Town of Clarkstown Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis September 7, 2016 Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis Table of Contents Introduction 1 Executive Summary & Background 3 Summary of Recommendations 7 Observations and Recommendations Recommendation 1 – Appointment of Police Commissioner 9 Recommendation 2 – Internal Affairs Officer 9 Recommendation 3 – Schedule Adjustment to Reduce O.T. 10 Recommendation 4 – O.T. Earned in Patrol while on Vacation 14 Recommendation 5 – Scheduling for Officer Training 15 Recommendation 6 – Payroll Processing 16 Recommendation 7 – Budgeting for Specialized Part-Time Units 17 Recommendation 8 – Use of Compensatory Time 18 Recommendation 9 – Consideration of 10 Hour Shift Model 19 Recommendation 10 – Civilianization 21 Recommendation 11 – Evidence Room Procedures 22 Recommendation 12 – Collaboration with Rockland County District Attorney’s Office Recommendation 13 – Organizational / Management Structure 24 Recommendation 14 – Midnight Patrol Shift Adjustments 26 Recommendation 15 – Patrol Supervision 32 Recommendation 16 – Detective Bureau 33 Recommendation 17 – Shared Services Opportunities 37 25 Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis Introduction In April 2016, The Bonadio Group initiated a review of the Town of Clarkstown’s (the “Town”) Police Department (the “Department”) and its public safety responsibilities and functions. The purpose of the analysis is to assist the Town to deliver high quality, resident oriented public safety services, at an efficient cost consistent with the Town’s needs, current budget and budget projections. The study included analysis and recommendations primarily concerning the following: a) Police Department’s current organization b) Police Department’s current work load and responsibilities to the Town c) Police Department’s current rules and regulations, standard operating procedures and General Orders d) Police Department’s historical, current and projected overtime costs e) Police Department’s utilization of their own Records Management System f) Analysis of all Police Department specialized units in terms of need, historical use, and duplication of services g) Identification of options for efficiency improvements including the potential utilization of shared services and regionalization From April through August 2016, to meet the objectives of the study, the Bonadio Group performed consulting procedures including, but not limited to, the following:  Conducted one-on-one interviews with the Town Supervisor, the Town Attorney, and the Town Comptroller to identify overall issues and challenges faced by the Town as is relates to the Police Department, as well as the goals and objectives of this efficiency analysis.  Conducted one-on-one interviews with the Chief of Police and the key leadership of the Police Benevolent Association (PBA) in order to understand the organization and operations, staff roles and responsibilities, workload and service levels, and any specific challenges they face in the delivery of public safety services.  Conducted on-on-one interviews with a cross section of officers, supervisors, administrators, dispatchers, and support staff from the Patrol Division, the Detective Bureau, Information Technology, Records Management, Special Operations, Emergency Management, and the Evidence/Property Room. These interviews were purposed specifically to gain information on how the Department functions and the role-specific responsibilities of the members of the Department.  Worked with the Information Technology Department (I.T.) and the Strategic Intelligence Unit (SIU) to obtain workload data from the CAD system and the POS system, as well as from other sources to identify workload/call data, overtime and vacation data, payroll data, and other miscellaneous data to analyze the key performance indicators associated with each data set.  Met with the Rockland County District Attorney and the Rockland County Sheriff to discuss current initiatives, possible shared services opportunities, and ongoing collaborative efforts such as Strategic Intelligence Unit, Drug Task Force, and the Organized Crime Unit. 1 Page Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis  Obtained and analyzed the 2015 and 2016 financial statements and miscellaneous financial reporting from the Town of Clarkstown.  Reviewed the General Orders and other pertinent policies and procedures within the Department that govern the day to day activities.  Analyzed workflow, management, and departmental organization for redundancies or inefficiencies in operations.  Developed an overall Departmental Organizational Chart for all divisions within the Department to summarize the overall structure of the Department.  Examined the systems and software applications that the Department uses to manage, document, and accomplish its mission.  Where appropriate, consulted with our network of law enforcement contacts to gain insight and feedback as it relates to specific law enforcement situations and/or expertise. Summary of Roles and Responsibilities We were not engaged to, and did not; conduct an audit, the objective of which would be the expression of an opinion on the policies and procedures in place surrounding the functions within the Clarkstown Police Department operations. Accordingly, we do not express such an opinion. Had we performed additional procedures, other matters might have come to our attention that would have been reported to you. This consulting engagement report is intended solely for the information and use of the Town of Clarkstown and is not intended to be and should not be used by anyone other than those specified parties. We are independent within the meaning of, and comply with the applicable requirements of, Rule 101, “Independence”, and related Interpretations and Rulings of the Code of Professional Conduct promulgated by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. We have provided these recommendations based on our observations during the work requested by you. You are responsible for making all management decisions and for performing management functions in association with our recommendations. 2 Page Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis Executive Summary and Background The Town of Clarkstown is located in Rockland County, NY and is a community of approximately 46.9 square miles, with a population of 85,801. The Town employs approximately 450 full time employees. The Town of Clarkstown Police Department currently consists of 162 full-time sworn officers and 24 fulltime civilian employees. The Police Department’s 2016 Adopted Budget, including dispatch services, health benefits, pension, and taxes is $49,276,008 which represents about 34% of the total Town budget. The Clarkstown Police Department (the Department) provides law enforcement services for the Town of Clarkstown (the Town) in Rockland County, New York. To provide these services, the Chief of Police is assisted by a management team consisting of an Operations Captain, an Administrative Captain, a Detective Lieutenant, an Administrative Lieutenant, and a Special Operations Lieutenant. Additionally, there are four Lieutenants in the Patrol Division that fulfill management level responsibilities. The Chief of Police reports to the Town of Clarkstown Town Board, which also serves as the police commission for the Town. The Bonadio Group (Bonadio) was engaged by the Town to perform consulting services, with the purpose of evaluating the current operating policies and procedures of the Department and to make recommendations for the Department to maximize efficiency where appropriate. Given the current financial environment and budget shortfalls the Town is forecasting over the next five years, and the fact the Police Department represents 34% of the overall Town budget, the Town feels it makes fiscal sense to look for efficiency opportunities within the Police Department. Like any engagement of this type, we relied on the cooperation of members of the Department and their willingness to share information and insights into how they accomplish their law enforcement objectives while operating within budgetary constraints. Throughout the engagement we experienced a high level of cooperation from all levels within the Department, with one individual being pulled from his regular assignment to act as our on-site liaison while we were conducting our procedures. However, there were concerns from members of the Town’s administration that our efforts could be hindered, and Department personnel reluctant to speak freely with us, out of fear of disciplinary action for sharing sensitive internal information. A short time prior to the start of our study, the Chief of Police issued a new set of General Orders. Essentially, General Orders are a mechanism available to law enforcement leadership, in the form of standard operating procedures that govern officer conduct in daily operations. The prime concern related to the General Orders was specific language that some interpreted to be a deterrent to any officer wishing to communicate or share information with us. Specifically, the General Orders prohibited “communicating or corresponding with other Police agencies or individuals concerning Police matters except as provided by Department procedures.” Throughout the engagement we did not experience any outward failure or refusal to cooperate with any of our requests; however, the existence of these Orders may have affected the information we received from members of the Department, which we relied on for our analysis. From the outset there was much disagreement over what organization was conducting the study, how the organization was chosen and who was involved in the selection process. Once the study was kicked off and we began our procedures, disagreements continued over how we chose the individuals that were to be interviewed, the physical location of where the interviews were to be conducted, and other matters similar to these. In addition, throughout the term of the engagement we received several tips, accusations, and confidential claims relating to the various matters involving both the Town and the Police Department. Where appropriate, we followed up and investigated the claims, and any pertinent information was considered in our observations and recommendations contained in this report. 3 Page Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis Comparisons / Benchmarks In order to put the Clarkstown Police Department into perspective on a wider scale, it is helpful to compare it with other police departments that have been measured with certain benchmarks. The Overland Park, Kansas, Police Department conducts an annual survey of 26 small-to-medium-sized police departments each year on dozens of benchmark measurements related to items such as; spending on police departments as a percentage of overall budget, overtime as a percentage of labor costs, number of officers per capita, crime rates per capita, calls for service, response time etc. This Overland Park report, entitled “Benchmark City Survey” is extremely useful for comparative purposes when comparing police departments throughout the United States of similar size. The Clarkstown Police Department would be situated toward the bottom scale of the “Benchmark City Survey” as far as the size of the Department and the population of the Town. In addition, IBM conducted a study in 2011 that looked at several financial, organizational, and demographic variables to assess the relative efficiency of local governments. The resulting report, Smarter, Faster, Cheaper, presents data from the 100 largest U.S. cities in various regions, and produced useful data similar to that of the Benchmark City Study. The Bureau of Justice Statistics (within the U.S. Department of Justice) also publishes periodic reports on the administrative and managerial characteristics of police departments in the United States. While we realize that each community is unique and has individual characteristics that determine the size and structure of its police department, these characteristics and comparisons can help to assess the relative performance of the Clarkstown Police Department. These documents were used to benchmark the Clarkstown Police Department on several variables such as per-capita police spending, crime rate per capita, overtime spending as a percentage of payroll, number of sworn officers per capita, and the police department budget as a percentage of the overall budget. As the chart below page illustrates, on average, the Clarkstown Police Department spends approximately $574 per capita on its police services, which is significantly higher than the average of $233 per capita reported in the Benchmark City Survey and the $323 per capita presented in the IBM study. The Clarkstown crime rate of 1,778 serious crimes per 100,000 residents is approximately 41% lower than the average crime rate reported in the Benchmark City Survey and 64% lower than the average crime rate of the cities in the IBM report. Benchmark Area Per Capita Police Spending Crime Rate Overtime as % of Salary Officers Per Capita Department Budget as % of City/Town Clarkstown Police Dept. Benchmark City Survey vs. Benchmark City Survey IBM Survey vs. IBM Survey $574 $233 HIGHER $323 HIGHER 1,778 3,030 LOWER 5,000 LOWER 14.8% 3.5% HIGHER 5% HIGHER 189 145 HIGHER 190 NEUTRAL 34% 27% HIGHER N/A N/A Note: Part I Crimes include: Aggravated Assault/Battery, Arson, Auto Theft, Burglary, Homicide, Rape, Robbery, and Theft 4 Page Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis The Clarkstown Police Department earned $4,826,853 on overtime expenses in 2015. This