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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPolice Chief's Response to 10/08/2002 Report CHIEF COCHRAN'S RESPONSE TO THE REPORT PRESENTED BY THE POLICE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON OCTOBER 8, 2002 INTRODUCTION After reviewing the Police Advisory Committee's report, there are many areas 1 of the report of which I need to comment. I must begin by saying that the analysis of the statistical data was done in a very professional manner and proves, what we have known for a long time, that the traditional season of peak police activity in July and August has changed to a season that is eight months of the year- starting in May and continuing through December. However, the calculations arrived at with the data quoted needs to be addressed, as some of the numbers used do not represent the total workload of the police department. I have chosen to make my comments as an insert to the original report; however, I shall only include the pages that have been addressed. TOW-N OF SOUfHOLD , NEW YORK POLICE ADVISORY COMMITTEE I J � �S REPORT o� SUBMITTED TO THE TOWN BOARD OCTOBER 8 , 2002 POLICE ADVISORY BOARD JOSEPH BORELLI HENRY FLINTER GUNTHER R. GEISS, PH.D. JOSEPH GOLD CRAIG RICHTER REPONSE TO THE POLICE ADVISORY REPORT DATED 1018102- PAGES 5 THROUGH 8 Police service must be provided to assure the safety and well being of the people of the community and to protect their property, but in a manner which reasonably assures the safety of the police officers. Having met these two criteria, the services should then be provided in the most effective and efficient manner possible. The Southold own Police Department is a professional, well trained and well motivated force. This does not however mean that the organization cannot improve, or that it will not profit from an outside review The purpose of this report is rather to suggest ways in which resources might be used more efficiently, services may be made more effective, costs could be contained, and where additional resources may be required. Organization The STPD is basically organized around a patrol function, carried out by four squads of patrol officers. Each squad is headed by a sergeant, and the squads have six patrol officers assigned. Due to disabilities, vacations or sick leave there are often only five officers on any squad. Three of the squads are assigned to eight hour shifts, and each officer within a squad is assigned to a geographical sector of the Town (See Appendix A). The fourth squad is the "off duty° squad. Every week the patrol squads rotate their shifts, taking the next later shift. Squads work five days on, two days off, with two additional days off at each complete cycle of three shift rotations. There are two relief sergeants who perform various functions within headquarters, in addition to filling in for squad sergeants on vacation, days off, sick leave, training, etc. The patrol function is supported by a detective squad consisting of three detectives, and a detective sergeant. Detectives are responsible for all investigation of crimes, fatal accidents or accidents involving serious injuries. A fourth detective is responsible for the D.A.R.E. program and the Juvenile Assistance Bureau, and a fifth detective is assigned to the East-End Drug Task Force. 911 calls and all other calls for police assistance are received by civilian police dispatchers who take the necessary action to get an officer or officers to the scene; for all hamlets 911 is also used for police dispatching of local fire companies to fire emergencies. Two dispatchers are assigned to each tour for back-up and relief purposes. Records clerks perform reporting and statistical functions, for example, workload records, and forwarding the Uniform Crime Reports to the State Division of Criminal Justice. The Department's Emergency Medical Response Communication Center is manned by two (2)Public Safety Dispatchers not as back-un and relief,but as mandated by the County wide E-911 program and Emergency Medical Dispatch procedures. The workload handled by the dispatch center has also increased. Two(2)dispatchers are necessary when a medical 5 emergency call comes in-one will stay on the line and assist the caller in startin_g to provide emergency medical treatment~ while the other dispatcher will activate police department, fire rescue and handle any other activity on the phones and radios. Ancillary Police Department functions are staffed by Traffic Control Officers, school crossing guards, a Senior Bay Constable and two Bay Constables who enforce shellfish laws, navigation laws, Trustee regulations, and respond to emergency calls on the Town's waters (Long Island Sound, Peconic Bay and their estuaries), and three Fishers Island Constables. Staffing Study The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) has developed a method for computing the number of patrol officers required if the only data available is the number of calls for police assistance. This method has been used in previous studies of the Southold, Greenport, and Southampton police departments, and produces reasonable; and consistent results. A more accurate method requires data identifying not only the number of calls but also the time spent on each call. This data is now available and is analyzed in the Data Analysis Section. In this paragraph the International Association of Chiefs of Police(IACP)is quoted as the method for computin_g the number of patrol officers required if only the number of calls is available for police assistance. The number of calls answered by a police department is one of the fourteen factors used by the IACP