tasks include replacement of damaged signs and curb painting. The pavement zone work completed by Streets Maintenance has historically been focused in residential zones, also known as “Local Streets”, where the crews can maximize efficiencies by reduced standards of traffic control required. As identified in the 2022 Study Session on the City’s Pavement Management Plan, the work performed by Streets Maintenance has directly elevated pavement condition index (PCI) on local streets at a good value to the City.
Three maintenance worker positions were added to the program in 2022 to deliver an elevated level of cleaning and maintenance in the downtown. This staff works exclusively in the downtown cleaning sidewalks and pavement markings, completing sidewalk maintenance, street furnishing, painting, and other similar maintenance. The program is also responsible for traffic control for Farmers’ Market, which includes deployment and retrieval of 46 devices two mornings each week and is completed by the mentioned downtown staff. These devices create a hard closure and higher level of protection to the pedestrians visiting the market. Sidewalk cleaning and barrier deployment must occur in the early morning hours.
Street sweeping is an important urban maintenance function completed by Streets Maintenance. The program has one full-time sweeper operator who has been operating at maximum capacity for some time. To meet the requirements of regulatory agencies and community expectations, the cleaning of new protected bicycle and pedestrian improvements are completed by a street sweeping contractor. The additional funding was approved in 2021-23 Financial Plan and remains adequate in meeting demands, which includes weekly bike lane cleaning in the downtown and monthly cleaning for all other bicycle facilities, pedestrian improvements, and new residential streets. As new developments are accepted by the City that require the street sweeping, additional contract funding will be necessary.
During the 2024-25 Supplemental Budget process, a Public Works Maintenance Supervisor position was reclassified to a Maintenance Superintendent to manage the Streets and Signal & Streetlight Programs, and an existing Maintenance Coordinator position was reclassified to a Crew Coordinator, as recommended by Baker Tilly. Like with the Parks Maintenance section, Baker Tilly recommends considering increased contracts services for select tasks as a best management practice to mitigate increased work loads.
Streets Maintenance Historic Program FTE Staffing Levels 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 9 9 9 9 10 10 9.7 9.65 9.65 9.65 9.65 11 11 11 11 11 11 12 14 14 15 Historic Work Order Count2
N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 811 1354 1485 1475 980 1242 1084 996 1513 1519 1501 Recommended Resource Augmentation
Existing Recommended
1 – Superintendent (shared with Signals) Completed
1 – Supervisor
2 – Crew Coordinators
1 – Sweeper Operator
8 – Streets Operators
3 – Downtown Maintenance Workers
4 – Farmers Market Supplemental Staff
Signals and Streetlight Maintenance
Programs Description
2 The pavement zone work performed by the Streets Maintenance Operators (pavement, concrete, signs, traffic markings) is counted as only one work order for the entire zone.
The Signal and Streetlight Maintenance Program operates and maintains traffic signals and streetlights on City streets, and the installation, operation, and monitoring of the City’s traffic management and detection systems.
Core Services & Objectives
Provides safe and efficient traffic flow for all modes of travel through signalized intersections.
Provides appropriate lighting for streets and neighborhoods. Maintains traffic signal operations and maintenance and streetlight operations and maintenance.
Recommendations
The Signals and Streetlight Maintenance Program
recently rejoined the Streets Maintenance Program
and are managed by the same Maintenance
Superintendent, which is working well due to the
similar work. The program is adequately staffed for
the current workload and Baker Tilly did not
recommend any immediate additions to the program.
Signals Maintenance Historic Program Staffing Levels
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Recommended Resource Augmentation
Existing Recommended
1 – Superintendent (shared with Streets) None
2 – Signal and Streetlight Technicians
Part 3: Next Steps and Department Resource Prioritization Next Steps
The PWMD has already begun the process of restructuring in alignment with select Baker Tilly recommendations, which included the positions mentioned previously in this report.
Staff is prepared to request additional resources with the 2025-27 Financial Plan based upon Council and Community feedback during the budget process.