represents approximately 14.8% of total 2015 budgeted salaries of $32,685,430. This overtime-to-payroll ratio is significantly higher than the Benchmark City Survey as well as the IBM study. The Clarkstown Police Department has 162 sworn officers, or 189 officers per 100,000 residents, which is significantly higher than the average of 145 officers from the Benchmark City Survey and is comparable to the 190 officers from the IBM study. Lastly, the Clarkstown Police Department budget of $49 million comprises 34% of the overall Town budget, which exceeds the average of 27% from the Benchmark City Survey. The IBM study did not provide that data for comparison purpose. The salaries of the sworn personnel within the Department are a bargained benefit and governed by the respective labor agreements. Given this fact, we generally did not consider the salaries of the sworn personnel in this Operational Efficiency Analysis. However, through our procedures we did obtain salary and overtime data for the Department for 2012 through August, 2016. One earnings statistic that we found pertinent, as it relates to the overall budget of the Department and the sustainability of the structure, is the number of sworn individuals within the department that had total earnings in excess of $200,000 during these years. Year 2012 2013 2014 2015 Officers earning excess of $200,000 50 52 79 70 Total Sworn Officers 163 167 170 163 Percentage 31% 31% 46% 43% As the chart illustrates, the number and percentage of sworn personnel earning in excess of $200,000 has increased from 31% in 2012 to 43% in 2015. The impact of this increasing trend is concerning as it relates to the future budgeting forecasts of the Town over the next five years. Irrespective of the comparisons of benchmark surveys and other financial analysis, it is important to recognize that the size and style of a police department and the types of services that it provides are a reflection of the individual characteristics and demands of that particular community. The challenge is to determine how many police officers are necessary to meet that demand, and how to deploy those personnel in an effective and efficient manner. The safety of the officers, as well as the community, should not be compromised. The overall analysis performed in this organizational and operational efficiency analysis is an attempt to build upon that discussion and provide perspective on the “how many” and “how to deploy” questions that are at the core of the Department’s governance. During the course of our organizational and operational efficiency analysis, the project team evaluated the strengths of the organization as well as the areas where we believe improvements may be warranted. As with any organization, the Clarkstown PD has areas of strength as well as areas where we believe opportunities for improvement exist. In a study such as this, however, the focus is most commonly on those areas in need of improvement. Later in this report, we provide detailed observations and recommendations for improvement in areas where we believe a change should be made to improve cost efficiency, process efficiency, or an improvement to a business practice. Some recommendations made in this report are to retain a current practice or to continue with portions of the staffing model currently in place. Each recommendation is listed in the body of the report, and is also summarized in a table later in this section. 5 Page Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis Although studies such as these typically focus on identifying issues and improvement opportunities, it is important to view the Clarkstown PD in context and state the strengths that were identified during the course of the project, which include the following:  Although not formally monitored, by some accounts the response times by patrol officers to calls for service are excellent, and the community is satisfied with this aspect of their police service.  Officers are motivated, exhibited a high level of commitment to the Town and service to the public, take pride in the work they do, and are proud of the Department. The officers’ appearance and demeanor is professional and the police facility is clean and well cared for.  Throughout our discussions with law enforcement personnel in Rockland and surrounding counties, we learned that employment in the Clarkstown PD is highly sought after, and as such, the Department is in the position to consider only the top applicants with exemplary scores on the qualifying civil service examinations.  In both the patrol and investigative units, we noted that the Department handles several matters within the community that go beyond what may be provided by other law enforcement agencies. However, the Department has made a commitment to handle these types of issues and complaints as a matter of providing law enforcement services to the citizens of the Town of Clarkstown.  The Department provides a wide array of training opportunities for their officers and ensures that all sworn personnel have the tools necessary to deliver high quality law enforcement services.  The Department leverages new technology where possible to be more effective and efficient. An example is their new software program called Smartforce, which can be accessed from their patrol vehicles and allows them to see what activity has been transpiring in their patrol areas and directs their proactive policing time.  The Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT) was awarded the New York State SWAT Certification during 2016, and is one of only six agencies in New York State to receive this certification. By some measures, we feel that the Clarkstown Police Department is an excellent department, well trained, and contributes to the safety and well-being of the citizens of the Town. Our goal with this study is to find opportunities for efficiency that will not compromise the Department’s ability to deliver the appropriate level of law enforcement services to the community. As is the case with many local police department agencies, the most critical group or function within the operations is the Patrol Unit, and our analysis of the Clarkstown PD does not recommend reductions in the number of patrol officers in the community. We did recommend the reduction of a supervisory position in each patrol squad, but the number of patrol officers, minimum staffing requirements, and patrol areas were unaffected. We would like to thank the officers and civilian personnel of the Department for their cooperation and assistance in completing this study. 6 Page Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE TOWN OF CLARKSTOWN The table below summarizes the key recommendations resulting from the Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis of the Clarkstown Police Department. Recommendations Page Estimated Annual Savings 1. The Board appoint a Police Commissioner with authority over the Department, in place of the current model of having members of the Board act as the police commission. 9 N/A 2. The Town appoint an Internal Affairs Officer, with that position independent of the Police Department reporting directly to the Police Commissioner (recommendation number 1) and/or the Town Board. 9 N/A 3. The Department reduce the number of officers (not including supervising officers) on the same squad that can pre-schedule their vacation on a particular day from four officers per shift to three. 10 $300,000 to $500,000 4. The Department implement a policy stating that when a patrol officer or supervisor is on vacation, they are not allowed to be added to the overtime call-in list. 14 Unknown 5. The Department update the procedure for scheduling and attendance at training. In instances when a patrol officer must attend mandatory training outside of his or her scheduled shift, we recommend that said officer not work their scheduled shift that day; effectively preventing overtime being earned to attend training. 15 $500,000 to $700,000 6. The Department inquire of their ADP vendor to explore the possibility of integrating the POSS system’s time keeping function with their ADP software. We also recommend that time be entered into ADP in a much greater level of detail than what is currently being captured. 16 N/A 7. The Town create individually budgeted ‘units’ within the Town’s overall budget and general ledger system for all of the Department’s specialized units. The Town should use actual payroll data to book the appropriate general ledger entries to track actual versus budgeted figures. 18 N/A 8. The Department institute a policy consistent with other Town departments requiring compensatory time banks to be paid out at the end of each calendar year. We also recommend that the Town consider implementing limitations on the number of cumulative hours individual employees can bank. 18 Unknown 9. The Department continue using their current 8-hour shift model. 19 N/A 7 Page Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis 10. The Department consider civilianizing the following positions within the Department:  Informational Services Sergeant position  Evidence Room Officer  Strategic Intelligence Unit Supervisor  Strategic Intelligence Unit Officer 21 $456,000 11. The Department look at developing a plan to enhance the security and organization of their current evidence rooms. We encourage consideration of the following additions and features as high priority items:  Limited access to evidence storage  Gun vault  Uncatalogued evidence 22 N/A 12. The Department reduce the number of officers it assigns to the District Attorney’s RIRC teams. Currently, the Town of Clarkstown provides more officers than the other local agencies combined. Specifically, we recommend that the Department reduce the number of officers they lend to the Drug Task Force from three officers to one, the Organized Crime Task Force from two officers to one, and the Strategic Intelligence Unit from two officers to one civilian position. 24 $1,004,000 13. The Department phase out one of the Special Operations supervisors (Lieutenant or Sergeant) through attrition over the next 1-3 years. 25 $251,000 26 $753,000 The Department merge one of the ten patrol areas and effectively have nine officers on the road during the midnight shift. 14. In addition to merging one of the ten patrol areas from the midnight patrol map, we recommend that the Department consider the need for the “desk officer” on the midnight shift. 15. The Department reduce the number of patrol supervisors from four per squad to three, increasing the span of control in the patrol unit to six patrol officers for every supervising officer. 32 $1,004.000 16. The Department reduce the size of the Detective Bureau by three full-time detective positions. 33 $753,000 17. The Department maintain its own Automobile Accident Investigation team going forward, and conduct analysis on utilization and training costs related to its other specialized teams, to determine the appropriateness of sharing services. 37 N/A Total Estimated Annual Savings $5,021,000 to $5,421,000 8 Page Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis OBSERVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 1. APPOINTMENT OF POLICE COMMISSIONER Observation Based on the interviews conducted, as well as our observations of the operations within the Department, we believe that an independent professional, with authority over the Department, and that reports directly to the Town Board is necessary for the effective management of the Department and for Town governance. Currently, members of the Board act as a police commission, with authority over the Chief of Police and the Department as a whole. Recommendation We recommend the Board appoint a Police Commissioner with authority over the Department, in place of the current model of having members of the Board act as the police commission. New York State law allows for the Board to appoint a single commissioner that would report directly to the Town Board and would have authority over the Chief and other Department members. The Town should conduct a thorough search of potential candidates, with a focus on individuals not currently employed by the Town. An ideal candidate will have extensive law enforcement and public safety experience, would be able to objectively identify the continuing needs of the Department, and could facilitate a constructive working relationship between the Board and the Police Department. In addition, the Commissioner would have primary oversight of the implementation of the recommendations identified in this report. 2. INTERNAL AFFAIRS OFFICER Observation We noted that the Department does not have a dedicated, independent internal affairs function to handle internal investigations. The Department previously had a dedicated officer in this role, who was also in charge of the Department’s re-certification efforts; however this position was eliminated and the officer was re-allocated to the patrol unit in 2011. Currently, when an internal investigation must be performed, the Administrative Captain selects two lieutenants from within the Department, taking into account any individuals that are subject to the investigation and the availability of the lieutenants, to conduct an investigation. The selected lieutenants then perform the investigation and report their findings to the Administrative Captain, who reports to the Chief, and then the Town Board acting as Police Commissioner. Between January 1, 2014 and June 23, 2016 the Department initiated 33 internal affairs type investigations, with 28 of the investigations complete at this time. During the course of our engagements, we were informed of several concerns from individuals both within and outside the Department regarding the independence of these investigations as well as the appropriate oversight and reporting of internal investigations. Recommendation We recommend that the Town appoint an Internal Affairs Officer, with that position being independent of the Police Department and reporting directly to the Police Commissioner (part of previous recommendation) and/or the Town Board. This officer will conduct all internal affairs related investigations and report any and all findings directly to the Police Commissioner and/or the Town Board. The institution of an independent internal affairs function that reports directly to the Police Commissioner and/or the Town Board will help establish transparency and trust across the Department, Town leadership, and the Clarkstown citizen population. 