MANPOWER DEPLOYMENT - AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH

• NCJ Number: 53153
• Journal: Police Chief Volume: 45 Issue: 12 Dated: (DECEMBER 1978) Pages: 58-61
• Author(s): D R SCALF
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 4 pages
• Corporate Author: International Assoc of Chiefs of Police
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A METHOD OF ANALYZING AN EXISTING BEAT SYSTEM AND CONSTRUCTING A NEW ONE TO ALLEVIATE IMBALANCE OF WORKLOAD AND IMPROVE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF DEPLOYMENT IN THE LIGHT OF CALLS FOR SERVICE IS DESCRIBED.

Abstract

THE ANALYSIS OF BEAT CONFIGURATION DESCRIBED WAS EMPLOYED BY THE LYNCHBURG, VA., POLICE DEPARTMENT IN 1977. THE STUDY AIMED AT MEASURING WORKLOAD, RESPONSE TIME, INVESTIGATION TIME PER CALL, HAZARD FACTORS, FLEXIBILITY, AND OVERALL EFFICIENCY OF THE EXISTING BEAT SYSTEM TO DETERMINE IF MODIFICATION WAS REQUIRED. THE PROJECT WAS DIVIDED INTO FIVE PHASES: DETERMINATION OF THE SAMPLE AND COLLECTION OF THE DATA (UNWEIGHTED EVENTS), CALCULATION OF PATROL BEATS, CLASSIFICATION OF WEIGHT FACTORS BY TIME AND SERIOUSNESS, APPLICATION OF WEIGHTED WORKLOAD PER BEAT PER WATCH, AND CONFIGURATION RECOMMENDATIONS. AFTER THE CALLS RECEIVED IN 1976 WERE TABULATED AND BROKEN DOWN BY WATCH, BEAT, AND SECTOR IN THE FIRST PHASE, THE SECOND PHASE INVOLVING THE CALCULATION OF PROJECTED BEATS WAS ACCOMPLISHED USING THE WORKLOAD FORMULA ESTABLISHED BY THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF POLICE CHIEFS. AFTER THE NECESSARY NUMBER OF BEATS WAS ATTAINED (THE EXISTING NUMBER OF NINE WAS RETAINED), THE PROPER CONFIGURATIONS OF EACH BEAT WAS DETERMINED, BASED ON WORKLOAD. TO ACCOMPLISH THIS, EACH OF THE CALLS IN THE SAMPLE WAS WEIGHTED ACCORDING TO THE NATURE OF THE CALL, THE DISPOSITION OF THE CALL, AND THE TIME ELEMENT INVOLVED IN HANDLING EACH CALL. AFTER EACH EVENT OR CALL WAS WEIGHTED ACCORDINGLY, THE TOTAL WEIGHTED WORKLOAD WAS ATTAINED FOR EACH SHIFT. THIS WAS COMPLETED BY TABULATING THE WEIGHTED WORKLOAD OF THE TOTAL CALLS PER SHIFT AND THEN TOTALING THE WEIGHTS. THE IDEAL WORKLOAD FOR EACH CONFIGURATION WAS DETERMINED BY DIVIDING THE TOTAL WEIGHT BY THE PROJECTED NUMBER OF BEATS. IT WAS DETERMINED THAT AN IMBALANCE WAS PRESENT IN SEVERAL OF THE EXISTING BEATS, AND REVISIONS WERE MADE IN BEAT CONFIGURATIONS TO ELIMINATE THIS. DATA FROM THE STUDY ARE PROVIDED. (RCB)