Meriden Police Staffing Assessment

Personnel and Staffing Assessment Report

Meriden Police Department 04.11.2023

Prepared By: Nicholas D. Sherwood Deputy Chief of Police Administrative Services Bureau

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1

SECTION I: Introduction

SECTION II: Statement of Problem

CHAPTER 2

SECTION I: Executive Summary

SECTION II: Staffing Police Departments in the Modern Age

SECTION III: Patrol Staffing Assessment

Sub-Section IIIA: Supervisor and Management Span of Control

SECTION IV: Investigative Services Staffing Assessment

SECTION V: Administrative and Support Services

SECTION VI: Professional Development Staffing Assessment

SECTION VII: Internal Affairs Staffing Assessment

SECTION VIII: Accreditation Staffing Assessment

SECTION IX: Information and Technology Staffing Assessment

SECTION X: Community Services Staffing Assessment

SECTION XI: Management and Executive Services Assessment

SECTION XII: Total Calculated Staffing Suggestions

CHAPTER 3

SECTION I: Agency Comparisons

CHAPTER 4

SECTION I: Recommendations

SECTION II: Conclusion

CHAPTER 5 - References

CHAPTER 1

SECTION I, Introduction:

The Meriden Police Department is a mid-sized police agency within the State of Connecticut. The City of Meriden is a small city located within the central region of the state of Connecticut and is nicknamed the “Silver City” for its history in the silver trade during the 1800’s. The City of Meriden was incorporated by the State of Connecticut in 1867. Meriden has a current (2021) population level of approximately sixty-one thousand (61,000) residents spread over a twenty-four (24) square miles of land, with a dense population located in the downtown region of the city.

The Meriden Police Department was formed on Monday, September 28th, 1868 with the appointment of a Chief of Police and three (3) patrol officers. Since its inception, the Meriden Police Department has grown to become the twelfth (12th) largest police agency within the State of Connecticut with a current budgeted staffing level of one hundred twenty-three (123) sworn officer positions. The department is currently structured and divided into four (4) main divisions, with each division being comprised of various units, sections, offices and programs. The number of various services the Meriden Police Department offers to the community is vast and continues to increase.

SECTION II, Statement of Problem:

This report is designed to assess the staffing levels in relation to the increasing demands of modern policing services. The desire for more professional and community oriented policing is growing within the United States, within the State of Connecticut, and within the City of Meriden. Society is looking to police to be their protectors and to serve as guardians of peace, justice, and constitutional rights. Society is also asking for better trained and better educated

police officers. The numerous skills needed to serve as a police professional are vast and growing, “…today’s law enforcement agencies seek a new breed of officer one who possess the physical qualities traditionally associated with policing, such as strength and endurance, but also the emotional and intellectual characteristics needed to effect public order in an ever changing and increasingly diverse society” (Hess, Orthmann, Laude, 2016).

Society is also demanding increased transparency of police, expert professionalism, community oriented policing programs and philosophies, trackable and better technology, and more accountability. These are all understandable and reasonable expectations for society’s modern day peace officers; however, the increase of demands, standards, and expectations comes at a cost. This cost is both financial and in personnel. Training, education, professional development, technology, equipment, and specialized programs, such as community policing, cost money to implement, maintain, staff, and monitor. Additionally, our nation’s citizens are relying on police more than ever to protect and serve them in ways never thought of before. The days of the police serving as only a “crime fighter” or conducting basic law enforcement functions are antiquated concepts. Today, society wants and needs their police to serve still as crime fighters, but also as social workers, mediators, legal advisors, teachers, parental advisors, and peace keepers. To be able to accomplish this highlevel demand of police in our modern society, police must become more professional, more compassionate, more patient, more skilled, better trained, and more efficient overall than ever before.

The expectations of police continues, as they must also be experts in human behavior, ethically sound, and demonstrate extreme restraint in the face of threats and violence against their persons or even their families. This high demand is both taxing on a police agency and on

the individual officer’s wellness (mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual). In addition, this high demand on modern police agencies and officers requires constant training of the officers to ensure skills remain sharp, and their knowledge remains current. Physical skills, ethical wellness, officer wellness, and many other human abilities are perishable if not reviewed regularly and practiced consistently. The skills needed to be an effective police officer can fade or diminish without proper refresher training.

It is important to note that, “Effective policing has always required a unique combination of physical, cognitive, emotional, and interpersonal skills. Although the majority of an officer’s time spent on duty involves non-threatening duties such as responding to a traffic accident, it is necessary to prepare officers for the worse-case scenarios” (Blumberg, Scholosser, Papazoglua, & Creighton, 2019). Basic police training, intermediate police training, advanced police courses, and other types of professional development, such as ethics and leadership education, annual legal training updates, and officer and public safety skills cost money on two different ends; both for the training costs (tuition, fees) and to send the officers to the training, which results in the backfill of the officers primary position with overtime pay

It is also important to note that the complexity of the job of a police officer has increased within the State of Connecticut as well as across the country. For example, in the State of Connecticut, a recent change to how police officers are required to investigate motor vehicle accidents has changed. What once took an officer an average of 30-45 minutes to complete the investigation and report for a basic or simple crash, now takes upward of two or more hours.

