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Staffing study finds San Marcos police provide strong service but flags dispatch and specialty staffing shortfalls
Summary
Matrix Consulting told the San Marcos City Council that the police department handles about 26,000 annual calls and generally meets response benchmarks, but recommended adding roughly 74.5 sworn officers, 39 professional staff and 11 dispatchers over 10 years; council was asked to consider funding and grant options during upcoming budget talks.
Matrix Consulting Group presented a comprehensive staffing and workload analysis to the San Marcos City Council at a Feb. 17 work session, concluding that the San Marcos Police Department delivers a generally high level of service but needs targeted staffing increases in dispatch and specialty units.
"The police department provides an exceptional level of service to the community," John Scruggs, senior manager at Matrix Consulting Group, told council as he summarized the firm’s multi-method review of calls for service, staffing and deployment.
The study examined roughly 26,000 community-generated calls for service and found that the department’s median response to a priority-1 emergency averaged about 8.3 minutes — near common benchmarks. Matrix reported the department’s proactive time (time available for officer-initiated work) at about 59% overall but noted dips during…
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