As new division leadership staff come up to speed in their new roles, the focus will shift to implementation of the non-staffing recommendations. In general, staff supports the recommendations developed by Baker Tilly as presented. The work to improve the PWMD will align with the recommendations identified by Baker Tilly but may deviate as staff continues with this work effort. There could be future resources identified during this process and those would be presented to Council at the appropriate budgetary hearings (and would be within the funding available).
Department Resource Prioritization
The City has limited resources and competing needs of those resources. The table below shows the departmental recommended priority based upon Baker Tilly’s resource report’s recommended immediate FTE needs for maintenance.
Baker Tilly Recommended Immediate FTE Needs
Priority Program(s) Request Annual Cost
1 Fleet Lead Mechanic*3 $100,447
2 Parks/Streets Maintenance Superintendent (2 FTE)** N/A 3 Parks Parks Crew Coordinator** N/A
4 Facilities Facilities Technician* $92,325
5 Fleet Fleet Specialist (Half Time to Full Time)* $41,223 6 PW Admin Business Analyst $119,828
Total $353,823
* Request titles that are appended by an asterisk (*) indicate the request is considered internal services and support work efforts from different departments and programs within the City. These positions result in partial reimbursement to the General Fund for work that is specific to the Parking, Sewer and Water Enterprise funds.
** City Council approved these recommendations during the 2023-2025 Financial Plan budget supplement process. These added positions are cost neutral, as staff was able to shift some positions and resources around to accommodate them, without an impact on service levels.
3 The Lead Mechanic job description does not currently exist; the anticipated expense was used from similar positions in the City’s salary schedule.
May 14, 2024
City of San Luis Obispo
Maintenance Division Organization Review
May 14, 2024
Matt Horn
Public Works Director
City of San Luis Obispo
990 Palm Street
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
Dear Mr. Horn:
Baker Tilly is pleased to transmit this report summarizing our assessment of the City of San Luis Obispoís Public Works Maintenance Division. The focus of this assessment was to evaluate the organization structure, work practices, and staffing of the Division as well as to provide recommendations for improvement.
The report presents our observations as well as a set of proposed recommendations to enhance the Division's performance and alignment with the City's vision of a "clean, safe and beautiful" San Luis Obispo.
We wish to thank City staff for their assistance in providing us with a variety of information and having candid discussions with our team members to inform this assessment.
Sincerely,
Carol Jacobs
Managing Director
+1 (949) 809 5588 | [email protected]
Maintenance Division Organization Review
Table of Contents Baker Tilly
i
Table of Contents
Executive Summary .................................................................................................................................. 1 Major Areas of Focus and Recommendations .............................................................................. 1 Organization of the Document ....................................................................................................... 2 The Maintenance Environment and the Role of the Division ......................................................... 3 Project Approach ....................................................................................................................................... 5 Staff Outreach Themes .................................................................................................................... 5 Work Order Review ......................................................................................................................... 6 Peer Research .................................................................................................................................... 8 Organization Structure and Staffing ................................................................................................... 12 Performance Measures ........................................................................................................................... 24 Technology and Tools ............................................................................................................................ 26 Ask SLO ........................................................................................................................................... 26 Service Level Agreements ............................................................................................................. 28 Strategic Communication .............................................................................................................. 29 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................ 31 Attachment A ñ List of Recommendations ......................................................................................... 32 Attachment B ñ Sample Performance Measures ............................................................................... 34
Maintenance Division Organization Review
Table of Contents Baker Tilly
ii
Tables
Table 1. San Luis Obispo Work Order Analysis July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023 .......................... 6 Table 2. Fleet Maintenance Work Orders Analysis Calendar Years 2022 and 2023 ................. 8 Table 3. Peer Cities Public Works Functions ................................................................................... 9 Table 4. Staffing and Operating Budget Data for Peer Public Works Departments, all funding sources.................................................................................................................... 10 Table 5. Recommended Immediate FTE Additions ..................................................................... 23 Table 6. Top Maintenance Division Requests via the Ask SLO App ....................................... 26 Table 7. Performance Measurement Process ................................................................................. 34 Table 8. Sample Performance Measures ......................................................................................... 35 Figures
Figure 1. Essential Functions and Services ...................................................................................... 13 Figure 2. Existing Maintenance Organization Structure (Recent Additional Staff Emphasized in Green) ........................................................................................................ 14 Figure 3. Proposed Maintenance Division Organization Structure ........................................... 23
Maintenance Division Organization Review
Executive Summary Baker Tilly
1 Executive Summary
Baker Tilly was engaged by the San Luis Obispo (SLO) Public Works Department to conduct an assessment of the Maintenance Divisionís organization structure, work practices and staffing to ensure the division is contributing to a clean, safe and beautiful SLO.