9 Page Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis 2. INTERNAL AFFAIRS (CONTINUED) Recommendation (continued) In order to make this internal affairs position a full time, dedicated position, the Police Commissioner will need to determine what other duties and responsibilities the Internal Affairs Officer can be tasked with to make this a full time position. Job duties that could be considered for inclusion are as follows:     Addressing certain community complaints Develop, maintain, and review the Departments policies and procedures Updating General Orders Professional Standards 3. SCHEDULE ADJUSTMENT TO REDUCE OVERTIME COSTS Observation Based on departmental policies related to the scheduling of vacation time and discretionary time, minimum staffing levels are being allowed to occur unnecessarily, thereby creating situations where the Department is much more susceptible to the necessity of overtime. During peak vacation times, especially during the summer months, the patrol squads are routinely at minimum staffing levels before any unexpected absences are accounted for such as sick time. This situation leads to greater overtime being incurred, that may have been avoided. The Department’s patrol unit is composed of three squads that cover the day and evening shifts on a rotating basis, plus an additional three squads that collectively cover the midnight shift. The squads covering the day and evening shifts are both composed of 18 officers and four supervisors (Sergeants and Lieutenants), with one squad assigned to work each shift. On any given day, one squad is working the day shift, another is working the evening shift, and the third squad is off for the day. The squads covering the midnight shifts are made up of nine officers and two supervisors. Each midnight shift is worked by two of these squads, while the third is off. To ensure sufficient coverage of officers on the road during each shift, the patrol unit must meet certain mandatory minimum staffing requirements. On each shift, there must be at least 11 officers (one on the road in each patrol area plus one officer at the Department’s lobby front desk), plus additional officers for any shift-specific details (such as adding an additional officer to police the Route 59 corridor during the day tour and assigning two additional officers to the Palisades Center mall during the evening shift). Based on our interviews and review of officer workloads, we believe the structure of the patrol model as well as the minimum staffing requirements are efficiently designed and meet the needs of the community. Currently, on each shift, up to four officers are allowed to schedule one week blocks of vacation in advance (for the same week); vacation is scheduled at the beginning of each calendar year, and is based on individual officer seniority. In addition to the four individuals that can schedule vacation ahead of time, there are two spots available per shift for officers to take “discretionary days”. Discretionary time off can be booked up to 30 days in advance and allow officers to take remaining vacation days, compensatory time, and personal leave days. In an instance when a particular squad’s available officers falls below the minimum staffing requirements, an officer from an off-duty squad will be called in to work the shift. That officer is then paid at an overtime rate of 1.5x their regular hourly rate. As evidenced in the following charts, we noted that spikes in overtime due to call-ins to meet the minimum staffing requirements are correlated to peaks in vacation hours taken. 10 P a g e Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis 3. SCHEDULE ADJUSTMENT TO REDUCE OVERTIME COSTS (Continued) Observation (continued) Hours OT Hours Due to Minimum Staffing vs. Vacation Hours 9,000.00 8,000.00 7,000.00 6,000.00 5,000.00 4,000.00 3,000.00 2,000.00 1,000.00 0.00 OT hours Vacation hours Percentage of 2014 Total Hours This chart shows the correlation of vacation hours and OT due to mimumum staffing requirements from 2014 through 2015 in the patrol unit. Note: All data used in this analysis was provided by the Department. OT and Vacation Hours as a Percentage of 2014 Totals 18% 16% 14% 12% 10% 8% 6% 4% 2% 0% OT Vacation This chart shows the portion of vacation and overtime hours due to minimum staffing attributable to each month of 2014. Note: All data used in this analysis was provided by the Department. 11 P a g e Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis 3. SCHEDULE ADJUSTMENT TO REDUCE OVERTIME COSTS (Continued) Percentage of 2015 Total Hours Observation (continued) OT and Vacation Hours as a Percentage of 2015 Totals 18% 16% 14% 12% 10% 8% 6% 4% 2% 0% OT Vacation This chart shows the portion of vacation and overtime hours due to minimum staffing attributable to each month of 2015. Note: All data used in this analysis was provided by the Department. The correlation between vacation and overtime exists in part because of the Department’s current policy of allowing four individuals from each squad to pre-book vacation time and two additional individuals to take discretionary days off. Given the policy, if the maximum number of individuals request and take vacation, the squad is immediately at minimum staffing levels before any unexpected sick days or other reasons for officers to be out. During times of the year that are popular for vacation, such as the summer months and December, the patrol unit is much more likely to experience limited availability of officers. This means that several squads are forced to operate at the mandatory minimum staffing level during these peak vacation times. With the squads already at the mandatory minimum, if an officer calls in sick or can’t work their shift due to pre-scheduled training, an off-duty officer must be called in to work the shift on overtime. Based on data obtained from the Department, overtime costs due to calling in off-duty officers to meet minimum staffing requirements were approximately $965,000 and $620,000 in 2014 and 2015, respectively. In several of our interviews, members of the patrol unit stated that they wished more of the officers assigned to patrol were available for work and on the road. The goal of any recommendation for improvement in this area would be to provide a framework to help the patrol unit schedule their existing workforce more efficiently, which would in turn reduce the Department’s overtime costs and bolster the number of officers on the road providing patrol coverage. 12 P a g e Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis 3. SCHEDULE ADJUSTMENT TO REDUCE OVERTIME COSTS (Continued) Recommendation We recommend that the Department reduce the number of officers (not including supervising officers) on the same squad that can pre-schedule their vacation on a particular day from four officers per shift to three. Vacation days can still be selected using the Department’s seniority based selection at the beginning of the calendar year. Meanwhile, the two discretionary spots for each shift will still be available for officers to take personal leave, sick time, compensatory time, and any previously unscheduled vacation and personal time. Availability of the discretionary spots to schedule time off may also be limited when members of a particular squad are required to attend pre-scheduled trainings (see Recommendation #5). If the number of individuals per shift that are allowed to pre-schedule vacation time at the beginning of the year is reduced from four to three, the amount of time squads have to work at the mandatory minimum staffing level will decrease, making them less suspeptible to needing to have someone work at an overtime rate. This change will help spread out vacation time throughout the year to prevent availability shortages, while allowing enough time for all patrol officers to take all their allotted vacation time. Under this recommendation, we noted that there is still enough schedulable days available that all officers can take all of their allotted vacation time. The following example shows how many hours of vacation can be booked under this change, assuming that all patrol officers have the maximum of seven weeks vacation. In this calculation, we use the assumption that every officer has the maximum number of vacation time (seven weeks) so that we are making the most conservative estimate possible. In reality, not all officers have seven weeks of vacation, but using this assumption allows us to estimate for the most maximum amount of time needed. Total Non-supervising Officers in Patrol Unit X 7 weeks of vacation per officer (40 hour work week) 81 x 280 Total vacation hours available 22,680 Hours per shift that can be taken by Non-supervising officer (3 per shift – 8 hr shift): x 3 shifts per day 24 x3 Total potential vacation pre-scheduled each shift 72 x 365 days per year x 365 Total hours of vacation in a year that can be booked in advance by officers: 26,280 Less: Total vacation hours available: <22,680> Vacation scheduling availability "surplus" 3,600 13 P a g e Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis 3. SCHEDULE ADJUSTMENT TO REDUCE OVERTIME COSTS (Continued) Recommendation (continued) When considered on an individual squad basis, there is still enough availability for all patrol officers to use all their vacation time, with a surplus of 3,600 hours left unused. In this example, we calculated the average number of vacation days of each patrol officer, using current data obtained from the Department. Days available to work by each patrol officer, based on 5/2, 5/3 schedule split: Number of officers that can book vacation ahead of time, per shift: 243 X 3 Total days that can be booked as vacation ahead of time: 729 Total officers in squad: Avg. number of vacation days per officer (based on 2015 Department data): 18 26.15 Total vacation days to book: 470.7 Vacation scheduling availability "surplus" days: 258.3 As the above example shows, there is still scheduling availability for patrol officers to take their allotted vacation, as well as additional compensatory and personal days off, while using the model of three available vacation spots per squad. The Department spent $965,000 and $620,000 in 2014 and 2015, respectively, on overtime due to calling in off-duty officers to meet minimum staffing requirements. Implementing this recommendation will reduce how often the patrol unit is operating at the mandatory minimum staffing level and therefore, will reduce how often they need to call in off-duty officers on overtime, creating significant potential cost savings. An additional benefit of only allowing three officers to schedule vacation on each shift will be that if there are no call-ins for sick time, the squad will not be at minimum staffing, and more officers will be on the road providing coverage to the patrol squad. According to the current PBA agreement with the Town, vacation policy is at the discretion of the Chief and does not require adjustments to the Department’s collective bargaining agreement. 4. OVERTIME EARNED IN PATROL WHILE ON VACATION Observation Current Department policy allows for officers to schedule vacation for a particular week in advance, and to also put themselves on the overtime call-in-list for that same week. In practice, this policy allows for, and results in, officers and supervisors being paid for vacation time (for the week), being called in for overtime during that same week, and being paid overtime hours for the same time which they were already paid for via vacation time. We did not pursue actual evidence of this situation happening in practice, however, information obtained during interviews indicated that this situation does occur, and the current department policy does allow for it to occur. 14 P a g e Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis 4. OVERTIME EARNED IN PATROL WHILE ON VACATION (Continued) Recommendation We recommend that the Department implement a policy stating that when a patrol officer or supervisor is on vacation, they are not allowed to be added to the overtime call-in list. This will prevent officers from essentially creating overtime by taking vacation time, putting their squad below the minimum required staffing requirements, and then earning 1.5x their regular rate for working their regularly scheduled shift. 