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# Statement SD D A SA NO
1 The department provides a high level of service to the community. 2% 6% 53% 35% 4%
2 Community policing is a high priority for the
department. 6% 12% 47% 33% 2%
3 In general, we have a good relationship with the
community. 4% 0% 57% 35% 4%
4 I received enough initial training to be effective at my job. 0% 15% 67% 17% 2%
5 I receive enough continual training to be effective at my job. 6% 14% 61% 14% 4%
6 I have the technology necessary to complete my job
tasks adequately and efficiently. 23% 17% 52% 8% 0%
7 There is clear communication from the top of the
organization. 31% 41% 24% 2% 2%
8 Supervisory spans of control are adequate. 12% 29% 51% 6% 2% 9 We have the resources we need to complete our jobs
effectively. 18% 31% 45% 2% 4%
10 The department is adjusting accordingly to the
changing needs of the city. 10% 31% 49% 2% 8%
11 The department is prepared to provide an adequate
level of service to the community in the future. 12% 43% 37% 4% 4% Responding employees indicated having high levels of agreement relating to a large majority of topics covered in the matrix above, including:
• The high level of service that WPD provides to the community and WPD’s emphasis on community policing,
• The relationship that the Watsonville Police Department has with the community,
Final Report on the Police Department Staffing Study Watsonville, CA Matrix Consulting Group 113
• The adequacy of initial and continual training at WPD, • Supervisory spans of control throughout the organization, • Adequate resources provided to employees (including technology) for them to complete work tasks efficiently, and
• The adjustments made within the department to meet the changing needs of the city.
While these questions showed results with high levels of agreement among WPD employees, two key topic areas covered in the matrix above resulted in higher rates of disagreement – the clarity of communication from the top of the organization and the ability of the department to meet service needs in the future. These topics are covered further in the section below.
General Topics Opportunities for Improvement
Expansion of these statements from the matrix above are provided below. Expansion is constructed across relevant employee demographic and background information collected at the onset of the employee survey. Only relevant findings are portrayed. #7: “There is clear communication from the top of the organization.” Most (71%) respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed to the statement above regarding the clarity of communication from the top of the organization. These findings are consistent across a majority of respondent demographic categories with the exception of employee tenure, as shown below:
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Employee Tenure SD D A SA NO
Less than 2 years 0% 20% 70% 10% 0%
Between 2 and 5 years 20% 80% 0% 0% 0%
Between 5 and 10 years 27% 45% 18% 0% 9%
Between 11 and 15 years 0% 67% 33% 0% 0%
15 years or more 50% 38% 13% 0% 0%
Prefer not to answer 75% 25% 0% 0% 0%
Employees with less than 2 years of tenure agreed to this statement 80% of the time.
However, all other counterparts disagreed with this statement at a higher rate. #11: “The department is prepared to provide an adequate level of service to the community in the future.”
Just over half of responding employees (55%) disagreed or strongly disagreed to the statement above. Findings indicate that this finding is consistent across a majority of employee demographics, with the exception of employee status, as shown below:
Employee Status SD D A SA NO
Sworn 19% 50% 32% 0% 0%
Civilian 0% 29% 47% 12% 12%
Sworn employees disagreed or strongly disagreed with this statement at a rate more than two times that of their civilian counterparts.
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3. Patrol Specific Questions
MCG project staff and WPD administration also selected questions to ask specifically to patrol officers of WPD. These questions are pertinent to gauge opinions relating to daily operations of patrol efforts and services directed toward the community. These questions were also asked in statement form, asking patrol officers to indicate their level of agreement with said statement (i.e., Strongly Disagree (SD), Disagree (D), Agree (A), or Strongly Agree (SA)). Results are presented with a shading of blue in correlation with the level of agreement (or disagreement) with the statements listed.
All respondents provided their current patrol team, assignment, a majority of which were from the Blue Team (64%). The remaining respondents indicated being assigned to the Gold Team (36%).
Current Team Assignment % #
Blue Team 64% 14
Gold Team 36% 8
The level of opinion matrix containing statements only applicable to the responding patrol officers is shown below:
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# Statement SD D A SA NO
1 We have sufficient proactive time available to
address problems in the community. 26% 35% 35% 4% 0%
2 Most of the time, there are adequate backup units
available. 26% 39% 26% 0% 9%
3 Our response times to lower-priority calls are
adequate. 13% 43% 35% 4% 4%
4 Our response times to higher-priority calls are
adequate. 0% 13% 61% 22% 4%
5 Our current shift schedule works well operationally. 4% 26% 57% 13% 0% 6 Our shift schedule allows for a good work/life
balance. 9% 26% 48% 9% 9%
7 The amount of overtime I am required to work is
reasonable. 9% 30% 39% 13% 9%
8 Patrol sergeants have sufficient presence in the field. 13% 13% 57% 17% 0% 9 We have adequate mental health response programs
to meet the needs of the Watsonville community. 30% 39% 17% 13% 0% Results presented above show that patrol officers expressed a positive outlook and high levels of agreement relating to most of the topics above, including:
• Response times to high priority calls for service,
• The current shift schedule’s ability for operational efficiency, • The work/life balance provided by the current shift schedule, • The reasonableness of the amount of overtime that officers are forced to work, • The adequacy of the presence of patrol sergeants in the field.