This report provides 24 recommendations which are contained in Attachment A.
Major Areas of Focus and Recommendations
During our assessment, we interviewed staff, reviewed documents, reviewed best practices and conducted peer research. These activities informed the following major areas of focus and recommendations that we believe department leaders should focus on in the near term.
1. Optimized Organizationl Structure and Staffing Distribution.
Recognizing the challenges posed by the current organization structure and staffing distribution, a major recommendation involves a reorganization to improve management and span of control. This includes dividing the Maintenance Division into two sections, led by superintendents, to improve the span of control, enhance management support, and establish a more refined operational framework. Simultaneously, strategic reallocation and creation of positions aim to balance managerial, supervisory, and line staff responsibilities. This will also improve succession planning.
Maintenance Division Organization Review
Executive Summary Baker Tilly
2 2. Leveraging Technology and Performance Measurement for Efficient Operations and Communication. Emphasizing the importance of technological integration, we recommend the implementation of advanced communication tools and performance measurement systems. This initiative aims to enhance communication with city management, elected officials and the public, streamline work processes, and provide a data-driven approach to decision making. By harnessing technology, the Maintenance Division can effectively communicate needs, track performance, and ensure a more agile and responsive operational environment.
Organization of the Document
This report is organized into the following major sections:
x The Maintenance Environment and the Role of the Division, x Project Approach,
x Organization Structure and Staffing,
x Performance Measures, and
x Technology and Tools.
Maintenance Division Organization Review
The Maintenance Environment and the Role of the Division Baker Tilly 3 The Maintenance Environment and the Role of the Division It is important to appreciate the environment the Maintenance Division operates within. We learned about this from our extensive interview process, document review and comparison of SLO with other communities.
This environment is fundamentally shaped by the fact that San Luis Obispo is, within the context of California, a very old city. SLO was founded in 1772 and incorporated in 1856, the 16th city created in the new state of California. Therefore, much of the infrastructure that SLO is built on or around consists of antiquated construction or improvements. This generally complicates maintenance and makes institutional knowledge very important. Historically, it has always served as the hub for a much larger surrounding area. This is still true today and the downtown is a special maintenance challenge.
San Luis Obispo is very much a destination or residence of choice location. In other words, it is the sort of place that people tend to fall in love with and decide to relocate to. It engenders great affection from residents and its many visitors. People care deeply about its public places and ìsense of place.î It has many special events every year and has a deep sense of community. People place a high importance on how it is cared for, and thus maintenance is important and is a high community value. This puts extra pressure and focus on maintenance activities.
San Luis Obispo is also a county seat and, as such, is a locus of County human service programs. According to the 2022 San Luis Obispo County Homeless Count and Comprehensive Report, the City of SLO had a homeless population of 385 persons, the most of any city in the County.
These populations can put extra pressure and maintenance demands on public infrastructure for which the Maintenance Division is responsible.
Finally, SLO is not located in a highly urbanized area;it is a somewhat isolated city. When it comes to maintenance this means that it does not have a high density of specialty businesses serving maintenance
Maintenance Division Organization Review
The Maintenance Environment and the Role of the Division Baker Tilly 4 purposes. This also complicates maintenance and means that the Division needs to be self-reliant.
