NCJ Number
102266
Journal
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin Volume: 55 Issue: 7 Dated: (July 1986) Pages: 16-20
Date Published
1986
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Police personnel levels should be based on citizen calls for police service, investigative caseload practices, and the service delivery policy and procedures established by local government and community expectations.
Abstract
The traditional method of basing police staffing levels on community population is inappropriate for a modern mobile society. Data on service calls can be used to determine the number of uniformed officers required to answer those calls. The number of investigative officers required depends on the number of cases that require personnel for followup investigations. Staffing levels must also be related to the services traditionally expected of police in a given jurisdiction. When determining the optimum number of officers assigned to street patrol, the generally accepted practice across various agencies is to devote approximately 35 percent of patrol unit time to calls for service, 35 percent to patrol administrative duties, and 30 percent to nondirected patrol activity. This article describes procedures for calculating staffing needs in the aforementioned areas. 2 figures and 5 footnotes.