5. SCHEDULING FOR OFFICER TRAINING Observation The Department provides a wide array of training opportunities for its officers, however, much of the training is being delivered and obtained on overtime hours. Given the fact that pieces of the training schedule is finalized almost a year in advance (i.e. the CIRT training schedule), we believe that a large portion of the overtime could be avoided through effective management of the training schedule. Some of the in-service training is an on-going scheduling process and will be more of a challenge, but we believe effective management of the training schedule will help to reduce these costs as well. Clarkstown police officers are required to attend several training sessions, some are mandatory and some elective, including department-wide weapons and vehicle training, specialized training for their individual position responsibilities, and training for specialized teams such as the Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT), automobile accident investigation team, and crime scene investigation team, amongst others. Currently, the Department schedules all training for the entire calendar year in early January of each year. This provides the opportunity for the Department to plan ahead, knowing exactly when each officer has training obligations to fulfill. However, we noted that the Department does not adjust the schedule to accommodate for individuals with training obligations in the patrol unit. Under current policy, officers generally have a choice of attending training either during their scheduled shift time or outside of it. When an officer attends training outside of their scheduled shift time, they earn overtime for the training attendance. It should be noted that all CIRT training is paid at the officer’s normal salary. All other training attendance is paid at a 1.5x overtime rate. Recommendation We recommend that the Department update the procedure for scheduling and attendance at training. In instances when a patrol officer must attend mandatory training outside of his or her scheduled shift, we recommend that said officer not work their regularly scheduled shift that day; effectively preventing overtime being earned to attend training. In 2014 and 2015, the Department spent approximately $1,329,000 and $1,241,000, respectively, on overtime due to training attendance. With no other adjustments, not allowing officers to work their shift for the day could create staffing shortages and put patrol units at risk of falling below the minimum staffing requirements. To counteract the potential shortage, we recommend that each pre-scheduled training for a patrol officer during their shift count as one of the two discretionary days budgeted for that patrol shift. In practice, this would mean that if one patrol officer on the squad has training scheduled, there would be only one discretionary day available for the other officers on the patrol to utilize. While this limits the availability of the patrol officers to take discretionary days off, this can be mitigated by scheduling training sessions during times of the year in which vacation time is less desirable. These effects should be further mitigated by strategically constructing the patrol squads so that members of specialized teams such as CIRT and accident investigations are split equitably amongst the patrol squads, preventing especially high numbers of officers from one patrol squad required to attend training sessions simultaneously. Given the more efficient vacation scheduling and adequately staffed shifts to cover for absences and remain above minimum staffing, these changes will significantly decrease the cost of training and specialty teams with the ideal scenario of eliminating additional compensation for these items altogether. Should these recommendations be implemented effectively, the Department can keep these teams functioning at a high level, with a lower cost impact to the Town and its taxpayers. 15 P a g e Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis 6. PAYROLL PROCESSESING Observation The processing of payroll within the Department is an extremely manual process, resulting in a very time consuming task with a higher risk of human error. Additionally, the payroll process does not include a review procedure for officer vacation, compensatory, sick time, and personal leave time banks, and does not have the appropriate checks and balances in place at the Town level to identify potential errors. We noted that the Department employs their own Payroll Clerk within the Records unit, whose main responsibility is to process payroll for the Department. Currently, on a bi-weekly basis, the Department’s payroll clerk manually enters all overtime hours from the overtime approval forms into the Department’s scheduling and time management software (POSS). The clerk then runs reports out of POSS that show total hours worked, overtime earned, vacation hours used, training attended, and other relevant payroll information for all Department personnel. The POSS system then exports this data into a series of Excel spreadsheets each time period. The payroll clerk also manually transcribes some of the data from POSS reports into an Excel spreadsheet, which is a specific procedure performed for the midnight shift officers, as the spreadsheets contain information regarding the various shift differentials. The payroll clerk then manually enters all the data for the pay period into an ADP payroll processing software module. The POSS system tracks all officer vacation, sick time, compensatory time, etc. At the request of the Town’s Comptroller’s Office, the Department’s payroll clerk also uses the POSS reports to update Excel spreadsheets containing the vacation, compensatory time, sick time, and personal leave time banks data. After the Department’s payroll clerk has entered all the data into the ADP software, they provide copies of the Excel spreadsheets to the clerk in the Town Comptroller’s office, who compares data in the spreadsheets to what has been entered into the ADP software. After any discrepancies have been corrected, the clerk in the Comptroller’s office approves the data in ADP so that it can be processed and paid, along with the payroll for all other Town departments (the Department’s payroll clerk does not have the authority to approve and process the data in ADP). After the payroll is processed by the Comptroller’s Office, a copy of the payroll register is printed and provided to the Department’s payroll clerk for their review. When time is entered into ADP for officers, the hours are only distinguished by their rate of pay. For example, if an officer is paid for 32 hours of regular straight time, eight hours of vacation, and four hours of overtime, the ADP payroll register would reflect 40 hours of straight time and four hours of overtime. Since straight hours worked and vacation hours are paid at the same rate, they are not identified separately on the payroll register. We also noted that employees of the Department are not organized in ADP by the unit that they work in; all officers are lumped in with one another, whether they work in patrol, the Detective Bureau, or in administration. Additionally, there is no function set up in ADP to track the hours worked for the Department’s specialized part-time teams. Without this type of data, it is nearly impossible for the Department to calculate exactly how much is spent on labor and training time for each unit. This process does not allow the Department to manage budgetary expectations or monitor the costs of various teams/units on an annual or monthly basis. 16 P a g e Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis 6. PAYROLL PROCESSESING Observation (continued) As part of our analysis, we tested a random sample of 20 instances of compensatory time earned and 20 instances when compensatory time was paid out during the 2015 calendar year. For our testing, we examined changes to individual officer compensatory time banks, along with supporting documentation including payroll registers and OT earned approval forms. For our testing of compensatory time paid out, we did not note any exceptions. In our testing of overtime earned (addition to a compensatory time bank), we noted one exception. The exception we noted was an error of 17 hours that was failed to be added to an officer’s compensatory time bank. In a traditional financial statement audit, this type of error could be extrapolated in an effort to estimate the total potential error in all compensatory banks. If this error was extrapolated across the entire population, we would estimate a total potential error of approximately $136,000 (based on an average officer base salary of $167,000). While we note that this figure only represents an estimated total error, and the actual total dollar value of errors within officer compensatory banks may be lower or higher than that figure, it is indicative of the need for stronger procedures in place over the maintenance and review of compensatory, vacation, and sick time banks. It should also be noted that in the case the error was identified, the officer was actually missing out on time that was owed to him. With the current procedures in place, it is nearly impossible to tell how often errors are made causing officers to be shorted compensatory time they rightfully earned, or incorrectly credited with time they didn’t actually earn. Recommendation We recommend that the Town inquire of their ADP vendor to explore the possibility of integrating the POSS system’s time keeping function with their ADP software. Integrating the ADP time entry with the POSS system will greatly reduce the time required for the Department’s payroll clerk to process the biweekly payroll. ADP integration will also significantly reduce the risk of errors being entered into the ADP system due to the manual nature of the current process. If the Town is unable to fully integrate the POSS system with ADP, we recommend that Department’s payroll clerk continue her process of running reports out of POSS and entering the data into a series of Excel spreadsheets. However, instead of the current process of having the Department’s payroll clerk manually enter the data from the spreadsheets into ADP, we recommend that these spreadsheets are provided to the Town Comptroller’s officer, along with any supporting documentation. The payroll data should then be entered into ADP by a payroll clerk in the Comptroller’s office, as is the procedure for all other Town departments. We also recommend that the maintenance of compensatory, vacation, sick, and personal leave time banks is performed by an individual in the Comptroller’s office independent of the Department’s payroll clerk. We also recommend that time is entered into ADP in a much greater level of detail than what is currently being used. Separate entries should be used for straight time worked, overtime hours paid, vacation hours used, sick hours used, etc. Hours that are worked for the Department’s specialized part-time teams, such as call-ins for CIRT or other specialized units, should also be given separate time categories in ADP. Backfill overtime for specialized personnel called out should also be charged to the specialized unit as the need for the specialized service generated the need for the overtime. Additionally, individuals should be organized into groups within ADP, based on what unit they work for within the Department. Capturing payroll data at a more detailed level will provide the Town with significant data that can be used to help account for the costs of various units and teams. Once these items are tracked in ADP, we also recommend the Comptroller’s office use the payroll registers to perform regular, recurring reviews of individual payroll records, including overtime earned and compensatory time bank balances. Automating the payroll process should help ensure the accuracy of the Department’s payroll reporting and should provide significant time savings for the Department’s payroll clerk, who can use any newly available time to handle his or her other assigned tasks. 17 P a g e Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis 7. BUDGETING FOR SPECIALIZED PART-TIME UNITS Observation We noted that the Town does not specifically budget and track costs for several Police Department subdivisions. The Town’s 2016 adopted budget breaks out costs for some specialized units, including Canine, School Resource Officers, D.A.R.E., and Special Investigations; however, part-time teams such as CIRT, automobile accident investigations, arson investigations, etc., are not budgeted for separately, making it very difficult for the Town to effectively plan and monitor costs. We also noted that for the units that are budgeted for, the actual costs are not tracked in order to be compared to the budgeted number. For most of the specialized units, salaries are the largest single cost. On a quarterly basis, the Comptroller’s office makes an entry for each specialized unit that books one fourth of the budgeted overtime costs to that unit, regardless of what the actual costs of that unit are. Under the current model, the actual salary cost will always equal the budgeted figure, because four identical entries are made, summing to the budgeted figure. This practice does not provide the Town or Department any valuable information to effectively plan and manage Department operations. Recommendation During the course of our engagement, we noted the cost of the Department’s specialized units, including the CIRT team, has undergone significant scrutiny. However, the lack of actual, usable cost data makes it very difficult to properly monitor and manage these teams. We recommend that the Town create individually budgeted ‘units’ within the Town’s overall budget and general ledger system for all of the Department’s specialized units. In conjunction with Recommendation #5 (Payroll Processing), the Town should then use actual payroll data to book the appropriate entries in the general ledger and track actual expenses vs. budgeted figures. Having the ability to monitor and budget each specialized unit’s actual costs will provide the Department, as well as the Town, with the data it needs to effectively manage and make critical decisions related to the individual team. Additionally, it will provide all parties with an additional level of transparency that will be invaluable as it relates to internal and external scrutiny. 