All this adds up to a complicated maintenance environment, not only in terms of the infrastructure that must be managed, but also in terms of the expectations of the residents, businesses and visitors being served. It is even complicated in terms of being able to recruit and retain competent workers since the workforce in the area is limited.
As SLO is increasingly desirable as a place to live, housing is getting more expensive, and construction is growing denser. The downtown is more active, and its residential population is growing. All of this makes maintenance scheduling and work activities even more challenging.
While SLO was once thought of as a rather ìlaid backî place, we found that the Maintenance Division was anything but! It has many demands and a heavy public focus on what it does. The Divisionís role is absolutely fundamental to many core City functions, and it must function efficiently for the City to function well.
Maintenance Division Organization Review
Project Approach Baker Tilly
5 Project Approach
Baker Tilly obtained information to develop the recommendations in this report through a variety of activities as described below.
Baker Tilly began by reviewing documents and data from the Maintenance Division, including historical staffing data, contracts, and service level agreements, among others. The team also gathered information by interviewing key stakeholders. Finally, the team surveyed peer agencies to benchmark the Maintenance Divisionís operations against other similar organizations.
Staff Outreach Themes
The Baker Tilly team interviewed 11 employees, including the City Manager, Department Directors, the CEO of the downtown business district (Downtown SLO), and Public Works Supervisors and Managers.
Their comments generally surrounded three topics: communication, the Ask SLO application (app), and staffing and span of control.
Most interviewees indicated that communication generally works well in the Maintenance Division. Communication within the Division with Documents
ï Organization
Charts
ï Contracts
ï Reports and
Assessments
ï Service Level
Agreements
ï Standard
Operating
Procedures
ï Work Orders
Interviews
ï City Manager
ï Director of Public
Works
ï Deputy Director
of Public Works
ï Maintenance
Supervisor staff
ï Downtown SLO
CEO
ï Other
department
directors
Peer Research
ï Davis
ï Goleta
ï Monterey
ï Napa
ï Santa Barbara
ï Santa Cruz
ï Ventura
Maintenance Division Organization Review
Project Approach Baker Tilly
6 peers is effective. Similarly, there are well-developed relationships among senior leadership staff across departments as well as an increasing use of technology to facilitate communication. Generally, the maintenance staff and leadership are viewed positively by customer departments and clients such as police, fire, parks and recreation, and Downtown SLO.
They find Maintenance employees to be hard-working, taking a great deal of pride in their work.
Interviewees indicated that the Ask SLO app is a great tool for understanding community concerns and engaging residents. However, the Ask SLO app is time consuming for staff, as identified in the Technology and Tools section of this report. Staff expressed feeling overwhelmed by the volume of requests, highlighting the lack of an effective prioritization process for addressing community needs. They felt this is in part because the Maintenance Division is understaffed.
Most interviewees believe that day-to-day work is generally getting done, but there are few opportunities to go beyond and pursue strategic objectives due to a lack of staffing. Staff are concerned that investment in new projects and facilities, like results of the Ask SLO app or homeless response, will put continuing strain on the maintenance function that will not be sustainable. In addition, staff believe that the Deputy Director has a wide span of control, and this contributes to the lack of staff resources.
Work Order Review
Baker Tilly reviewed some limited work order data to understand the volume of demand and understand the backlog in completing work. We found that on average there was a significant delay in completing work orders in facilities, parks and streets, with a large degree of variability.
Some types of work, such as DigSmart requests, infield servicing and park renovations were completed very promptly, typically on the day requested. However, the number of days to complete a work order in the three divisions averaged 64. While this may be acceptable in some cases, it is unacceptable for many types of maintenance requests and suggests that the units do not have enough resources to deliver timely services.