Similar changes have also occurred with Domestic Violence Investigations, Mental Health Calls for Service, and many others. The most recent and time-consuming change deals with Risk Protective Orders (RPO), which took effect on July 1st, 2022. An RPO case averages a 4-hour

minimum investigation and follow up per officer involved. This depletes normal staffing levels on the streets, thus increasing the workload of other officers not attached to the RPO case. It is important to note that each RPO case likely results in overtime as well.

The Police Accountability Bill mandate for Tier III level State Accreditation (or CALEA) also causes a host of additional accountability and reporting requirements for many components within the police department. Routine inspections, accountability measures, reporting requirements, and other needed documentation are causing typical 40-hour workweek positions into 45, 50, or even 60-hour positions. While some of the mandates may be good for promoting a legitimate, trustworthy, and professional police agency, the mandates are also causing significant stress, poor morale, officer health issues, and many other concerns for the staff. The stress, lack of rest, and an abundance of work can contribute to mistakes and errors in judgement, which can be life or death in the policing profession.

To continue to demand more with less eventually reaches a point of saturation, especially when agencies can no longer meet the basic requirements of traditional policing needs and modern policing demands. The Meriden Police Department is no different, the requirements and mandated laws (both funded and unfunded) through the Municipal, State, and the Federal government continue to place a high demand and workload on the Meriden Police Department. Many of those requirements are becoming more and more difficult to meet. Doing “more with less is becoming accomplishing less with less.” The Meriden Police Department struggles at times to meet the various demands with a limited budget, fluctuating and inconsistent staffing levels, and some dated technology and equipment.

This assessment report and study is to determine appropriate and efficient staffing levels within the Meriden Police Department, by conducting thorough research, using empirical data, in

addition to conducting an internal workload analysis that will be looking at several factors, including: Calls For Service (Reactive Policing), Officer Initiated Activities (Proactive Policing), Special Services and Programs (Proactive Policing), Investigations (Reactive Policing), the demand for various enhanced services, and an overall needs assessment of policing services within the City of Meriden.

As noted earlier, over the past 20 years the workload and training requirements have increased significantly for police. Below are just some of the programs, mandates, training, and other requirements, which have increased the overall workload of the police over the past 20 years:

SECTION I: Executive Summary:

CHAPTER 2

This staffing assessment report presents information about the various factors that must be considered when staffing a police agency. The mission, standards, and expectations of a modern day police services agency continue to grow, as such so must the staffing of the agency. As mentioned, multiple mandates have been imposed onto police over the last several years, and especially since the passing of the CT HB 6004, The Police Accountability Bill in July 2020. The new mandates and expectations of police have created an unsustainable workload, forcing officers into overtime, causing extended and enhanced services to be cutback, and further causing other programs or assignments to “fall through the cracks.”

This report has been designed to provide an overview on current staffing levels within the Meriden Police Department, review many of those workload increases, and provide data associated with staffing level concerns. This report will also compare the Meriden Police Department to other, like size agencies, to compare and contrast the challenges and responses to the growing staffing crisis within the policing profession.

It should be noted that this report pulls on real world data and uses mathematical formulas to calculate and determine staffing levels within a modern police agency. Where data could not be collected, estimations are used and marked appropriately. Lastly, this report also relies on the professional expertise of those actively working within the profession, who possess

multiple degrees of formal education, numerous graduate level executive command professional development education courses, and decades of policing experience.

SECTION II: STAFFING A POLICE AGENCY

In assessment of the workload of modern police professionals, it is imperative to examine whether or not the Meriden Police Department has adequate staffing of personnel in order to meet the rising demands of the community and society as a whole. Staffing a Police agency has no easy determining factor. Unlike work within a factory or business where input / output measures can be assessed and obtained easily, policing needs and demands are not always predictable and may not have definitive metrics to measure. Staffing a police agency relies on the combination of the three (3) types of policing assessments:

1. Planned and Predictable

2. Unknown but Predictable

3. Unknown and Unpredictable

Historically, staffing a police agency has been done by a few different methods; some of which have since been determined to be inefficient (example: minimum-staffing approach or the authorized level approach) and others that have no clear means about how exactly to calculate the needed personnel

Calculating the proper staffing levels for a police agency can be accomplished through a couple of different methods noted below:

1. The Per-Capita Approach

The “per capita” method uses the population being policed by a particular agency (e.g. Meriden Police policing the citizens of Meriden) as a determining factor as to how many police officers are needed within an agency. For the City of Meriden, which claims a population of approximately 60,517 (2021 census) people, the Meriden Police Department is budgeted for one hundred twenty-three (123) sworn police officer positions though staffing issues have averaged the number of deployable officers at , thus providing 2.03 officers per 1000 residents. This would include all sworn police personnel including administrative and command level officers. This is below the national average projected by the FBI of 2.4 officers per 1000 residents (fbi.gov). If Meriden were to follow this guideline in accordance with the FBI’s data average, the Meriden Police Department should have closer to one hundred forty-six (146) sworn officers. This approach to determining staffing is somewhat antiquated and does not necessarily offer a proper policing needs based assessment for the population to police ratio within a town or city.