8. USE OF COMPENSATORY TIME Observation When members of the Police Department work overtime hours, they are accumulated in a bank of compensatory time that may be either utilized as days off or paid out at the member’s discretion. Several other departments within the Town operate with the same policy and procedures relative to compensatory time banks. NYS Labor law allows employees to bank a maximum of 480 hours into this type of compensatory bank, but employers often set limitations below the 480 hour figure. The Town has not implemented any such limitation for the Police Department, rather allowing the maximum of 480 hours to be accumulated by each employee. Additionally, for all departments other than the police, these compensatory time banks are zeroed out at the end of each calendar year, with any remaining balance being paid out to the employee. In the Department, officers are allowed to roll forward their bank of 480 hours from year to year indefinitely. These accumulated time banks are often carried over for many years, during which time the officer may be promoted multiple times and his/her pay would have increased significantly. This creates a situation where the overtime was earned at a pay rate much lower than what it is paid out at several years later. When considering the payout is often 480 hours, this difference in pay could equate to significant dollars lost by the Town. 18 P a g e Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis 8. USE OF COMPENSATORY TIME (Continued) Observation (continued) Allowing officers to bank and roll over the maximum of 480 compensatory hours essentially gives officers an inordinately large amount of vacation time at their disposal. The most senior officers have seven weeks of vacation and one week of personal leave. Factoring in a full bank of 480 compensatory hours will effectively give that officer an additional 12 weeks of vacation at their disposal for the calendar year. With so much potential time available to be taken off, the Department is much more susceptible to being at minimum staffing levels in units like patrol. When a patrol squad is already at the minimum staffing, they are much more likely to have to call in officers to work on overtime. The officers that were called in then earn more compensatory time that they can take off, their own squad drops to the minimum staffing level, and the cycle repeats, exacerbating the issue. Recommendation We recommend that the Department institute a policy consistent with other Town departments requiring compensatory time banks to be paid out at the end of each calendar year. Other municipal agencies have even instituted policies where the time banks are paid out on a quarterly basis. We also recommend that the Town consider implementing limitations on how many cumulative hours employees can bank. Over the long term, the reduction in compensatory time banks will result in more officers being consistently available to provide service to the community. In addition, the recommended changes to the scheduling policy will result in less overtime being worked and less compensatory time being earned, resulting in a more efficient use of the Department workforce. As we consider the vacation and sick time policy more than adequate for officers to receive time off, limiting further opportunities to earn and use compensatory time will stop the cycle of officers working overtime, earning compensatory time, using their compensatory time, thereby creating more overtime. During the course of our conversations with patrol officers, some expressed concern that while there are 18 officers on each squad, in reality there are usually much fewer available for each shift. We believe that this recommendation, along with others in this report, will maximize the utilization of each patrol officer, and they will be able to operate with full squads more often. An additional benefit of requiring compensatory time banks to be paid out in full at the end of each year is that it requires all compensatory time to be paid out at each officer’s current pay rate (i.e. the rate it was eared at). Under the current policy, officers can build up their compensatory time bank, roll it over from year to year, and cash it out several years later at their current pay rate. In the instance of an officer being promoted, their compensatory time is paid out at their new, higher rate. It is more cost effective, and in our opinion more appropriate, that all compensatory time is paid out at the pay rate that was in effect at the time it was earned. 9. CONSIDERATION OF 10-HOUR SHIFT MODEL Observation Patrol officers in the Department are assigned to specific squads and their work schedule is based on three 8-hour shifts per day. This type of schedule allows patrol officers and supervising sergeants and lieutenants to work together on the same “team” each day. As part of our analysis, we evaluated the impact that a potential change in the current shift schedule would have on the number of officers needed to provide targeted service levels. The shift structure has a major impact on staffing needs, as demonstrated by the table, below: 19 P a g e Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis 9. CONSIDERATION OF 10-HOUR SHIFT MODEL (Continued) Observation (continued) As part of our analysis, we evaluated the impact that a potential change in the current shift schedule would have on the number of officers needed to provide targeted service levels. The shift structure has a major impact on staffing needs, as demonstrated by the table, below: Shift Schedule 8 Hour 10 Hour Hours of Coverage per Shift (shift length x 365) Number of Shifts 2,920 3 3,650 3 Total Hours of Coverage per Year (# of shifts x coverage per shift) 8,760 10,950 Scheduled Hrs (40 hours/wk x 52 weeks) Vacation Hrs (estimated @ 5.2 weeks annually) Other Leave Hrs (estimated @ 2 weeks annually for personal & sick days) Training Hrs (estimated @ 40 hours annually) Hours Available to Work Patrol 2,080 208 2,080 208 80 40 1,752 80 40 1,752 5.00 6.25 12 14 11 12.33 61.66667 12 14 11 12.33 77.08333 Officers Needed to Provide 1 Officer On Duty at All Times Minimum Staffing Requirements per shift: Day (min. staffing of 11 officers on road, one on desk) Evening (min. staffing of 13 officers on road, one on desk) Midnight (min. staffing of 10 officers on road, one on desk) Avg Officers Needed throughout Day Number of Officers needed to meet min. staffing requirements The table shows the relief factor to provide 1 officer on duty at all times under different shift configurations. As shown above, under the 8-hour shift model, approximately 5 officer positions are needed to cover one patrol position for a 24-hour period. Under a 10-hour shift plan, approximately 6.25 officer positions are needed to provide the same coverage. Recommendation As noted in the table above, the Department would require approximately 62 patrol officers (not including supervising officers) to meet the current mandatory minimum staffing levels under the 8-hour shift schedule. Under the 10-hour shift model, approximately 77 patrol officers would be needed to meet the same minimum requirements. 10 and 12 hour shift schedules have become common in law enforcement agencies in the United States over the last 20 years. A 10-hour schedule still requires 3 shifts to provide coverage for a 24-hour day, resulting in 6 overlap hours each day (25% overlap) when two shifts of officers are on duty. As a result, additional officer hours (i.e. additional officer positions) are required to provide the same coverage as an 8-hour schedule. The overlaps in a 10-hour work schedule are not necessarily needed for workload requirements and frequently there are more officers on duty, during the overlapping hours, than are needed for the call for service demands. As such, we recommend that the Department continue using their current 8-hour shift model. Given the feedback from the interviews we conducted, as well as our research on the topic, we did not consider the 12 hour shift model for the Department. 20 P a g e Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis 10. CIVILIANIZATION Observation Generally, civilians should fill any positions within the Department for which a sworn in officer is not necessary. One of the primary reasons for this is that the cost of employing sworn officers is much higher than the cost of employing civilians. In addition, the recruit and in-service training sworn officers receive is much more extensive than the training civilian employees receive. Throughout the course of our review, we evaluated several positions that are currently filled by a sworn officer that could potentially be replaced by a civilian position. This evaluation occurred in two stages. The first was the consideration of whether or not a position required a sworn officer for that position’s function (for example, because of the position and the powers of a sworn officer, or because the skills, training, and experience of a sworn officer is needed to perform the job duties). If the case could not be made that a sworn officer was absolutely necessary for the position, we then evaluated if the benefits of having a sworn officer perform the job responsibilities outweighed the costs. During our review of the Department, we identified four positions for which we do not believe the benefits of having a sworn officer outweighs the costs. The four positions we identified for potential civilianization are as follows:     Informational Services Sergeant Evidence Officer Strategic Intelligence Unit Sergeant Strategic Intelligence Unit Officer Recommendation We recommend the Department consider civilianizing the Informational Services Sergeant position. This is the lead position in the Department’s Informational Services Unit and oversees four full time civilian IT positions. The main functions of this position are to supervise the four civilian employees, operate as a liaison between the Informational Services unit and the rest of the Department, and offer redundancy of knowledge in the case of turnover or extended absence from one of the civilian positions. While the current Informational Services Sergeant appears to be performing these duties to the satisfaction of the Department, there is no inherent reason why this position needs to be filled by a sworn officer. While we agree there is a certain benefit to having an officer in this position to liaison with the current officers on technical issues, we do not feel that these benefits outweigh the additional costs of having a Sergeant in the position. There would be a learning curve for a civilian put into this position, but in a short amount of time a qualified, professional IT civilian will obtain the law enforcement expertise ideal for the position. Similarly, although we noted that the current officer in charge of the Department’s evidence property room is performing the role satisfactorily, this is a position that is often held by a civilian in similarly sized police departments. The Department’s Strategic Intelligence Unit is collaboration between the Department and the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office. The unit includes a sergeant and officer from the Clarkstown Police Department as well as other data analysts supplied and paid for by the D.A.’s Office. The team is under the direction of the Clarkstown sergeant, with the team spending approximately 47% of their time working on specific Clarkstown related matters, and the other 53% on county-wide initiatives from the D.A.’s Office. The D.A.’s Office covers the costs of the team’s office space, equipment, and software used by the team. The Clarkstown sergeant and officer working in the Strategic Intelligence Unit are performing duties that could be performed by well qualified civilian data analysts. In fact, the unit already employs two civilian data analysts who perform essential duties of the team’s day-to-day operations. 21 P a g e Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis 10. CIVILIANIZATION (Continued) Recommendation (continued) For these four positions, we recommend that the sworn officers currently holding the positions be reassigned to areas of need, keeping in mind upcoming retirements throughout the Department. As part of our analysis, we calculated an average total cost of a sworn in officer vs. a civilian employee of the Department. Based on actual 2015 payroll data, average total cost (salary, overtime, plus benefits) of a sworn in officer is approximately $251,000. Conversely, the average total cost of a civilian employee of the Department was approximately $137,000. Based on these figures, potential cost savings of civilianizing these four positions is approximately $456,000 annually. 