Table 1. San Luis Obispo Work Order Analysis July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023 Top Four Work Order Types Number
Average
Days to
Complete1
Facilities
1. General Maintenance 208 17
Maintenance Division Organization Review
Project Approach Baker Tilly
7 Top Four Work Order Types Number
Average
Days to
Complete1
2. Lighting
3. Access Control
4. HVAC
Average Days to Complete all Work Orders N/A
Total Annual Work Orders
Number of Work Order Categories
Parks
1. Repairs
2. Infields
3. Shop 8
4. Renovations
Average Days to Complete all Work Orders
Total Annual Work Orders
Number of Work Order Categories
Streets
1. DigSmart
2. Vacuum / Clean
3. Inspect
4. Install
Average Days to Complete all Work Orders
Total Annual Work Orders
Number of Work Order Categories
1Average days to complete reported in negative numbers not included in analysis 2Parks daily maintenance work orders for each park are not included in top work order listing The Fleet Services Program has a different work order system that has somewhat more functionality than the system in place for the rest of the Public Works Maintenance Division. The table below shows data from that system for calendar years 2022 and 2023. The vast majority of fleet maintenance work orders are completed in one day or less (77% in 2022 and 59% in 2023). Total work orders increased significantly in 2023 relative to 2022 from 557 to 692. In addition to the number of work orders being completed in one day or less, decreasing fairly significantly in 2023 relative to 2022, the number of work orders requiring 10 days or more increased significantly from 34 in 2022 to 141 in 2023. Finally, the average cost of work orders more than doubled in 2023 relative to 2022. These 9,715
1,632
4,641
176 51
158 36
157 75
55 N/A
108
45 N/A
155
57 39
N/A
68 20
<1
N/A
N/A
68 8,196
827
624
422
N/A
52 N/A
N/A
70 <1
34 134
18 1
Maintenance Division Organization Review
Project Approach Baker Tilly
8 trends may suggest that vehicle maintenance was under some resourcingrelated stress in 2023 relative to 2022, which the Fleet Division will need to explore in greater detail.
Table 2. Fleet Maintenance Work Orders Analysis Calendar Years 2022 and 2023 Work Order Metrics Results
2022
Total Work Orders
Number Completed in 1 day or less
Percentage Completed in 1 day or less
Average Time (days) to complete Work Orders
Number of Work Orders > 10 days to Complete
Average Time (days) to complete Work Orders > 10 days
Average Work Order Cost
2023
Total Work Orders
Number Completed in 1 day or less
Percentage Completed in 1 day or less
Average Time (days) to complete Work Orders
Number of Work Orders > 10 days to Complete
Average Time (days) to complete Work Orders > 10 days
Average Work Order Cost
Peer Research
Baker Tilly distributed a peer survey to seven of San Luis Obispoís peer cities: Davis, Goleta, Monterey, Napa, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, and Ventura. These peers were selected through discussions with San Luis Obispo staff because they have universities, are tourist destinations, or are aspirational communities. The survey covered topics ranging from budget and staffing, contractual services, homeless response, community maintenance request apps, maintenance management systems, city assets, and performance measures. However, only the City of Monterey responded to the survey, so Baker Tilly staff collected publicly available data from budget documents and annual reports, thus constraining the depth of our comparative analysis.
Table 3 displays the functions of each peer city. San Luis Obispoís Public Works Department, specifically the Maintenance Division, provides citywide maintenance functions that are sometimes provided by multiple 429
77%
3 34
36 $312.72
407
59%
10 141
44 $675.80
1,290
1,075
Maintenance Division Organization Review
Project Approach Baker Tilly
9 departments in other cities. For example, SLOís Maintenance Division provides parks and urban forestry services. Goleta provides parks and open space services, and Davis provides urban forestry services.
However, the other peer jurisdictions provide those services through other departments. Similarly, Santa Barbara and Davis provide water utility services through their public works departments, so their full-time equivalents (FTEs) and expenditures will be higher per capita.