2. The Work-Load Analysis Approach – The preferred method of calculating appropriate staffing levels within a police agency. This approach utilizes the following factors as suggested in the book Police Management & Supervision, (Hess, Orthman & Ladue, 2016) and by I.M.P.A.C.T. Consulting in determining the number of police officers needed:

a. Calls for Service (CFS)

b. Average time officers spend on a call for service

c. Calls for Service requiring back-up (second officer)

d. Calls for Service that require a police report

e. Average time spent on report writing

f. Calls for Service that require follow-up / investigation

g. Average time spent on investigations

h. Mandated Training Hours

i. Proactive vs. Reactive Police Ratio

i. 50 proactive / 50 reactive (this study)

ii. 60 proactive / 40 reactive (recommended)

iii. 70 proactive / 30 reactive (ideal)

j. Distribution of calls for service

i. Response time / Lag time

ii. Total elapsed time for a call for service (CFS)

k. Nature of the calls

i. Part One Crimes

ii. Part Two Crimes

iii. Traffic Accidents

l. Number of Arrests

m. Attrition Rates (Turnover)

n. Span of Control (Supervisor to sub-ordinate)

o. Miscellaneous responsibilities

p. Time-off (sick and personal time)

q. Mandated programs

i. POSTC Mandates

ii. City Mandates

iii. Policy Mandates

iv. Legislative Mandates

v. Police Accountability Bill

1) Body Cameras

2) Accreditation (State Tier III Level)

3) Increased Training Mandates

r. Performance objectives and goals

s. Service & Program requests, expectations, & demands from citizens

As noted the “Work-Load Analysis” method of staffing assessments is the most accurate means of determining how many police officers a department and community should have to fulfill their mission, as well as meet the expectations and demands from the public. The unfortunate issue with this type of assessment is that many police departments do not track the needed data to be able to provide an accurate projection of their actual staffing needs. The Meriden Police Department is one of those departments. Much of the information used in this study had to be “data mined” through the internal computer systems of the department. If the information could not be located, as noted earlier, conservative estimations were used, as was the expertise of the current executive command staff

3. The Sixty Percent (60%) Rule – A concept that states that the patrol division of any police agency should consist of approximately 60 percent of the total number of sworn personnel within the department. (McCabe, 2013) This would place the additional 40% into the various support services, investigative services, administrative services, and enhanced services aspects of a police agency.

Other Considerations (Officer Wellness):

One of the considerations when determining staffing of a police agency should be to incorporate “Officer Wellness,” which is a growing field of study and has been mentioned (Pillar 6) in President Barrack Obama’s task force report “21st Century Policing” (May 2015). This report, as well as extensive research and studies completed by Psychologist Doctor Kevin Gilmartin delve into the physical, emotional, and psychological aspects of policing in today’s society. Multiple studies have indicated that prolonged hypervigilance caused by the policing profession, as well as the lack of appropriate rest (sleep) brought on by the demands of shift work, failure of officers to achieve a healthy and proper work-life balance due to work demands, and the lack of perceived support or actual support by society, the media, and politicians of police all contribute to poor officer wellness. Poor officer wellness can serve as a contributing factor of poor decision making.

Additionally, police today face not having or being able to obtain enough time-off, and are being forced into mandated overtime due to improper police staffing levels. This overwork has been proven to contribute to high stress, poor judgement and decision making, higher than average divorce rates, higher than average suicide rates, poor and chronic health conditions (cancer, diabetes, obesity, etc…), cynical attitudes, and numerous other negative behaviors. The low staffing levels within a police agency contribute to the numerous negative consequences listed above and the Meriden Police Department is not immune to the noted negative impacts brought on by the stressors of the profession. The lack of appropriate staffing for the growing workload and officer “burnout” can been proven in the increase of mandated overtime shifts throughout the years. The chart below lists the mandated (forced) overtime shifts over a five year span (2018 – 2022). The number grows significantly over the studied

time span. Forcing officers into double or even triple shifts over the years takes its toll and is unhealthy for the officer; it further creates both a public safety and officer safety concern, and can impair the judgement and decision making of the officer. The forced overtime also places undue stress on the officer’s family causing a host of other personal and professional issues for the officer. Lastly, it has also been estimated to have cost the City $237,331.20 over the five (5) year span studied.