11. EVIDENCE ROOM PROCEDURES Observation An examination of the evidence room procedures was conducted given the importance of the process, the level of risk associated with the security of evidence in law enforcement, and to ensure it is staffed appropriately by qualified individuals to mitigate risk. As part of our procedures we performed a walk-through of the evidence intake process including the securing of evidence by Police Department personnel, the transfer of the evidence from the temporary storage location to the Evidence Room Officer, tagging of the evidence, recording of the evidence in the computer system, and the final transfer of the tagged evidence to the appropriate evidence storage location. Typically, evidence is placed in a locker in a temporary storage room by the Officer that obtained the property, the locker is secured with a padlock which signifies that new evidence needs processing, and the Evidence Room Officer retrieves the items from the locker and brings to his office for processing. The Evidence Room Officer then packages the evidence, prints out a bar code to tag the evidence, determines what location the evidence will be stored, and records it in the computer system with the specific location identified. The storage options available to the Evidence Room Officer include the main evidence storage room, a refrigerated storage area, a drug vault located within a caged area in the main evidence storage room, a separate storage room for guns, and a locked safe cabinet for currency. The main evidence storage room, as well as the separate gun and drug vaults are currently accessible by the Evidence Room Officer, the officer that backs up the Evidence Room officer, the Administrative Sergeant, the Detective Lieutenant, the Administrative Lieutenant, the Operations Captain, the Administrative Captain, and the Chief of Police. The storage bay where the guns are held was disorganized due to the fact the shelving units are not adequate for the Department’s storage capacity requirements. Additionally, we noted that a section of the main storage area included several older items, some with evidentiary value and some without, that have not been cataloged and moved to appropriate storage locations. 22 P a g e Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis 11. EVIDENCE ROOM PROCEDURES (Continued) Recommendation Overall, we feel that the Evidence Room is adequately administered by one individual (with one individual that is trained in the procedures as a backup) and that level of staffing should continue. However, we recommend that the Department look at developing a plan to enhance the security and organization of their current evidence rooms. As the Department develops this plan, we encourage consideration of the following additions and features as high priority items:  Limited Access to Evidence Storage – Entry into restricted storage areas should be closely controlled to prevent accusations of alteration, unauthorized removal, theft, or tampering with property or evidence stored by the Department. Access restriction protects the proper chain of custody. Those permitted access should include the Evidence Room Officer and his qualified evidence technicians. All other persons who enter the property room/storage areas should be documented in an access log and they should be escorted at all times while within the room and/or storage area. The supervisor who has oversight of the evidence unit, as well as other Department supervisors including the Police Captains and Chief of Police should not have independent, unescorted access into the evidence/storage rooms. If one of those individuals has a key or access, the agency should establish a system that requires another authorized person to escort them in the secure areas at all time, thereby creating a two-person rule.  Gun vault – Firearms storage should be designed in a manner that is separate from general evidence items in a location with enhanced security. All firearms enclosures should have an independent method of being locked. Firearms evidence should not be commingled with any other evidence. If necessary, a “rule-of-two” may be designed for additional security. Firearms pending destruction have the greatest likelihood of being pilfered from storage. Storing these items in a locked room, secured locker, or locked cabinet provides an enhanced level of security. Additionally, storing firearms for destruction in an area away from active evidence provides a method to better track and visually monitor the quantity of firearms pending destruction. The shelving units in the gun vault do not meet the capacity requirements of the Department, causing additional firearms to be double-stacked on shelves and stored wherever there is available space. We recommend the Department consider re-organizing the gun vault room and replace the current shelving system with a higher capacity option. We believe the Department has already identified this as a priority item for improvement.  Uncatalogued Evidence – The Department should make it a priority to catalog all older items being stored in the evidence room. All items with evidentiary value should be entered into the computer system and appropriately stored. All other items not related to evidence should be removed from the evidence room storage area. We believe the Department has also identified the uncatalogued evidence as a priority item for improvement. 23 P a g e Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis 12. COLLABORATION WITH ROCKLAND COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY Observation The Department currently assigns a total of seven officers to the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office for special details. As part of the cooperative agreement between the Department and the D.A.’s Office, Clarkstown officers work on various task force teams composed of a mixture of D.A.’s Office personnel and officers from municipalities across the County. The teams are directed by the D.A.’s Office, but officers still report regularly to their supervisors within the Department. The D.A.’s Office covers many of the operating costs of the team such as office space, equipment, and technology maintenance and support. Clarkstown pays 100% of the salaries for the seven officers assigned to these various details. This type of collaboration provides the Department with access to valuable information and resources through contacts in the D.A.’s Office. The following chart shows the size and make-up of each D.A. Regional Investigative Resource Center (RIRC) team. As the chart shows Clarkstown has more officers assigned to RIRC teams than all of the other local agencies combined. Clarkstown currently has officers on the Drug Task Force, the Organized Crime Task Force, and the Strategic Intelligence Unit (S.I.U.). Team Drug Task Force Organized Crime S.I.U. Public Corruption Investigative Tech Total Employees and vendors paid by DA's Office 11 2 Team members from Federal Agencies *Varies depending on case* *Varies depending on case* Team members from Clarkstown PD Team members from other local PD's Total Team Members 3 6 20+ 2 0 4+ 3 0 2 0 5 8 3 0 0 11 3 0 0 0 3 27 3+ 7 6 43+ Note: The data contained in the above chart was obtained from the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office as well as from the Town of Clarkstown. Based on information obtained from the Town, for the years of 2013 through August 7, 2016 the total cost of the salaries and benefits for individuals assigned to the RIRC teams was $5,844,361 for an average cost per year of approximately $1,681,000. The Department receives a portion of asset forfeitures seized by the D.A. Office’s task force teams. The amount of assets received by each participating municipality is based on the ratio of officers assigned to D.A.’s Office teams by that agency and the total number officers assigned from all participating municipalities. The current asset forfeiture sharing agreement between the Department and the D.A.’s Office states that 50% of all assets seized are split pro rata between each local participating agency with staff currently assigned to the task force. However, it is our understanding that the asset forfeiture monies cannot be used to offset operational expenses of the Department or to cover the salaries of the assigned officers. Since 2012, the Department has received approximately $758,000 in asset forfeiture funds as a result of lending officers to the D.A. Office teams. 24 P a g e Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis 12. COLLABORATION WITH ROCKLAND COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY (Continued) Recommendation As is currently structured, we believe the Clarkstown PD is lending a disproportionate number of officers to the RIRC teams, and the cost of those officers exceeds the potential benefits received. Specifically, we recommend that the Department reduce the number of officers they lend to the Drug Task Force from three officers to one officer, the Organized Crime Task Force from two officers to one officer, and the Strategic Intelligence Unit from two officers to one civilian position (as identified in recommendation number 10). This reduction to staffing brings Clarkstown’s equity more in line with the other surrounding agencies level of contribution. Assigning one officer to the Drug Task Force, the Organized Crime Task Force, and the Strategic Intelligence Unit (civilian position) will still allow the Department to benefit from case-specific information that they would otherwise not have access to, while reducing the burden on the Town for supporting teams that work on Clarkstown matters for only a portion of their time. As the four officers assigned to DA teams are phased out, we recommend they be re-assigned to areas of need in the Department as other officers retire. Ideally, these newly available officers should be used to fill open positions caused by retirement over the next 1 - 3 years. Based on 2015 payroll data, eliminating these four positions would save the Department approximately $1,004,000 annually. In addition, the civilianization of the remaining position with the S.I.U. team will achieve additional cost savings as described in recommendation number 10. It is our understanding that Rockland County recently stopped or reduced funding for some of the positions noted in the chart above. We believe that the County and the Town leadership should engage each other and collaborate on the development of a larger policy to address some of the redundancy that exists between the municipalities with the existence of individual specialized teams. It should be noted that the asset forfeiture funds recovered and allocated to the Clarkstown PD due to their participation would not be affected by the reduction in the number of officers assigned to these DA team initiatives. Given the fact that no other local municipality police departments allocate resources to these teams, Clarkstown PD currently receives 100% of the allocable funds and would continue to receive 100% of the allocable funds, regardless of whether they allocate 1 or 2 officers. 13. ORGANIZATIONAL / MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE Observation As part of our review, we evaluated the feasibility of the Department reducing its total head count as a means of reducing its overall operating cost. In our analysis we examined the organizational structure of the entire Department, paying particular attention to the Organization Chart and the individual reporting relationships for any apparent redundancies or duplication of job responsibilities. In addition, we interviewed several members of each unit within the Department and attempted to identify positions that could be eliminated through attrition without compromising officer safety or negatively impacting the exceptional level of service currently delivered by the Department. During our analysis, we noted that the Department did not have a complete organization chart reflecting all current positions within the Department. As such, we prepared the organization chart found at Appendix A, based on information provided by the Department. 25 P a g e Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis 13. ORGANIZATIONAL / MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE (Continued) Observation (continued) Based on our analysis and interviews, we noted that there is both a supervising sergeant and a lieutenant in the Special Operation Division in charge of supervising the traffic unit, community police, the school resource officers, the D.A.R.E. program, animal control, and the auxiliary police (see organization chart at Appendix A). While the Special Operations unit includes several different positions, many are selfdirected, and require less direct supervision than other units throughout the Department. For example, the school resource officers, D.A.R.E. officers, and animal control officer generally plan their own daily duties and schedule. Additionally, the Auxiliary Police unit is used on a specialty basis, not daily. The traffic and community police units are the only teams within Special Operations that require direct supervision. It should be noted that any recommendation to eliminate a position through attrition is not an indictment of the current officer holding that position. Rather, the recommendation is based on the fact that we believe the position is either unnecessarily redundant or the value of the position does not outweigh its cost to staff, and the current officer in that position could be of value in another area within the Department. Recommendation We recommend that the Department phase out one of the Special Operations supervisors (Lieutenant or Sergeant) through attrition over the next 1 - 3 years. Given the organizational structure and the type of supervision required of the division, we believe the excellent service currently provided by the Department’s Special Operations Division would not be negatively impacted with one fewer supervising position. As such, we believe that this unit can operate effectively with only one direct supervisor, saving the Department approximately $251,000 annually. 