Table 3. Peer Cities Public Works Functions
Function Monterey
Santa
Barbara
Santa
Cruz Goleta Davis Napa Ventura
San Luis
Obispo
General Fund
Engineering 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
Traffic
Engineering
9 9
Transportation 9 9 9 9 9
Parking 9 9 9 9
Environmental 9 9 9
Facilities
Maintenance
9 9 9 9 9 9 9
Janitorial
Services
9 Swim Center
Maintenance
9 Fleet
Management
9 9 9 9 9 9 9
Streets
Maintenance
9 9 9 9 9 9 9
Street Lighting 9
Parks
Maintenance
9 9
Urban Forestry 9
Enterprise Fund
Parking 9 9 9 9
Water 9
Wastewater 9 9 9
Stormwater
and Sewer
9 Solid Waste 9 9 9
Harbor 9
Many of these cities do not report data for their disaggregated maintenance functions, making it difficult to compare across peers.
Maintenance Division Organization Review
Project Approach Baker Tilly
10 Therefore, Baker Tilly collected staffing and budget data for public works departments as opposed to maintenance divisions, as displayed in Table 4.
Table 4.Staffing and Operating Budget Data for Peer Public Works Departments, all funding sources City
2022
Population1
Total Public
Works FTEs2
FTEs per 1,000
Residents
Total Public Works
Expenditures2
Public Works
Expenditures Per
Capita
Monterey 29,571 156.25 $32,083,247.00
Santa Barbara 87,533 310.65 3.46 $227,536,017.00
Santa Cruz 61,800 265.40 4.29 $77,588,692.00 $1,255.48
Goleta 32,432 36.00 0.93 $18,311,700.00 $564.62
Davis 67,048 122.25 2.81 $112,895,259.00 $1,683.80
Napa 78,315 86.00 1.10 $60,266,210.00 $769.54
Ventura 109,527 90.75 0.83 $73,436,984.00 $670.49
San Luis Obispo 48,341 93.72 1.94 $28,870,537.00 $597.23 Average 64,321 152.47 2.59 $78,873,580.80 $1,226.25
1Sourced from 2022 American Community Survey
2Sourced from 2023-2024 budget documents
As shown in the table above, San Luis Obispo has fewer public works FTEs per 1,000 residents and fewer public works expenditures per capita than the peer average. In addition, Goleta, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz collect and report on workload indicators. San Luis Obispo currently tracks limited workload indicators, which makes it difficult to measure whether work is assigned appropriately.
While there are limitations in interpretation due to the different functions we found in these departments, the peer data suggests that San Luis Obispoís Public Works Department is not as well-resourced as its peers.
The City is near the bottom in terms of staffing and budget per capita.
Clearly, San Luis Obispo seems to provide a level of services which, while different from the comparison agencies, is reasonably comparable in terms of complexity and diversity. Indeed, the many services delivered in San Luis Obispo appear to be more comprehensive than in some of the comparison agencies. For example, in SLO, parks maintenance is delivered via the Public Works Department. This is unusual and laborintensive. Only one other City had parks maintenance reside in Public Works. Because this is a relatively large function and not common in other public works organizations it makes the fact that the staffing in
5.32 $2,599.43
$1,084.96
Maintenance Division Organization Review
Project Approach Baker Tilly
11 SLOís Public Works Department is below average relative to the peers, suggestive of under-resourcing.
As a result of the lack of consistency in the comparisons, Baker Tilly relied primarily on observations and best practices for developing the recommendations presented in this report. We are, however, recommending some staffing augmentations and to some degree these benchmarking findings do support those recommendations.
Maintenance Division Organization Review
Organization Structure and Staffing Baker Tilly
12 Organization Structure and Staffing
A major focus for Baker Tillyís engagement was to conduct a multifaceted review of the organization structure and staffing of the Public Works Maintenance Division to determine whether functions are appropriately aligned, whether changes might improve efficiency and effectiveness, and whether staffing is sufficient. This included a thorough review of the hierarchical arrangement, reporting relationships, span of control, and the grouping of functions. We examined organization charts, job descriptions and titles, and gleaned information through interviews with employees and customers.
The Public Works Department is a vital component of the City of San Luis Obispo. As one of ten departments, it is pivotal in shaping the Cityís infrastructure and ensuring a high quality of life for its residents. The Department comprises several divisions, each with specific responsibilities. One of the key divisions is maintenance, which stands as one of three divisions within the Public Works Department. It plays a critical role in fulfilling essential functions and services crucial to the community, as depicted in Figure 1.