However, several topics covered above resulted in higher levels of disagreement across all responding patrol employees. These topics are evaluated further in the section below.
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Patrol Division Opportunities for Improvement
Expansion of these statements from the matrix above is provided below. Expansion is constructed across relevant employee demographic and background information collected at the onset of the employee survey. Only relevant findings are portrayed. #1: “We have sufficient proactive time to address problems in the community.” Most respondents (61%) disagreed or strongly disagreed that patrol units have sufficient proactive time to address problems in the community. These findings are consistent across most relevant demographic categories with the exception of patrol team assignment, as shown below:
Patrol Team Assignment SD D A SA NO
Blue Team 14% 36% 50% 0% 0%
Gold Team 50% 25% 13% 13% 0%
While both patrol teams disagree or strongly disagree at a higher rate than any level of agreement, members of the Gold Team express 50% higher rates of disagreement with this statement compared to their Blue Team counterparts. #2: “Most of the time, there are adequate backup units available.” More than half (65%) of responding patrol officers disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement above relating to the adequate presence of backup units in the field. Again, these findings varied across patrol team, as shown below:
Patrol Team Assignment SD D A SA NO
Blue Team 14% 43% 36% 0% 7%
Gold Team 50% 38% 0% 0% 13%
Again, both teams expressed higher levels of disagreement compared to agreement; however, the rate at which the Gold Team disagreed (88%) is significantly higher than that of the Blue Team (54%).
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#3: “Our response times to lower priority calls are adequate.” Just over half (56%) of responding patrol units feel that their response times to low priority calls for service are inadequate. This finding is consistent across all relevant respondent demographic categories.
#9: “We have adequate mental health response programs to meet the needs of the Watsonville community.”
A large majority of respondents (70%) of responding patrol officers disagreed or strongly disagreed to the statement above regarding the adequacy of mental-health response programs meet the needs of the Watsonville community. These findings are consistent across all relevant respondent demographics.
4. Open-Ended Responses
The concluding sections of the survey asked respondents to answer in open-ended form, indicating what they thought were 1) the top three strengths of WPD, and 2) the top three opportunities for improvement at WPD. Keyword phrase analysis was used by MCG project staff to analyze these open-ended responses. The most frequent topics of responses are displayed in the following tables.
Top 3 Strengths of WPD
The top response from employees relating to the strengths of WPD were the level of service provided to the Watsonville community, including both sworn and civilian personnel. This response was followed by the experience and dedication of the personnel within the organization, noting both sworn and civilian personnel.
Rank Response Category
1 Community Service
2 Personnel
Top Three Opportunities of Improvement within WPD
The most frequent opportunity for improvement at WPD in the eyes of responding employees was an improvement in the communication practices throughout the organization, followed by the need for increased staffing levels throughout the organization. Another response category of note is the desire to have increased and expanded recruitment/retention efforts on behalf of the agency.
Final Report on the Police Department Staffing Study Watsonville, CA Matrix Consulting Group 119
Rank Response Category
1 Communication
2 Staffing
3 Recruitment/Retention
POLICE DEPARTMENT
STUDY
WATSONVILLE, CA
WATSONVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT STAFFING STUDY 2
YEARS
23 STATES
45 POLICE STUDIES
400+
IMPLEMENTATION
85%
Our approach is fact-based while also emphasizing stakeholder input to create detailed and achievable implementation strategies.
Our experience with police departments around the country includes multiple agencies in California.
MATRIX CONSULTING GROUP
WATSONVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT STAFFING STUDY 3
SCOPE OF WORK AND TASK PLAN
FOUNDATION
Extensive staff interviews
and data collection led to
the development of a
descriptive profile.
EMPLOYEE INPUT
Anonymous employee
survey to provide all staff
with the opportunity for
input into the process
CURRENT & PROJECTED
RESOURCES
Detailed analysis of
current and 10-year work
requirements and staffing
needs in the context of
effective operations
management.
FINAL REPORT
Tying together the
elements of the project in
a final report, which
includes projected staffing
needs through 2034.
