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Joint police and fire risk assessment finds rising demand; staff urged to prepare strategic plan and consider early renewal of Measure J20
Summary
A joint community risk assessment found fire calls up about 25% since 2019, frequent simultaneous incidents, and projected law-enforcement workload increases; AP Triton recommended staffing, deployment, and facility changes and urged the city to plan for a Measure J20 renewal to sustain current service levels.
A joint community risk assessment and standards-of-cover study presented to the Paso Robles City Council found rising demand for emergency services, response-time pressure points, and capacity shortfalls that warrant a strategic, phased approach to staffing and facilities.
AP Triton presented the analysis Tuesday, which combined fire and police workload modeling, demographic and vulnerability measures, and operational benchmarks. The firm reported the fire system handled about 4,372 calls across three stations and noted emergency calls have increased roughly 25% since 2019. "Workload history has gone up 25% since 2019," the consultants said.
Key findings and recommendations: - Simultaneous incidents: The city frequently experiences two to four simultaneous calls, which stretches a three-station system and creates periods of low redundancy. - Response-time challenges: The study compared actual travel times with a preferred 4-minute travel-time benchmark and found gaps driven by station siting, traffic and growth. - Effective response-force gaps: For some moderate wildland and high-risk structure incidents, the study found a deficit in the recommended apparatus and personnel available for initial assignments. - Police workload: AP Triton projected calls for law enforcement could rise with population growth; the analysis suggested a substantial increase in officers would be needed to maintain current service levels if demand grows as projected through 2045.
Operational recommendations included relocating and fully staffing a ladder truck to improve downtown coverage, planning for an additional fire station (Station 4) in areas of growing demand, aligning fire-inspection programs with NFPA standards, and developing a facilities master plan for police to address evidence-storage and workspace constraints. On law enforcement, the report urged development of an East Side facility to reduce response times and recommended administrative changes to reduce patrol supervisors’ ancillary workload.
Funding and Measure J20: Presenters and Chief Jonathan Stornetta tied implementation to local funding and emphasized the importance of Measure J20 revenue. "It is extremely important that you consider pursuing an early renewal of that so you can continue your positive trajectory," the consultants said; Chief Stornetta added that losing Measure J20 would jeopardize current staffing levels.
Next steps: Staff recommended receiving the study as a formal report, developing a strategic plan with external and internal stakeholders, and returning to Council with prioritization and implementation steps and associated budget requests. The council agreed and directed staff to prepare a strategic staffing and implementation framework.