The continued increase of mandated shifts has occurred for a few reasons:

1. Increased mandated training requirements

2. Increased legislative mandates on processes and procedures for casework investigations

3. Increased workload from other legislative mandates (reporting and accountability measures)

4. And the lack of overall manpower to meet the growing demands

It should be noted that with every single mandate, there exists an upset in the personal life of the officer being forced into a double shift, as well as that officer’s family. It further causes a an unnecessary financial strain on the Police Department’s overtime budget, lowers morale, and impacts the operational efficiency and effectiveness of the agency. Furthermore, it should be noted that while the mandated overtime shifts have increased,

the staffing of the agency continues to remain relatively the same, meaning the mandates are not being caused by lower than normal staffing levels, but by the previously mentioned reasons noted above and other mitigating factors (Generational, Burn Out, Loss of Support, Etc...)

Proactive / Reactive Policing Time Ratio

Personnel and Staffing Assessment Report 2023

** NOTE: This estimation does not include all time-off allotted per the CBA to staff. Additional time off (Personal Days, Holiday Choice Days, Comp Time, Earned Days, etc…) would increase the total number of officers needed.

Please note that the calculation of 79 patrol officers is the number of line level officers needed for the patrol division only and not for special assignments (SRO, NI Unit, Task Force Officers, etc…), nor does it include support staff, supervision, command, or management positions.

5.

6.

7. TOTAL AVAILABLE TIME: 480 – 371 = 109 minutes (1 hour 49 minutes) 22.7% non-committed time per shift

* The Reactive Committed Time Average was obtain by selected a sample size of the agency (10% or 12 patrol officers) and obtaining their committed work time (noted above) and available time for the calendar years of 2018 – 2022. Then, an average of the sample size was applied for the agency as a whole. It should be noted committed work time and available time can vary due to numerous mitigating factors such as:

 Time of Day (Shift), Day of Week, Month, Seasons

 Changes in law (New RPO Law took effect in later 2022 and was not calculated in this estimation)

 Weather

 Patrol Sector within the City

 Unpredictability of Crime or Calls For Service (CFS)

It should be noted that the difference between the committed time and available time greatly exceeds the recommendations of Nation Institute of Justice (US Department of Justice, 1985) that recommends the previously mentioned 50 percent committed time (reactive), 50% available (proactive) time that can be used for traffic enforcement, community policing and interaction, directed patrols, foot patrols, extra checks, etc…

Sub-Section

IIIA, Supervisory and Management Rules on Span of Control:

Building an organization, any organization, is most successful by building staffing levels from the “ground up,” or the line level personnel first. Using the above data, and utilizing the mathematical equations to determine the number of recommended officers at a 50% proactivity rate and 50% reactivity rate has slated the agency at an estimated seventy-nine (79) patrol officers. In addition, establishing staffing needs of supervision, management, support services, investigative services, and administrative support services.

In examining and calculating the supervisory needs for the Meriden Police Department, the study used the recommended span of control theory established by Karen Hess, in her book Police Patrol: Operations & Management. In her book, she states that, “the span of control should be neither too broad nor too narrow” (Hess, 2004). She goes on to state that “Generally speaking, a span of control greater than eight would probably be considered excessive in the patrol force” (Hess, 2004).

In the book Management & Supervision in Law Enforcement, the book notes “…the greater the span of control, the less effective the management or supervision” (Hess, Orthmann & Ladue, 2016). Meriden Police Department’s policy indicates that the span of control should fall between 6-8 line level (patrol) personnel. Utilizing the above information this study used

seven (7) as the baseline of supervisory staffing as being the average. (Accepted Ratio 1:7)

Considering the supervisor to subordinate equation the total number of patrol officers were then divided by the number seven (79/7) which equates out to 11.29 immediate supervisors (Sergeants). As with the other calculations, you cannot have a fraction of a person, so you would need to round up making the total twelve (12) first-line patrol supervisors.

It should be noted that this calculation is based on an even divide, but officer deployment is not conducted in the same manner. Officer deployment is based on calls for service (CFS) volume, time of day, day of the week, etc… Additionally, the Meriden Police Department staffs a supervisor on the Operations desk for patrol, but this supervisor has very limited abilities to oversee, or directly supervise officers on the streets, thus should not be counted in the staffing. Thus, it can be argued that within patrol there needs to be an additional nine (9) first-line supervisors (three per shift to rotate the operations desk position). As the Meriden Police Department always deploys between 8-15 officers on the road, there should always be, at a minimum, two (2) supervisors (sergeants) also deployed on the road to ensure proper supervision and span-of-control ratios.

Next, the determination would be to establish the needed number of Lieutenants and Captains. The previously mention books, all seem to be in line and agree that the span of control narrows as the hierarchy climbs. Utilizing this notion, the average span of control for middle management has been recommended at three (3) to five (5) or average of four (4) subordinates to one manager. So, having three patrol (3) Lieutenants and ultimately one (1) Captain within the uniformed patrol division would be recommended.

If you were to apply the 60% rule to the derived number of 94 within the Patrol Division, you would need to staff the agency at 168 total sworn personnel (94 is approximately 60% of 133).

NOTE: The span of control philosophy and accepted practices are utilized throughout this report in the determination of appropriate levels of supervision, middle management ranks, senior management ranks, and executive management ranks.