Maintenance Division Organization Review
Organization Structure and Staffing Baker Tilly
13 Figure 1. Essential Functions and Services
The Maintenance Division not only undertakes essential tasks in-house but also demonstrates exceptional cost-effectiveness and quality outcomes. For example, it has a proactive approach to the pavement program, where they are using City crews to do the preparation work necessary for the pavement rehabilitation, which is typically outsourced.
This results in a higher pavement condition index (PCI) value, enhancing road quality at a lower cost for the City. It is worth noting that the Cityís average PCI is 76, according to the 2023-25 Financial Plan, surpassing the 2022 statewide average of 67.6 and significantly outpacing the county average of 58 according to the California Statewide Local Streets and Roads Needs Assessment April 2023 Final Report. This achievement underscores the Division's commitment to delivering superior infrastructure maintenance services efficiently and economically, setting a commendable standard within the industry.
Although there has been an increase in line staff in recent years (as illustrated by the positions in green in Figure 2, below), the impact of this growth is offset by new duties and reassigned work programs.
Particularly, there is an increased emphasis on downtown maintenance.
This includes the upkeep of bicycle facilities, which require higher maintenance due to the increased number of traffic devices. Most of these 12,000+ street signs
143 lane miles of streets
2,531 street lights
73 traffic signals
246 miles of sidewalk
234,000 square feet of City buildings
298 Public Works maintained fleet assets
13,360 Public Works maintained trees
Maintenance Division Organization Review
Organization Structure and Staffing Baker Tilly
14 facilities are too narrow for a sweeper and require regular manual cleaning. Additionally, the Cityís carbon-neutral goals will add workload to maintain the complex mechanical systems in buildings and additional trees to maintain, with ongoing installations of new streetlights, off-street path lights, downtown decorative ìzigzagî lighting, and new traffic signals citywide places additional demands on the traffic signal and streetlight program, thereby requiring further staffing.
Figure 2. Existing Maintenance Organization Structure (Recent Additional Staff Emphasized in Green)
Deputy Director of
Maintenance
Operations
50.5 FTEs, 3 Vacant
Interim Streets
Maintenance
Supervisor
15 FTEs, 3 vacant
Parks Maintenance
Beautification Gardener (1)
Parks Crew Coordinator (1)
Parks Aid (2.5)
Parks Maintenance Specialist
(10)
Functions
Maintains city parks and
landscaped areas
Oversees contract services for
janitorial maintenance of parks
buildings and landscape
maintenance of smaller parks
and medians
Parks Maintenance
Supervisor
15.5 FTEs
Facilities Maintenance
Supervisor
6.5 FTEs
Maintenance Worker2(3)
Streets Crew Coordinator (1)
Streets Maintenance
Coordinator (1)
Streets Maintenance Operator
(8)
Street Operator (1)
Functions
Maintains paved streets
Maintains sidewalks
Maintains street furnishings and
signs
Picks up trash downtown
Scrubs sidewalks
Operates traffic control for
events
Public sand supply
Right of way graffiti abatement
Street sweeping
Maintenance
Supervisor
7 FTEs
Functions
Commemorative Grove
maintenance
Operates and maintains street
lights
Operates and maintains traffic
lights
Reactive tree pruning
Right of way young tree
watering
Tree service request
Young tree care
Maintenance Contract
Coordinator1
(2)
Signal Technician (2)
Urban Forester1 (2)
Fleet Supervisor
4.5 FTEs
Facilities Maintenance
Technician (5)
Facilities Aide (0.5)
Fleet Specialist (0.5)
Mechanic (3)
Functions
Maintains interior and exterior
maintenance services for City
buildings
Executes unplanned repairs
Executes planned and budgeted
building maintenance
Oversees contracted HVAC
services
Oversees contracted janitorial
services
Oversees fire suppression
Provides limited first aid kit
service
Inspects elevators
Tests and monitors alarms
Tests and certifies sprinkler
system
Provides pest control
Functions
Asset procurement and disposal
Corp yard haz-mat program
Facility generator maintenance
and operations
Fuel island maintenance
Maintains and repairs vehicles
and construction equipment
Corporation Yard
Administrative Assistant II
1One additional position added
2 Two additional positions added
Baker Tilly noted the following observations about the existing organization structure.