4 There were 24,442 Community-generated calls
for service in 2024.
Most common calls are for disturbance, minor
crimes, and quality of life issues.
These Top 10 call types count for about 45% of all
community-generated workloads.
FIELD OPERATIONS – CALL WORKLOADS
WATSONVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT STAFFING STUDY Page 666 of 682 5 THE IMPORTANCE OF PROACTIVITY
• Proactive time is the central metric used to evaluate the capacity of patrol staffing.
❖ It is calculated as the percentage of on-duty staffing hours that are not spent responding to calls for service.
❖ Adequate proactive time facilitates more engagement with the community. ❖ At an overall level, proactive time should be at least 45% of total time in the field.
WATSONVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT STAFFING STUDY Page 667 of 682 6 Overall, proactivity is below the established
benchmark.
Most hours of the day and all but one day of
the week fall below proactive time targets.
PATROL OPERATIONS – PROACTIVITY
WATSONVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT STAFFING STUDY
7 The level of engagement in proactive activities
shows the impacts of limited time available.
Officers-initiated activities are almost 34% of
community-generated workloads.
Traffic stops are the highest activity; several
categories may not even be officer-initiated
activities in the same sense (e.g., follow-ups).
PATROL OPERATIONS – USE OF PROACTIVE TIME
WATSONVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT STAFFING STUDY
8 Call workloads by hour are impacted by the
Department’s deployment (schedule).
Moderately changing shift start times will help
improve proactivity.
An additional officer should also be authorized
for the day shift.
FIELD OPERATIONS RECOMMENDATIONS
WATSONVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT STAFFING STUDY
9 Currently, the WPD use Police Service
Specialists to respond to lower priority calls for
service.
Last year, PSS’s responded to 311 lower priority
calls in addition to other assigned duties.
Our analysis and comparative research show
that there are opportunities to expand their use.
FIELD OPERATIONS – ALTERNATIVE RESPONSE
WATSONVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT STAFFING STUDY
This, together with previous recommendations,
could raise overall proactive time from 32% to 39%.
Adding 2 additional PSSs to the 2 that currently
exist positively impacts patrol officers’ proactivity.
10 COMMUNITY SERVICES DIVISION
• Traffic enforcement is a significant issue in Watsonville. • To address general enforcement needs and specialized needs (e.g., DUIs – 10 crashes per month, on average), 2 additional officers should be added. • Parking enforcement needs a dedicated supervisory position. • Units in this Division are largely proactive and are difficult to track their effectiveness. Tracking needs to be enhanced.
WATSONVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT STAFFING STUDY Page 672 of 682 11 PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS DIVISION
• The importance and demands of training has grown in the past few years. A dedicated training officer position is needed to identify training needs and to coordinate the program.
• In Records, continue efforts to transition records to e-sources.
WATSONVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT STAFFING STUDY Page 673 of 682 12 SPECIAL OPERATIONS DIVISION
• The project team collaborated with the police department to develop a case task and workload-based approach for determining staffing requirements. • Current investigative staffing is inadequate to handle current caseloads. • A detective position should be added for these additional workloads.
WATSONVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT STAFFING STUDY Page 674 of 682 13 ORGANIZATIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS
• Creating a lieutenant classification adds a vital link between first-line supervisors and top management.
• It also provides better oversight of operations and focuses sergeants more on field supervision.
• To achieve these advantages, the WPD should:
❖ Reduce the number of Captains from 4 to 2.
❖ Add 4 Lieutenants and 1 non-sworn mid-management position. ❖ Restructure departmental units to better align the functionality of the WPD.
WATSONVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT STAFFING STUDY Page 675 of 682 14 STAFFING PROJECTIONS
• Future staffing recommendations were completed by reviewing current population growth and crimes trends and expected population increases based on proposed developments, developable land and current zoning. • This data was used to project staffing needs through 2034.
WATSONVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT STAFFING STUDY Page 676 of 682 15 The population is expected to increase by an
average of 6.9% in 10 years.
.
POPULATION PROJECTIONS
WATSONVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT STAFFING STUDY
16 Calls for service are expected to increase an
average of 12.5% because of increased
commercial development.
CALLS FOR SERVICE PROJECTIONS
WATSONVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT STAFFING STUDY
17 There is an expected increase of 10
sworn positions in the next 10 years
compared to recommended levels.
PROJECTIONS FOR SWORN STAFF
WATSONVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT STAFFING STUDY
18 There is an expected increase of 4.5
professional staff positions in the next
10 years compared to recommended
levels.
PROJECTIONS FOR PROFESSIONAL STAFF
WATSONVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT STAFFING STUDY
QUESTIONS AND
DISCUSSION