NOTE 2: It should be noted that current staffing levels often place supervisor to subordinate officer ratios at 1:12 – 1:17, which far exceeds the recommended basic levels by more than double.

SECTION IV, Investigative Services Division Staffing:

Determining the staffing needed for the investigative section tends to be a little more challenging. Quantifying the time required to investigate a case is almost impossible, as it varies greatly and some cases are never solved. For the investigative work, a caseload analysis, based on estimated averages and generalized rules was utilized to assist in determining the appropriate or recommended staffing levels for these services. Additionally, there are two (2) general practices on determining the work-load for an Investigations Division, which are derived from the researched article by Sheriff William Prummell, Charlotte County, Florida (2006), which states:

1. The five percent (5%) rule – which generalizes that approximately five percent (5%) of all annual Calls For Service (CFS) are referred to, assigned, or require investigative services assistance.

2. The Average Detective to Case-load Analysis – This practice was researched base as it assessed the of cases assigned to Investigative Personnel (Detectives) in several police agencies and determined the following:

a. Average number of cases assigned to Detectives Monthly = 12 – 18

b. Average number of cases assigned to Detectives Annually = 144 – 180

c. Average of above is 13.5 cases monthly or 162 annually

d. Recommended case load per the study = 6 – 9 cases monthly or 7.5 cases on average (72 – 108 annually or 90 cases per detective annually)

3. Also, pulled from the 2006 study, the following are used as averages for investigation time on certain types of cases:

Persons Crimes

• Robbery (armed, home invasion, bank) 29.7 hrs

• Aggravated Assault/Battery 25.1 hrs

• Missing Persons 16.2 hrs

• Sexual Battery 15.6 hrs

• Lewd & Lascivious 6.8 hrs

• Child Abuse 3.8 hrs

• Child Pornography 8.9 hrs

• Death Investigation (suicides, unattended deaths) 13.8 hrs

• Homicide 146.7 hrs

Property Crimes

• Burglary 12.2 hrs

• Theft (grand theft, GTA) 6.74 hrs

• Robbery (strong arm) 10.5 hrs

• Missing Persons (runaways) 2.4 hrs

• Prescription Fraud 6.46 hrs Economic Crimes

• Credit Card Fraud 17.58 hrs

• Forgery/Uttering 6.75 hrs

• Counterfeiting 14.35 hrs

• Identification theft 1.83 hrs

Currently the Meriden Police Department’s Investigative Services Division (Also known as the Detective Division) is budgeted for one (1) Detective Lieutenant, four (4) Detective Sergeants and seventeen (17) Detectives. These are all separate, testable, and promotable positions within the agency. For example, a Detective Sergeant is promotable position above that of a patrol sergeant, but lower than a patrol lieutenant. The Division is sub-divided into four (4) specialized units: Major Crimes Unit, Special Crimes Unit, Evidentiary Services Unit, and the Crime Suppression Unit. Each unit specializes in specific aspects of detective work and is staffed accordingly. Major Crimes boasts the largest

Meriden Police Investigative Services Division Case Load

unit with eight (8) detective level positions. Special Crimes is staffed with four (4) detectives, the Crime Suppression Unit has three (3) detectives and the Evidentiary Services Unit has two (2) detectives. It is also important to note that case work is not distributed evenly per Detective, but based on the needs of the case and the specialty of the Detective. There is no hour based tracking system for investigative casework, only a clearance rate. That being said, some cases can be investigated and solved within hours others can take years or even decades (cold cases). Another means of trying to determine the appropriate staffing levels for the Meriden Police Investigative Unit, is to examine the current ratio of patrol staffing and recommended staffing was utilized to assist in deciding the number of recommended personnel needed within the Investigative Services Division. According to calculation chart (Chapter 2, Section I) the Meriden Police Department should have a staffing level of seventy-nine (79) patrol officers. The current levels have been determined to be allotted for seventy-five (75) officer positions (NOTE:

Of the 75 officer positions, several are assigned to special assignments, support services, task forces, and other non-patrol functions). This equates to a staffing shortage of approximately 5%.

If the same percentage shortage (5%) was applied to the current staffing levels of the Meriden Investigative Division, the calculations equate to .85 detectives; which is rounded up to one (1) Detectives. Bringing 17 + 1 =18 Detectives, which is eight (8) below the 26 detectives recommended utilizing the previous discussed formula. The average of the two formulas equates to twenty-four (24) Detectives.

This recommendation would maintain the Detective Lieutenant position, as is, where the spanof-control already matches the recommended level.

SECTION V, Administrative and Support Services Staffing Levels:

In looking at the support or administrative side of police work, for appropriate staffing levels the current levels were studied throughout the various components of the agency, such as, Internal Affairs, Professional Development (AKA: Training), Information and Technology, Command, and Executive Command. Most of the areas, such as training, were enhanced due to the growing demand and complexity of the required training police must endure in our age of modern policing. While some training can be streamlined and better conducted through technological and non-formal means (roll calls, during shifts, PowerDMS, etc…) the Meriden Police Department maintains high levels of expectations for training, specifically high liability issues (pursuits, use of force, firearms).