to determine staffing levels. It then noes on to talk about a more accurate method, however, it does not identify who developed this method. The IACP has found that it takes 45 minutes to clear the average call to the police (Actually 32 to 42 minutes for STPD depending on sector and time of year in 2001-2002.). In addition they have found that the majority of the officer's time is, and should be spent in activities other than handling calls. To allow for this, the product of calls (23636, less 719 calls (Meals & Breaks and Code 1-Sick-Out), see Data Analysis Section) times duration, % hour, is multiplied by a factor of 3. The resultant (51563) is the patrol hours required to be covered. Under the current contract each officer works 239 eight-hour shifts, or 1912 hours. Thus, the IAPC model would require 51563/1912 = 27.0 patrol officers. This paragraph uses the number 239 as the number of eight(8)hour shifts that a Police Officer works in a year.Although contractual, a Police Officer is scheduled to work 239 days, he has vacation time, personal time, sick time and compensatory time that is subtracted from the total number of days worked. It has been determined that the average officer is available between 190 to 195 days a year. Using the 195 as the number of tours and the computation in the above paragraph, the officers would be available 1,560 hours and when that is divided into 51563 it equals 33 patrol officers as opposed to the 27 arrived at by the Committee. A study done by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice, Technical Support Unit, in 1994, determined that there must be 1.89 police officers on a payroll for each officer on patrol. 6 This staffing number is then is fed into one or more of the alternative assignment practices which can be used to assure round the clock coverage. Determining the assignment method to be used is a critical decision in the search for maximum efficiency, a decision however, rigidly constrained by the PBA contract. (See Appendix B.) Another approach uses the important police functions given in the Crime Report above and divides the number of incidents by the number of Police Officers: 7608/42 = 181 incidents per officer per year. Given the 239 days worked per officer this amounts to 181/239 = 0.76 incidents per officer day. Using only the Patrol Force, 4 Sergeants and 24 Officers, the result is 7608/28 = 272 incidents per officer year or 272/239 = 1.14 incidents per officer day. In this paragraph, the Committee uses a number of incidents as 7,608. These numbers only refer to the reports issued it does not reflect any follow-up or Vehicle& Traffic enforcement and other patrol functions. In 2001, the Southold Police Department responded to 14,066 calls. The Committee also uses 42 as the number of officers. This is the total number of sworn officers in the Deparbnent not the number of officers responding to calls. Once again, the Committee uses the number 239 as the number of days worked and as explained above, that number is more realistically 195. The Committee's calculations are not accurate. Applying this approach to the Detective Force there are 214 incidents requiring detective involvement (marked *D in the table above). While some incidents may have been resolved by the Patrol Force, these 214 incidents may be distributed across the 4 detectives (Detective Sergeant and 3 Detectives). (The other two detectives are assigned one to Juvenile Aide Bureau and D.A.R.E. Program, and one to the East-End Drug Task Force.) This results in 214/4 = 54 incidents per detective or (54/239)*5 = 1.1 incidents per detective week. This calculation did not include motor vehicle accident investigations where death or serious injury occurred. In this paragraph, the Committee indicates 214 incidents requiring detective involvement A check of the 2001 caseload book indicates 366 incidents handled through the Detective Division. These methods offer guidelines for staffing decisions. Workload is not the only indicator of productivity. Traffic stops, street investigations, and community interaction should also be considered. These activities may result in maintaining a consistently lower level of calls for service. In examining the computer printout of calls for police assistance in the Town (including Greenport) for 1994, which was provided by the STPD, it was determined that there was a need to filter the data. It is not clear that this had been done in prior studies. There were some activities which, while providing services desired by the citizens of the Town, were not related in any way to public safety. Two examples of such calls were escorting funeral processions, and opening locked cars. (Neither of these services are provided by the police of other East End Towns.) Another category of calls was found to be directing traffic 6A functions are performed as a public service and if, while an officer was performing them, a true call for police assistance was received, the officer could be dispatched to respond. Performing these functions does not therefore detract from the provision of true police protection, but does unduly inflate the number of calls. These activities should be considered as included in the non-call factor applied as a multiplier to the call data. See comment following next paragraph. The 1994 investigation also filtered the entire base of calls, so that comparison with prior IACP studies will show that study used a slightly lower number of calls. Call data used in the current study can reflect a more accurate requirement for police coverage. The call frequency data are presented according to categories of service some of which could be judged "non-essential" or