14. MIDNIGHT PATROL SHIFT ADJUSTMENTS Observation The patrol unit of the Department operates with a squad rotation system to cover the required patrol duties. There are three “full” squads, each with 18 officers plus four supervising officers (generally a lieutenant and three sergeants). These three squads cover the day shift (generally 8:00am - 4:00pm) and the evening shift (generally 4:00pm - midnight) on a rotating basis, with each squad working a 5/2,5/3 split (five days on, two off; five days on, three off). The midnight shift (12:00am - 8:00am) is covered on a rotation by three separate “half” squads, each with nine officers plus two supervising officers. For each midnight shift, two of the “half” squads are working while the third is off. The entire Clarkstown jurisdiction is broken down into ten specific patrol “areas”, with one officer/patrol vehicle assigned to each area. During the day shift, the patrol unit adds an additional officer/vehicle to cover the Route 59 corridor, an area dense with commercial businesses and heavy traffic. Also, two additional officers are assigned to work at the Palisades Center Mall during the evening shift. Otherwise, all ten areas are consistently manned regardless of the shift. As mentioned earlier in our report, we believe the overall structure of the patrol function, the number of squads, and the minimum staffing requirements are well designed and appropriate. Departmental policy requires a patrol officer assigned to the front desk of the Department’s lobby window during each shift. The responsibilities of this “desk officer” include handling any citizens that walk-in to the Department lobby to file a report and fielding any phone calls that come through the 911 system that are not urgent enough to require an officer to be dispatched to the situation. As part of our analysis, we obtained data regarding calls for service from the Department’s Strategic Intelligence Unit for the calendar years of 2014, 2015, and for January through May of 2016. Call data was organized by call type, location, and time of day. We categorized the data into three groups based on the time of the call, with each group representing each patrol shift. The chart on the following page illustrates the number of calls received in each patrol area for the day, evening, and midnight shifts. 26 P a g e Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis 14. MIDNIGHT PATROL SHIFT ADJUSTMENTS (Continued) Observation (continued) As part of our analysis, we obtained data regarding calls for service from the Department’s Strategic Intelligence Unit for the calendar years of 2014, 2015, and for January through May of 2016. Call data was organized by call type, location, and time of day. We categorized the data into three groups based on the time of the call, with each group representing each patrol shift. The chart on the following page illustrates the number of calls received in each patrol area for the day, evening, and midnight shifts: Cumulative Calls for Service 2014 - 2016 Day Shift Evening Shift Midnight Shift Area 1 3,924 3,577 1,440 Area 2 2,791 2,687 1,014 Area 3 3,533 3,015 1,144 Area 4 4,178 4,768 1,575 Area 5 3,416 3,467 1,361 Area 6 1,175 1,194 462 Area 7 3,448 3,039 1,098 Area 8 5,057 4,070 1,669 Area 9 2,945 2,673 1,125 Area 10 4,094 3,131 1,187 94 95 32 34,655 31,716 12,107 44% 41% 15% 18 18 18 Outside Agency % of Total Calls # of Officers We noted a significant reduction in call volume during the midnight shift. While it is generally accepted that the midnight shift will have a lower volume of calls, during the interviews we conducted with patrol officers, several officers cited anecdotal evidence noting that while the midnight shift call volume was lower, the types of calls for service during the midnight shift were generally more threatening (calls such as burglaries, violent disputes, etc.) than during the day and evening shifts. In an effort to confirm this hypothesis, we organized the data by call type, again split into three groups, one for each shift. The charts below show the type of calls for service received during each shift for 2014 through May 2016, as a percentage of the total calls received: 27 P a g e Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis 14. MIDNIGHT PATROL SHIFT ADJUSTMENTS (Continued) Observation (continued) Call Type as a % of Total Calls 35.00% 30.00% 25.00% 20.00% 15.00% 10.00% 5.00% 0.00% Day Evening Midnight 28 P a g e Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis 14. MIDNIGHT PATROL SHIFT ADJUSTMENTS (Continued) Observation (continued) Call Type as a Percentage of Total Calls Day Evening Midnight All Other Non-Criminal 29.05% 32.31% 26.20% Medical Emergency 19.39% 15.59% 18.91% Alarm Call 16.65% 14.85% 28.09% Traffic Incident 19.87% 17.36% 11.65% All Other Criminal 4.02% 6.16% 5.87% Theft 4.84% 5.03% 1.53% Domestic Incident 1.29% 2.10% 1.39% Drugs/Narcotics/Alcohol 0.47% 2.08% 1.38% Vandalism/Criminal Mischief 1.38% 1.10% 1.14% Disorderly Conduct 0.72% 1.26% 1.83% Fraud 1.06% 0.60% 0.07% Assault - Other 0.16% 0.40% 0.65% Death Investigation 0.29% 0.25% 0.47% Sexual Offense 0.25% 0.28% 0.12% Burglary - Residential 0.20% 0.17% 0.08% Motor Vehicle Theft 0.12% 0.09% 0.07% Robbery 0.06% 0.11% 0.13% Aggravated Assault 0.04% 0.11% 0.15% Burglary - Commercial 0.08% 0.06% 0.15% Weapons Violation 0.04% 0.08% 0.06% Arson 0.01% 0.01% 0.05% Homicide 0.01% 0.00% 0.01% As the charts above demonstrate, the type of calls for service actually remained consistent throughout each patrol shift. The type of call that had the most significant increase in frequency during the midnight shift was the “Alarm Call”. Considering the fact that there is little empirical data to support the hypothesis that the midnight shift receives more threatening and demanding types of calls, we recommend the Department consider adjusting the number of officers working the midnight shift to more accurately reflect the need for service. 29 P a g e Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis 14. MIDNIGHT PATROL SHIFT ADJUSTMENTS (Continued) Recommendation We recommend that the Department eliminate one of the ten patrol areas by absorbing it into the surrounding areas, and effectively having 9 officers on the road during the Midnight shift. The call data shows that the areas with the least number of calls for service are Area 6, Area 2, and Area 9. We analyzed each of these areas to determine the area that would be the best candidate to be absorbed by the surrounding areas. As a reference, we have included the following map of each patrol area: 30 P a g e Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis 14. MIDNIGHT PATROL SHIFT ADJUSTMENTS (Continued) Recommendation (continued) Area 6, which covers the Village of Upper Nyack, has the lowest call volume during the midnight shift. However, the Department has an agreement with the Village of Upper Nyack to assign a full-time officer/vehicle to this area, and the Village reimburses the Department for the cost of supplying this officer. Due to the fact that much of the cost of covering this area is paid for by the Village of Upper Nyack, we do not consider Area 6 to be an ideal candidate for merger during the midnight shift. Area 2 has the second lowest call volume. However, due to Area 2’s location in the northeast corner of the Town, merging this area may put an unreasonable burden on the surrounding areas. We noted that Area 2 directly borders only two other areas, Area 9 and Area 7. If Area 2 were eliminated, the patrol area map for the midnight shift would have to be re-drawn, with Area 9 and Area 7 expanding to cover the former Area 2. However, expanding Area 7 to cover part of Area 2 is especially problematic due to the fact that Lake De Forest acts as a natural boundary between these two areas. As such, we do not consider Area 2 to be an ideal candidate for merger during the midnight shift. The area with the next lowest call volume is Area 9, which shares borders with Areas 2, 6, 4, and 10. The fact that Area 9 shared borders with four others areas means that if Area 9 were to be merged and the midnight patrol area map redrawn, the burden of covering the former Area 9 could be spread over these four areas. It should also be noted that two of the areas (Area 2 and Area 6) bordering Area 9 have the lowest call volume in the entire jurisdiction during the midnight shift, suggesting that these areas could effectively cover their new expanded areas without exceptional burden. Due to the fact that Area 9’s calls could be spread over the greatest number of areas, we believe that Area 9 is the best candidate for removal during the midnight shift. In addition to eliminating Area 9 from the midnight patrol map, we recommend that the Department consider eliminating the “desk officer” from the midnight shift. In addition to the drop in call volume during the midnight shift, there are also fewer “walk-ins” into the Department requesting to file a report. With the reduced call volume and number of walk-ins, we do not believe it is necessary to have an officer constantly stationed at the front desk during the midnight shift. If the desk officer were eliminated during the midnight shift, the Department can utilize the desk sergeant on duty during that shift, or call in the officer designated to the New City patrol area (where Department headquarters is located), to handle a walk in civilian that would like to file a report. If a civilian calls the Department desk and wishes to discuss the matter with an officer, we recommend that the civilian working the desk take their contact information and refer the call to either one of the two Community Police officers, who already handle such issues, or to an available patrol officer on duty. The total impact of eliminating Area 9 and eliminating the dedicated desk officer is two fewer officers on duty during the midnight shift. As the midnight shift is staffed by two equal sized squads, we recommend the Department reduce the number of officers on each midnight “half-sized” squad from nine officers per squad to eight. In effect, the Department can eliminate three patrol officer positions through attrition, resulting in a potential cost savings of $753,000 annually. 31 P a g e Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis 15. PATROL SUPERVISION Observation In the patrol unit of any police department, the “span of control” represents the ratio of supervisors to patrol officers. According to several law enforcement benchmarks, the span of control for patrol assignments is between 5 to 12 officers per first-line supervisor. A required sourcebook for the sergeant and lieutenant promotional examinations in the Philadelphia Police Department explain that, “the optimal span of control most often recommended at the level of operations varies, but rarely exceeds twelve to one. However, a narrow span of control of about six to one is always more preferable to a broader span of control of about twelve to one”.1 In a white paper issued by the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) Center for Public Safety Management (CPSM) that reviewed 62 police agencies analyzed by the ICMA CPSM, the ICMA recommended a span of control of 6 to 1 for patrol functions.2 We noted that each of the Department’s patrol shifts is staffed with a squad of 18 patrol officers and four supervising officers (generally one lieutenant and three sergeants). When operating with a full squad, the Department’s span of control in the patrol unit is one supervisor for every 4.5 patrol officers, a lower ratio than what is generally considered necessary in police departments across the United States. The concept of span of control applies at each level of supervision within the Department. The lieutenant, as a second line supervisor, should be supervising the sergeants who, in turn, supervise the police officers. Thus where there is a lieutenant and three sergeants (and the 18 officers), the lieutenant exercises a span of control of 3 and the sergeants a span of control of 6. For this analysis, we considered the lieutenants and the sergeants both first level supervisors, given the fact that the majority of the time they essentially fulfill the same job responsibilities and perform the same duties within patrol functions. Recommendation We recommend that the Department reduce the number of patrol supervisors from four per squad to three, increasing the span of control in the patrol unit to six patrol officers for every supervising officer. This ratio is preferable as it will leave supervision at a rate that matches the highest level referenced by national publications. With the changes made to the vacation and compensatory policies, supervisors will be more available to their squads as well, resulting in a more than acceptable span of control with the patrol unit. For the three squads that cover the day and evening shifts on a rotating basis, one supervisor can be removed from each squad through attrition over the next 3-5 years. For the three “half” squads covering the midnight shift, removing a supervisor from each squad would result in too large of a reduction. As such, we recommend that the Department remove a supervisor from only one of the midnight squads. This will ensure that there are always at least 3 supervisors on each midnight shift. In total, the elimination of these four patrol supervisor positions through attrition will result in potential cost savings of approximately $1,004,000 annually. 1 Schroeder, D. J., & Lombardo, F. (2006). Management and Supervision of Law Enforcement Personnel (4th ed.). Charlottesville, VA: LexisNexis Gould Publications. 2 McCabe, James, Ph.D. “An Analysis of police department staffing: How many officers do you really need?” International City/County Management Association. 2013 . 