Administrative staffing positions were reviewed in contrast to the growing administrative demands (Accreditation, Inspections, Audits, Reporting Requirements, Grants, Accountability, etc…). While technologies aid in assisting in many of the administrative requirements; programs, like Police Officer Scheduling Systems (POSS), NexGen, or PowerDMS, require consistent upkeep, maintenance, data input, and routine updates to ensure the information is reliable, valid, and relevant. This equates to the need for personnel to be assigned to manage and facilitate such programs.

The Administration and Support Services staffing was broken down into the following categories and based on a workload analysis of each unit.

1. Professional Development (AKA: Training)

2. Internal Affairs

3. Information and Technology

4. Management / Command

5. Executive Management

SECTION VI, Professional Development Staffing (3 – 5 positions)

As mentioned above, training has always been considered a critical and high liability function for police work, especially as of late (Presidential Task Force on 21st Century Policing, Pillar Five). It is recommended, “… a department having more than 100 full-time employees, the responsibility of training should be assigned to at least one full-time individual who can devote their time to this effort” (Hale, 2004). In examining the staffing recommended thus far (roughly 150+ sworn staff), it can be said that the Meriden Police Department should have at least two (2) assigned persons, one of which should be a supervisor within the department’s training unit. A supervisor is needed due to the complexity and supervision requirements of monitoring training needs for certified and entry-level officers, supervising all department instructors, as well as monitoring the Field Training Officer Program and issuing of training orders.

Another aspect to note about staffing within the Professional Development Unit concerns the current programs and projects that need to be managed, as well as new projects that have become mandated over the past few years. In the peer reviewed scholarly article “The Effectiveness

in Managing a Group of Multiple Projects” by Peerasit Patanakal and Dragan

Milosevic, an average was taken of the suggested number of projects a single project manager could effectively manage, which ranged from 2-12 projects, which averages out to 5.8 projects per person. It should be understood that project management depends greatly on the scope of the project when determining oversight, management, and facilitation of such. Some projects may only take a couple of hours, while others may take weeks, months, or years. Because of this, this report used the previously mentioned average to calculate staffing needs.

The current list of projects, responsibilities, and assignments associated to the Professional Development Unit is twenty-nine (29) individual tasks.

29 / 5.8 = 5 personnel

Averaging out the recommendation of 2 personnel (Hess, 2004) and 5 personnel (Patanakal and Milosevic (2008) equals 3.5 personnel, which can be rounded up or down based on needs.

SECTION VII , Internal Affairs Staffing (3 positions)

As with other sections of the Police Department, Internal Affairs staffing utilized a caseload analysis and the average number of hours spent on each case. It is important to note that the Internal Affairs Unit is further tasked with internal audits, inspections, quality control practices, and accountability measures for the agency. Furthermore, the unit personnel serve as the lead for all public information disseminations.

Internal Affairs is a vital unit within the agency, entrusted to conduct investigations on officers for ethical and integrity violations, excessive use of force complaints, and all administrative investigations. Because of the importance of the assignment, only staff that hold ranks at Sergeant or higher are authorized to serve within the position. Due to the assessed workload and critical importance of the assignment, it is recommended that a third investigator be assigned to the position.

SECTION VIII, Accreditation Program (One (1) position):

The Accreditation Program for the Meriden Police Department follows the Connecticut Police Officer Standards and Training Council State program. The State Program recommends that the agency’s Accreditation Manager should be staffed by one (1) full-time position. Per the 2020 Police Accountability Bill, all agencies must obtain a State Accreditation Tier III level certification or CALEA by 2026. The Meriden Police Department is currently ranked at a Tier II level Accredited Agency.

Currently the Accreditation Manager position is the lateral assignment of the Deputy Chief of Administrative Services, and it is not a full-time position in and of itself, as is recommended by POSTC. Based on the recommendation of the POSTC, a full-time Lieutenant should be assigned to this position, as it can require command level access and is a basic management position. A second recommendation is that it is “civilianized” and a retired police expert can fill into the position, thus alleviating the responsibility from the Deputy Chief of Administration and allow that position to focus on compliance, reports, policy development, and policy management, and assisting the Chief of Police in the overall management of the agency.

SECTION IX: Information and Technology Staffing Assessment (5-6 Personnel)

One of the fastest growing segments of our agency is the information and technology unit. This unit alone is responsible for vital information and communication technologies that serve the agency, the officers, and the public. With a conservative estimate of thirty (30) different programs, projects, and responsibilities, the IT Unit is one of the busiest in the agency. Calculating this sections staffing will use the same rules as applied to other sections, which is to use the general rule of 5.8 projects per person, thus:

30 projects divided by 5.8 projects per person = 5.17 recommended staffing

The unit only has two (2) full-time personnel currently, and one (1) Division Commander, who’s time is split with other work. Bottom-line, this unit is understaffed for the work allotted.