elective police activities for the purpose of staffing calculations. (See Data Analysis and Appendix A.) These paragraphs state that the data was filtered in the 1994 study. It now appears to have been filtered for use again as the Committee used 7.608 as the number of incidents for the study period where there were over 14,000 incidents reported for 2001. If the study is to determine the accurate requirements for police coverage the total work load must be used. Contract Study The contract mandates 239 work days and 3 shifts (tours) of 12 midnight to 8 am, 8 am to 4 pm, and 4 pm to 12 midnight. To comply with this requirement the Department currently divides its Patrol Force into 4 Squads of 6 officers each. Because Officers have contractually been granted 2 additional days off at the end of each full cycle of tours, the department is operating 20% short-handed 80% of the time. In order to alleviate this problem innovative scheduling should be explored. The Department has set a minimum manning requirement of four officers on duty per shift but has indicated that 5 would be more desirable. Innovative scheduling may be the answer. The contract permits the use of Seasonal Officers from Memorial Day to Labor Day and seems to ignore the use of Part-Time Officers. The use of Seasonal Officers should be exploited and attempts made to extend the season from 4/1 to 12/31. Additionally, attempts should be made to break the ban on the use of certified Part-Time Officers. In order to attract qualified applicants it would seem that the part-time salary should be raised to a more realistic level. Issues to be considered There are two serious challenges in providing appropriate police staffing 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. First, the need for police coverage varies by month of the year, day of the week, and hour of the day. Generally, the peak requirement for police staffing is 7 expected to occur on a weekend evening in the months of July and August. Now, however, the Town's information systems can be used to analyze the dispatch/call data and Police Reports to obtain accurate and timely information on workload and demand for service. (See the Data Analysis presented later and in Appendix A which present the dispatch call frequency and duration by season, by month, by c tegory of service, and by shift for decision-making.) In this paragraph,there is a reference made to the "peak"requirements for police staffin_g and that is a contradiction to the data analyzed. The Committee states that the "peak"times are July and August and the data indicates eight(8)months of"peak"activity as opposed to the two summer months. !f the peak has become eight months of the year should it be considered the normal activity with a four month dip in activity? Second, the union contract is very restrictive regarding composition of shifts, granting of time off, vacation, personal, compensatory and sick time policies, and minimum size of squads. (See Appendix B: Agreement.) To take advantage of the products of the information system more flexibility is needed in the contract. 8 RESPONSE TO THE POLICE ADVISORY REPORT DATED 1018102- PAGE 25-STAFF REASSIGNMENT Staff Reassignment The Patrol Force is essentially fully staffed. If the Detective Force is returned to patrol there will be no need for new-hires and the force can be reduced simply by attrition. If the Detective Force is reassigned to patrol, who is going to be responsible for felony and all other types of investigations that are now handled by the Detective Division. Staffing levels at headquarters, officers who do not patrol or respond to calls, has risen noticeably since the 1994 study. At that time the Administrative Officer was a Patrolman, and the study questioned the need for a uniformed officer in this job. It was believed that clerical staff could perform the job functions. Today a Sergeant and a Detective perform the Patrol and Detective administrative functions, respectively. It is recommended that both positions be eliminated and the officers be reassigned to patrol duty. Contrary to what is stated above, there is one Sergeant assigned to the administrative functions in Headquarters as there was from 1968 until the early 90s when that iob was given to two people-a Police Officer and a Public Safety Dispatcher 111. Presently, these two positions are, once again, handled by one individual. The study performed by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice, Technical Support Division, in 1994, concluded that the Detective Sergeant and three Detectives should be reduced by one. Today there are a Detective Sergeant and three Detectives performing investigations, one detective assigned to the D.A.R.E. Program and Juvenile Bureau, and one detective assigned to the East-End Drug Task Force, and as noted fewer crimes. It is recommended that at least one, possibly two, detectives be reassigned to the patrol force. Streamlining the headquarters staff could result, in the long-term, of savings to the Town of approximately $300,000 to $400,000 per year. These savings will be realized through attrition, that is, not hiring replacements for officers who retire or leave on permanent disability. These savings will not affect public safety since these officers were not assigned to patrol. In 1994 the Town was served by four police sectors year round. Even though crime has declined since then the Town is now served by six sectors at some times and four at all times. The six sectors are needed during the high activity periods but not at all times. Unfortunately, with enough officers on the payroll to staff six sectors at some times, there are necessarily more