Workforce assessment method for an urban police department : Using analytics to estimate patrol staffing

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this research paper is to describe quantitative methods that assist police administrators with evaluating current staffing and justifying to local governing bodies the size of the patrol workforce required to meet performance benchmarks.

Design/methodology/approach

A discrete-event simulation model is developed to analyze various staffing levels and alternative scheduling scenarios. Input distributions are based on computer-aided dispatch (CAD) data from an urban police department. The results can be used to estimate the size of the patrol force needed to meet performance objectives.

Findings

The simulation model produces an estimate of the number of officers required to staff the department in order to meet benchmark goals. The output also indicates when and where patrol officers need to be added and shows performance plateaus where staffing increases only marginally improve performance. Observations on the trade-offs between meeting budget (via staffing) and benchmark goals are also provided.

Research limitations/implications

Assuming that the quality of CAD data is reliable, our model requires data for one year to generate the distributions needed for the simulation. The computation of staffing estimates requires a shift-relief factor, calculated by the department to account for times when officers cannot be scheduled.

Practical implications

This study suggests that the department should hire additional patrol officers or increase overtime hours in order to meet performance benchmarks.

Originality/value

In contrast to previous modeling approaches, our simulation does not rely on the assumption that the policing system is static or in a steady state.

Citation

Srinivasan, S., P. Sorrell, T., Paul Brooks, J., J. Edwards, D. and Diehl McDougle, R. (2013), "Workforce assessment method for an urban police department : Using analytics to estimate patrol staffing", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 36 No. 4, pp. 702-718. https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-10-2012-0100