SECTION X: Community Services Staffing Assessment

The community services unit within the Meriden Police Department has served as a vanguard in the community policing philosophy within the City for decades. The unit is comprised of the Neighborhood Initiative Program, and the School Resource Officer (SRO) Program. The commanding officer (usually a Lieutenant) oversees and manages dozens of programs and numerous staff, which has fluctuated over the years based on budgetary availability, needs, and active staffing levels within the agency.

It should be noted that the Community Services Unit, while vital to the agency and community, is not considered an “essential” program. That being said, this study will review the recommended staffing levels of the unit based on its known and current responsibilities.

General Breakdown of Assignments:

 27 neighborhoods / 3 neighborhoods per officer = 9 officers

 34 Programs / 5.8 = 5.86 or 6 officers

 13 schools (2 HS, 3 MS, 8 ES) = six (6) SROs

 Sub-Total = 21 officers (span of control 1:7 = 3 Sergeants and 1 Lieutenant)

 Total = 25 personnel

SECTION XI: Management and Executive Services Assessment

When calculating the Management and Executive Management levels, this study begins to look into the structure of an organization. The Meriden Police Department is comprised of four (4) Divisions, which are made up and oversee various units, offices, and programs. Based

on the span of control practice and rank structure, Division Commanders are typically senior level managers (Detective Lieutenants and Captains).

As the level of risk and responsibility increases with higher levels of management, it is structured that two (2) divisions report to one (1) Bureau Chief (Deputy Chief Rank). Each Bureau Chief reports to the Chief of Police, but it can be argued that a middle Chief rank (Assistant Chief) be established as a more formal second-in-command for the Department. Thus is suggested as follows:

 One (1) Chief of Police

 One (1) Assistant Chief of Police

 Two (2) Deputy Chiefs of Police or Bureau Chiefs

 Four (4) Division Commanders (Captain or Detective Lieutenant Ranks)

SECTION XII: Total Calculated Staffing Suggestions

Personnel and Staffing Assessment Report 2023

CHAPTER 3

SECTION I, Agency Comparisons & Historic Rank Structure of Meriden PD

The above information was obtained through historical research into the Department, utilizing old personnel rosters and budget books.

CHAPTER 4

Section I, Recommendations:

It is understood the numerous calculations and estimates contained within this report can be viewed as both idealistic and even unrealistic considering the cost that would be associated with such a feat, but this report does regardless reflect the need for the Meriden Police Department to expand in the area of personnel to meet the growing needs, standards, expectations, and demands being placed onto the agency and the profession. There needs to be efforts made to bring the current allotted staffing levels of one-hundred and twenty-three (123) closer to the idealistic (perfect scenario) estimate of one-hundred sixty-eight (168).

One suggestion is to average the various staffing recommendations and current levels:

Current Levels: 123

Population Ratio Recommendation: 146

CFS (Work-Load Analysis) Patrol Recommendation: 168

“Rule of 60” recommendation: 133

Average of above calculations: 142.5 or 143 sworn personnel

Regardless of the method used, this report concludes that the Meriden police Department undoubtedly needs more staffing to meet the current and growing demands.

Sub-Section 1A, Recommendation 1:

The first recommendation to improve the staffing levels within the Meriden Police Department is to address the issue one (1) to three (3) positions at a time. The executive command staff can begin to add these needed positions to the budget slowly and annually, every fiscal year, using this study, as well as other considerations, to justify the additional needs. The argument can be based on the noted concern that the current staffing levels within the Meriden

Police Department, can cause the department to struggle to offer enhanced policing programs and services to the citizens and residents of the City. Additionally, with the increased mandates on modern police, the staffing is needed to ensure these programs are followed.

While adding positions one (1) to three (3) positions at a time is likely to be a lengthy process, and fails to offer an immediate solution to the struggling staffing levels currently in place; the slow and predictable process can be argued to be one of the most cost efficient. Furthermore, it will allow for proper planning and anticipation for the increasing budgets that become inevitable with the increase in staffing. It will be important to remember that when adding personnel, there are more than just the costs of each officer added. Salaries and fringe benefits are only one layer of cost. The additional layers come in the form of equipment, vehicles, training, insurance, workers compensation, work space (bigger building or additions to the current Police Headquarters), and etcetera. The rising costs of “doing business” are inevitable, even in the business of policing.

Sub-Section 1B, Recommendation 2:

A second recommendation would be for the Meriden Police Department to actively seek grants to help fill some of the recommended positions, without adding immediate costs to the agency. Grants such as the “COPS Grant” can aid in helping an agency increase their staffing; however it is noted that the funds to increase the staffing often come with specific stipulations on how or where you can assign the provided staffing. That being said, grants still offer a small step towards the ultimate goal of increasing the size of the department.