officers than needed when only four sectors are deployed. It is recommended that there be an embargo on police hiring, and that as officers leave by retirement, or permanent disability, the Town vigorously pursue the hiring of seasonal or part-time officers for duty during high activity periods. This may require contract modification of the specified period during which seasonal officers are allowed in order to 25 accommodate the changes in the periods of high activity, e.g., extension into the Fall and early Winter. It is stated that in 1994 the Town had four(4)sectors. This paragraph insinuates that there were four(4)sectors in 1994 and it has been increased to six(6)sectors at this time.In the August 1994,proposal entitled"Proposal, in Response to the Greenport Village Board Reguest by Which the Town of Southold Would Provide Police Protection Within the Incorporated Villge of Greenport"authored by Bill Cremers, Chairman:John Cushman; Laury Dowd;Chief Droskoski;Joe Gold;Robert Keith and Bob Yaccarino, it is indicated that the Town has five(5)sectors. Upon the abolishment of the Greenport Police Department, Greenport Village became the sixth sector in 1994. Past studies have concluded that the union contract prohibits the use of seasonal officers in Southold. That is not true. The contract (Appendix B, para. 3.3a) states that"The Chief of Police or his designee shall have the right to deploy `Certified Seasonal Officers' who are actually on duty to perform functions (other than actual sector assignments) that are deemed necessary." This seems to preclude using seasonals on sector patrol. However, the next section (para. 3.3b) states that "Seasonal Officers may be used for all other assignments, including sector assignments, when the full-time complement of Police officers is depleted due to court appearances, medical absence or vacations, or in emergency conditions when the full-time complement of Police Officers is insufficient to insure adequate protection of life and property." This summer two officers were out on long-term disability, and there will be the usual amount of sick and other absence time. It appears that more use could be made of seasonal officers during periods of high activity, especially in the summer. The contract (Appendix-B, para. 7.12) permits assignment of officers from the 12 midnight to 8 am shift to a split shift, a continuous 8-hour period during the 4 pm to 12 midnight, and 12 midnight to 8 am shifts. This has the benefit of covering the active hours of the day, 6 pm to 2 am, without assigning officers to the more inactive tour, the midnight to 8 am shift. Using the split shift a sector can be covered with two shifts rather than three. The number of sector cars has risen from five (four plus Greenport in 1994) to six in a period when crimes have decreased. The reduction of one sector reduces the patrol force required by 3 patrol officers and using the 1.89 factor staffing would be reduced by 5 to 6 officers. Further study of the call data and its seasonal, daily and hourly patterns may produce further recommendations for flexible patrol coverage. Management Members must be fit for duty at all times. Unilaterally institute a policy of randomized drug and alcohol testing ( at least three times yearly or for cause). Create a policy for dealing with positive test results. 25A CHIEF'S RECOMMENDATIONS There are some items in the report that are contractual in nature and could be brought to tlae table when the Town negotiates with the PBA. The Advisory Committee recommends that the detective division should be reduced and this could be done by not replacing the detective on the East End Drug Task Force in,January, but I recommend that we continue to have personnel assigned to the task force as our involvement keeps them focused on our community. The Advisory Committee indicates that there is a need for more patrol personnel -whether we use their figure of 27 or adjust it and use my figure of 33 - there is a need to higher police officers. The Advisory Committee quoted the 1994 Division of Criminal Justice Service study and I shall also quote them: "The present organizational chart requires four squads rotating through the three tours of duty. To adequately staff the day shift, which requires 5 posts, each of the squads would require 5 officers plus 1 sergeant times the availability factor of 1.89 or 10 patrol officers and two sergeants per squad for a total patrol force of 40 police officers plus 8 sergeants. To reach this level of coverage the Town would need to hire an additional 20 patrol officers and promote 2 current patrol officers to the rank of sergeant." Since the 1994 study has been done, the police department calls for service has increased from 9,900 in 1994 to 14,066 in 2001. There have been 11,098 new home permits issued by our Building Department from 1997 to October 4, 2002. In 1988, the Southold Town Police Department had 43 sworn police officers and the Village of Greenport had their own Department. Since then, we have taken over policing duties in the Village of Greenport and, today, we have 42 sworn police officers. My recommendation as Chief of Police in the Town of Southold is that you increase our patrol force by six and replace all personnel that retire thereby bringing our budget staffing level to forty-nine (49) sworn officers. This will allow us to be a pro-active police department doing the job properly as opposed to a moratorium on hiring, which will cause us to be re-active responding to take a report of the crime rather then being there to prevent it. To establish this, you would have to hire a total of seven (7) officers and replace any officer who leaves.