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Independent 65 North review finds Nassau Bay police and building operations generally sound; recommends targeted monitoring, software improvements
Summary
An independent operational study by 65 North Group praised morale and community trust in the Nassau Bay Police Department, recommended enhanced GPS deployment monitoring, targeted overtime and facility security; recommended continuity planning and permitting software improvements for the building department.
An independent review by 65 North Group of Nassau Bay’s police and building departments found strong community trust and generally appropriate staffing levels, while recommending a set of focused improvements to operations, data use and facilities.
Consultant Dave Ross summarized the study’s methods and findings. For the police department, Ross said resident survey responses were overwhelmingly positive and internal morale is high, but the study identified operational opportunities: routinely using vehicle GPS and call data to review patrol deployment, strategic targeted overtime for enforcement of hot‑spot issues, improved facility security for the police parking area and attention to shift scheduling to reduce occurrences of single‑officer coverage at certain hours. Ross said the department’s staffing levels were appropriate for current workload demand overall but are tight in maintaining a continuous two‑officer minimum on patrol.
For the building department, the report commended the city’s building employee and noted citizen satisfaction with permitting timelines but flagged communication issues when residents interact with the contracted plan reviewer (SafeBuilt) and differences between the city’s permitting software and SafeBuilt’s system. High‑priority recommendations included continuity planning (a dedicated backup for the single city building official), improvements to the permitting workflow and consideration of customer‑facing software/tools to speed simple permits and provide automated inspection scheduling and notifications.
Why it matters: The study provides evidence for incremental operational improvements rather than wholesale staffing changes. Several of the recommendations — GPS deployment review and targeted overtime — are management practices that city leaders can implement without additional full‑time hires, while facility changes or software upgrades would have capital or long‑term operating implications.
Quotations: Dave Ross, 65 North Group: “There is strong community trust and high officer morale in the department.” He added that “staffing is appropriate where it’s at right now” but noted the department is “tight” on maintaining two officers per shift at all times. Ross said some high‑priority recommendations would strengthen oversight and transparency.
Next steps: Council and staff can implement some recommendations administratively (deployment reviews, targeted overtime, KPI reporting); other steps such as facility security changes or permitting‑software upgrades would require budget review and implementation planning.
