Variation in Officer Downtime: A Review of the Research

• NCJ Number: 212268
• Journal: Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management Volume: 28 Issue: 3 Dated: 2005 Pages: 388-414
• Author(s): Christine N. Famega
• Date Published: 2005
• Length: 27 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research); Literature Review
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This literature review summarizes and compares the methodology and findings of U.S. studies of patrol officer workload that address "downtime" (time not responding to citizen calls for service) and provide standardized estimates of downtime for comparison.

Abstract

Eleven studies of police workload selected for this review were published between 1970 and 2001 and used data collected through either dispatch records or systematic social observations of patrol officers. The studies report information for 13 U.S. police departments and averages for the 24 departments examined in the Police Services Study (1977). A consistent measure of downtime was estimated for each study. For the five studies that used data collected from dispatch records, the average amount of downtimes was 70 percent of a patrol officer's shift; for the six studies that used systematic social observation, downtime was 79 percent of a shift. Regardless of the data-collection method, the type of data reported, the classification system used, and the jurisdiction studied, patrol officers clearly had a lot of downtime available for restructuring. These findings support Kessler's (1993) argument that "much of the alleged overwork of patrol officers is an exaggeration," and the unpredictable aspect of dispatch calls may be the factor that leads officers to perceive that they spend their shifts continuously running from call to call. Workload studies that report both time spent on activities conducted in responding to calls for service and time spent on activities when not responding to calls for service (downtime) would provide more accurate information for the assessment of both reactive work, i.e., when citizens request police services, and proactive work, i.e., when police initiate activities at their own discretion or under the direction of their supervisors. 11 tables, 2 figures, 3 notes, and 39 references