Span of control is too broad in some areas. The organization faces a critical challenge as the span of control in certain areas is excessively broad. In recent years, there has been an increase in staff; however, a notable imbalance exists due to the insufficient growth in managerial and supervisory positions. This disparity is notably apparent in pivotal roles such as the Deputy Director and in the management of Streets and Parks
Maintenance Division Organization Review
Organization Structure and Staffing Baker Tilly
15 Maintenance. While there is no universal ideal number of direct reports, the current organizational structure of the Maintenance Division reveals work units where the supervisor has an overbroad span of control. The new work programs added to Public Works also compound the span of control issues.
This overbroad span of control is exacerbated by the lack of sufficient management system support within the division. These structural gaps impede the Division's capacity to allocate sufficient attention to strategic endeavors such as planning, process improvement and performance measurement. Addressing these gaps is crucial to strengthen the Division's effectiveness and focus on strategic objectives.
The organization has a relatively flat structure. As noted above, the Deputy Director directly oversees each of the five supervisors within the Division.
While some work groups have coordinators to assist with the day-to-day responsibilities, others lack this support, spreading the Deputy Director and front-line supervisors too thin, therefore hindering effective management oversight.
Recognizing the need for a more refined organizational framework, we recommend reorganizing the Maintenance Division into two sections. The existing structure, with five workgroups and individual supervisors, has proven effective for specific tasks and projects. However, as the Division has grown and maintenance operations have become more complex, a new framework is essential.
This reorganization will involve establishing two sections, each led by a superintendent. This separation of responsibility and improved span of control will provide greater oversight and specific guidance within each section. One section will focus on streets and fleet management, while the other will oversee parks and facilities, as detailed in the organization chart later in this report. The proposed change aims to enhance day-today operations, long-range planning, and overall management support, fostering alignment within the Division. Additionally, this new management layer will create opportunities for staff advancement and better succession planning within the organization.
Most important, it will provide a more robust framework for the Division to grow and continue to develop.
Maintenance Division Organization Review
Organization Structure and Staffing Baker Tilly
16 Recommendation 1. Convert one Maintenance
Supervisor to a Superintendent and add one
Superintendent position to right-size the span of
control for the Deputy Director of Maintenance
Operations and increase management support for
the division.
Recommendation 2. Add a Parks Crew Coordinator
position to improve the span of control within the
Parks function.
Administrative work is spread out among the work unit supervisors.
Administrative responsibilities currently burden work unit supervisors within the Division. In interviews, Division staff emphasized dedicating a significant portion of their time to administrative tasks. The time spent on administrative tasks diminishes the supervisorsí capacity for providing planning, coaching and mentoring of staff and other operational initiatives. Given the size of the Maintenance Division, it is imperative to address this challenge by introducing a dedicated business/analytical position, which is standard for organizations of similar scale.
This strategic addition will significantly enhance overall effectiveness.
Moreover, the limited availability of administrative support staff amplifies the issue, with supervisors allocating considerable time to tasks such as approving purchase orders, requisitions, invoices, timecards, and other ERP duties. Introducing a dedicated position will also be essential for supporting the Deputy Director in implementing the performance management system, as outlined later in this report. Additionally, this role will play a pivotal part in enhancing the tracking and support for the Ask SLO app, ensuring streamlined operations within the Maintenance Division.
Recommendation 3. Create a Business Analyst
position to assist with administrative duties and
support the development and tracking of
performance measures.
Current workload strains capacity. A consistent theme from the Maintenance Division interviews is that the Division is understaffed. For example, in both fleet and facilities, non-urgent repairs and preventive maintenance are often delayed as more urgent matters take precedence.
This reduces the efficiency and effectiveness of operations across the City.