Sub-Section 1C, Recommendation 3:

Another option is to accept the staffing levels as they are allotted currently and simply evaluate the services provided. Cutting back, elimination, or reducing the enhanced services

(Community Policing, SRO Program, Traffic Enforcement, etc…) would be the only way to “do more with less ” This is not ideal, but management concepts such as consolidation, regionalization, civilianization, and other methods of “doing more with less” could and have aided in “getting by” with the current levels of staffing. Conducting routine work-load analysis and cost-analysis should be done at least annually (when time and staffing allow) to review and evaluate the best allocation for the resources (personnel) that are currently available. An example would be to reduce or reallocate the personnel within the Neighborhood Initiative Unit and place some of the staff back into patrol to ease the rising overtime costs and mandated overtime shifts on personnel.

Another example would be examining the collateral assignments, such as SWAT, Hostage Negotiations, and Accident Investigations. Many departments within the state have regionalized their specialized teams among two (2), three (3) or even more neighboring agencies thus building synergy and being able to “do more with less.” This could be especially helpful, as to reduce the number of officers needing to be assigned from within a department onto the specialized teams. Again, this would save on costs for training, equipment and replacement needs for staffing.

The extra savings created through regionalization (if proven cost effective) could be reinvested into the agency to increase the staffing levels of the Meriden Police Department, as well as, enhance the services provided to the city residents in the form of developing other determined needed services.

It is important to note that there is no guarantee that cutting services or even regionalization would prove effective in meeting the growing demands placed onto the policing profession. Further and in-depth studies would need to be completed prior to any efforts to

reduce, consolidate, or regionalize services.

Section II, Conclusion:

The most recommended course of action would be to implement a combination of all of the above listed suggestions. The Meriden police Department and the City of Meriden would certainly benefit from an increase in police officer staffing. The number of services that could be provided if staffing levels were higher would enhance the overall policing programs and services provide to the citizens of the City, building on the fundamentals of trust, accountability, transparency, and legitimacy.

Additionally, officer wellness, a vital component to the effectiveness and efficiency of providing police services would also significantly benefit. Morale within the department would likely increase as the promotional opportunities and different career paths would increase. Officers would be able to take time off as needed creating the much needed work-life balance. Mandated overtime would certainly decrease, which would contribute positively into the officer wellness. The need to increasing the staffing of the Meriden Police Department is inevitable. As noted throughout this report, the standards, expectations, and demands of modern police professionals continues to increase (rightfully so); as do the legal and ethical mandates imposed by legislation.

Some noted benefits for increasing staffing within the Meriden Police Department

Community Benefits

Police Department Benefits

Expansion of Community Services to the City Officer Wellness

Youth Mentorship Programs

Police Athletic League

Traffic Enforcement Unit for safer streets

Improved public safety

Youth and Criminal

Diversion Programs

Increased follow up on domestic violence cases and victim services

Specialized Units for Mental Health & Crisis Response

Increased lateral and promotional opportunities

Improved overall morale

Less forced (mandated) overtime

Increased ability for enhancement training

Increased ability to take time off

It is said “the best time to plant a tree is twenty-five years ago, the second best time to plant a tree is right now” (Chinese proverb), this proverb holds true for policing. If the American Policing System is to grow to be what society desires then it needs to start growing now. The Meriden Police Department needs to grow. Adopting a mix of the above stated recommendations, through slow, planned growth, utilizing some grants to help supplement the growth, and examining the services provided to learn to operate more efficiently, utilizing civilianization, regionalization, merging and consolidation of services will all aid in allowing the department to provide the best services to the community for which it serves.

References

Blumberg, D. M., Schlosser, M. D., Papazoglou, K., Creighton, S., & Kaye, C. C. (2019). New directions in police academy training: A call to action. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(24), 4941. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16244941

Cordner, G. W., & Scarborough, K. E. (2010). Police administration. Routledge.

Gilmartin, K. M. (2021). Emotional survival for law enforcement: A guide for officers and their families (2nd ed.).

Hale, C. D. (2004). Police patrol: Operations and management. Prentice Hall.

Hess, K. M., Orthmann, C. H., & LaDue, S. E. (2015). Management and supervision in law enforcement. Cengage Learning.

Iannone, N. F., Iannone, M. D., & Bernstein, J. (2009). Supervision of police personnel. Prentice Hall.

Levine, M. J., & McEwen, J. T. (1985). Patrol deployment. Department of Justice. https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/99803NCJRS.pdf

McCabe, J. (2013). An analysis of police department staffing: How many officers do you really need? An ICMA Center for Public Safety Management White Paper. https://icma.org/sites/default/files/305747_Analysis%20of%20Police%20Depart ment%20Staffing%20_%20McCabe.pdf

Patanakul, P. (2013). Key drivers of effectiveness in managing a group of multiple projects. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 60(1), 417. https://doi.org/10.1109/tem.2012.2199993

Poole, L. (2017). Lecture Notes: Command Officer Development Course [PowerPoint].

IMPACT Policing.

Prummell, W. (2006). Allocation of Personnel: Investigations. https://evawintl.org/wp-

content/uploads/FDLEDetecivecaseload.pdf

United States Government. (2015). Final report of the president's task force on 21st century policing May 2015. Department of Justice.