Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Police Staffing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
CityGate study recommends adding patrol officers and community-service officers to reduce overtime and improve retention
Summary
CityGate Associates presented a workload and organizational study that recommended adding patrol officers (CityGate proposed 15) and expanding community service officers, shifting certain administrative functions away from sworn staff to address overtime, burnout and response-time issues.
CityGate Associates told the City Council its review of police CAD data, staffing records and staff surveys supports a menu of reforms to address sustained overtime, administrative burden on supervisors and declining officer-initiated activity. "Specifically, we're proposing the addition of 15 officers to patrol," Richard Ward said, outlining how added staffing and Community Service Officers (CSOs) could reduce overtime and restore discretionary time for proactive policing.
The consultants emphasized that many of the study's 54 recommendations can be phased and some would not require exceeding authorized staffing levels; CityGate argued that adding CSOs and reallocating administrative tasks would let sworn officers focus on emergencies and investigations. Chief Lewis responded that the department has a new recruitment contract with All Star Recruitment and reported "in the 1st month with All Star Recruitment, we've seen 5 times more qualified applicants compared to the same month last year," a development the chief said should help hiring and retention.