32 P a g e Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis 16. DETECTIVE BUREAU Observation Investigations in the Department are handled by one of the two branches of the Department’s Detective Bureau (the Bureau). The Bureau is broken down into two major groups: the Traditional Detective Bureau (the Traditional Bureau) with 13 detectives and two supervising Detective Sergeants, and the Juvenile Aid Bureau (JAB), which handles all cases involving individuals under 16 years old, investigates sex crimes against children, sex offenders, and missing person cases with four full time detectives and one supervising Detective Sergeant. The two branches of the Bureau are overseen by the Detective Lieutenant, who also supervises the Department’s Street Crime unit and various collaborative teams with Rockland County’s District Attorney. It should be noted that in the Traditional Bureau, only 12 of the 13 detectives actively receive new cases, as one of the detectives works full time in a support capacity, specializing in the audio, video, and mobile communications aspects of investigations. In its day-to-day operations, the Bureau’s supervising sergeants read the previous day’s complaints to determine if it is appropriate to open a new investigation. This determination is made on several factors, including the severity of the incident, the amount of evidence available, the level of cooperation from the involved parties, etc. If the supervising sergeant determines an investigation is warranted, that case is assigned to one of the detectives and the case information is entered into a log book. The supervising sergeants use the log book to keep track of which cases each detective has outstanding in order to appropriately assign the case. If the supervising sergeant does not believe an investigation is warranted, or the chance of solving the case is unreasonably low, no investigation is opened. The following chart shows the number of cases opened and closed by the Bureau for 2014 and 2015: 2014 2015 Traditional Detective Bureau Case Files Case Files Complaints Remain Opened Received Open 321 256 23 376 275 49 Closure Rate 91% 82% 2014 2015 Juvenile Aid Bureau (JAB) Case Files Case Files Complaints Remain Opened Received Open 108 50 0 127 61 0 Closure Rate 100% 100% The International City/County Management Association (ICMA), who has conducted efficiency and operation studies of hundreds police departments across the country generally recommends that between 120 to 180 cases be assigned per investigator per year, resulting in about 10 to 15 new cases per month for each investigator1. In total, the Department’s Detective Bureau averaged 19 and 21 total new case files annually assigned to each investigator in 2014 and 2015, respectively. On a monthly basis, this equates to approximately 1.58 and 1.75 new case files per month per investigator in 2014 and 2015 respectively, which is significantly lower than the recommended 10 to 15 per month. While the total number of cases assigned to each investigator is significantly lower that the recommendation of the ICMA, it should be noted that the Clarkstown Bureau had a significantly higher closure rate than other comparable departments. 1 ”Public Safety Department Analysis: Walterboro, South Carolina.” International City/County Management Association. July 2013 . 33 P a g e Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis 16. DETECTIVE BUREAU (Continued) Observation (continued) In an effort to better evaluate the number of detectives needed to handle the Department’s investigations workload, we analyzed the type of investigations handled by the Bureau in 2014 and 2015. The Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) has developed standards for the average time required to complete different types of criminal investigations. PERF uses four categories of case solvability to estimate the number of hours required to complete a “thorough” investigation. A “thorough” investigation is one that results in a case that is prepared for prosecution, or one in which all leads have been followed and exhausted. The four categories of solvability used by PERF are “contact only”, less complex, typical, and more complex. It should be noted that all complaints that are initially reviewed by a supervisor, but not assigned to a detective for follow-up investigation would fall into the “contact only” category. It should be noted that PERF’s estimates also allow for time spent on preparing a case for prosecution and court testimony; because not all cases will go to court, this allotment is distributed over all cases. PERF 2 estimates the following number of hours are required for each investigation. Assault Robbery Burglary Homicide Financial Crimes Theft Stolen Vehicle Crimes Against Children Special Victims Crimes Contact Only 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 2 Less Complex 6 10 4 40 12.5 3.5 12 16 12 Typical 20 30 16 80 24 8 16 20 24 More Complex 54 48 62 220 66 16 200 64 48 We utilized a multiple-step process to calculate the optimal staffing of detectives. The total number of hours needed to investigate all cases was calculated for all case files opened in 2014 and 2015. In order to ensure the data used in our analysis is consistent (and not influenced by a single year anomaly), we used the total case files for 2014 and 2015 and then averaged the number of hours required over the two years. In an effort to make our estimate of required hours as conservative as possible, we utilized the PERF hours estimate for “complex” cases, to ensure that the number of hours estimated would suffice for the Departments actual case load. Also, we believe using the “complex” case hour estimates will more accurately reflect the number of hours spent on investigations by the Bureau, based on the Bureau’s exceptional closure rate. This hour computation was then divided by 1,560 hours (based on the assumption that an average detective will be available for work approximately 75% of their total available time, accounting for vacation, sick days, etc.) to establish the calculated staffing level. All calculations were rounded up to identify the number of full-time detectives needed. 2 ”The Anchorage Police Department Staffing and Deployment Study.” The Police Executive Research Forum. August 2010 . 34 P a g e Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis 16. DETECTIVE BUREAU (Continued) Observation (continued) Traditional Bureau Number of 2014 Cases Number of 2015 Cases Total 2014 & 2015 Cases Robbery Burglary Homicide Theft Special Victims Crimes Other* 13 57 1 77 8 100 14 40 2 104 6 109 27 97 3 181 14 209 TOTAL 256 275 531 Total investigatory hours required (2014+ 2015 Total) 24,078 Hours required per year 12,039 Number of Detectives @ 1,560 hours/year FTE Detective Positions 7.71 Hours Needed (based on Complex case) 48 62 220 16 48 60 Total 2014 + 2015 Hours Needed 1,296 6,014 660 2,896 672 12,540 24,078 8 Juvenile Aid Bureau Number of 2014 Cases Number of 2015 Cases Total 2014 & 2015 Cases Theft Special Victims Crimes Crimes Against Children Other* 25 8 17 0 22 6 17 16 47 14 34 16 TOTAL 50 61 111 Total investigatory hours required (2014+ 2015 Total) 4,560 Hours required per year 2,280 Number of Detectives @ 1,560 hours/year FTE Detective Positions 1.46 2 Hours Needed (based on Complex case) 16 48 64 60 Total 2014 + 2015 Hours Needed 752 672 2,176 960 4,560 *The above charts list the major categories of investigations tracked by the Bureau. Per our discussions with Department personnel, the Bureau only tracks these major categories of investigation. All other investigations are not tracked by type of investigation, but include credit card fraud, assaults, check fraud, mail fraud, identity theft, etc. In order to estimate the hours needed for each of these “other” cases, we calculated an average of the hours estimated by PERF for assaults and financial crimes, as we believe these categories are most closely related to the Bureau’s “other” cases. 35 P a g e Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis 16. DETECTIVE BUREAU (Continued) Observation (continued) In addition to the analysis above, we also used data from the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program to evaluate the needs of the Detective Bureau. The UCR Program, run by the U.S. Department of Justice, collects data from participating law enforcement agencies to measure the level and scope of crime occurring throughout the nation. The UCR Program divides offenses into two groups, Part I and Part II crimes. Part I crimes were identified as serious crimes by the programs founders and include criminal homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. Part II crimes include forgery, fraud, simple assaults, vandalism, gambling, driving under the influence, and disorderly conduct, amongst others. The Matrix Consulting Group, who has conducted organizational reviews and performance audits of police departments across the United States, has established standards for the number of detectives needed to handle the investigatory needs of police departments based on the level of Part I crimes in their jurisdiction. Per the Matrix Consulting Group, the number of Part I crimes per detective in agencies in the United States averages between 300-500 crimes per detective. The Matrix Consulting Group gathered the following data regarding the number of Part I crimes per detective in the agencies they have 3 evaluated : Range of Part I Offenses Per Detective Percent of Departments Surveyed with Part 1 Offenses Ratios in the Range Less than 300 5.3% 300 to 400 31.6% 400 to 500 42.1% More than 500 21% TOTAL: 100% Per the data above, 73.7% of law enforcement agencies surveyed had between 300 and 500 Part I crimes per detective and only 5.3% had less than 300 Part I crimes per detective. We accumulated the following data from the UCR Program regarding the Town of Clarkstown, obtained from the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services: Year Part I Crimes Total Violent Crime Total Property Crime Total 2013 1,585 65 1,520 2014 1,526 65 1,461 2015 1,526 109 1,417 As noted earlier, the Detective Bureau has 16 total detectives that are assigned new investigations (12 in the Traditional Bureau and four in JAB). Based on 16 detectives, the Detective Bureau averaged approximately 99 Part 1 crimes per detective in 2013, and 95 Part I crimes per detective in 2014 and 2015. These figures are much lower than the agencies across the United States surveyed by the Matrix Consulting Group, suggesting that the Department may have more detectives than what is considered necessary based on the data from the UCR Program. 3 ”Organizational Review and Performance Audit of City of Des Moines, Washington.” Matrix Consulting Group. August 2011 . 36 P a g e Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis 16. DETECTIVE BUREAU (Continued) Recommendation Based on our analysis, we recommend the Department reduce the size of the Bureau by three full-time detective positions. The Bureau currently has 16 total detectives investigating new case files (12 in the Traditional Bureau and four in JAB). While our analysis shows that the Bureau’s current average caseload can be appropriately staffed with a total of ten detectives, we do not believe it would be wise to reduce to that level at this juncture. Specifically, our analysis calculated eight detectives needed in the Traditional Bureau and two detectives needed in JAB, but we recommend that the Department use its discretion, considering upcoming retirements, to determine what branch of the Bureau to eliminate the three positions from. It should be noted that currently proposed legislation to increase the age of a “juvenile” in New York State from the current law of 16 years old to 18 years old will effectively transfer a proportion of the caseload handled by the Traditional Bureau (for all investigations involving individuals 17 and 18 years old) to the JAB. With this potential regulation change looming in the near future, the Department should closely monitor the number of cases handled by JAB, and should consider training individuals to handle these types of cases as needed. We also recommend that the Department more closely track the number and type of cases handled by each detective, including the cases currently included as “other” in the charts above. Either the Detective Lieutenant or one of the Detective Sergeants should review the case files assigned, case types, and hours spent on each case to effectively manage case assignments and staffing of the detective bureau unit. While our analysis shows the Department may eventually be able to reduce the number of total detectives actively being assigned new case files to ten, we are only recommending that the Department reduce the number of detectives by three full-time positions, leaving a total of 13 detectives in the Bureau. We believe that it would be premature at this time to recommend reducing the number of detectives by an amount larger than three, without knowing its effect on the closure rates, the crime rate, and the ability to mobilize quickly and accept new cases going forward. The Bureau is effective currently, and the effects of reducing the staff on its performance levels must be monitored closely. As the supervising officers track their case and hours statistics over the next year or so, the Department should regularly re-evaluate the actual staffing needs of the Bureau. Reducing the total number of detective by three positions will provide cost savings of approximately $753,000 annually. Going forward, the Detective Bureau should enhance their process of tracking cases and performance by detectives. We recommend the Detective Bureau use more detailed information to track the number and type of cases assigned to each detective and the hours spent on each case by each detective. This can be done with something as simple as an Excel spreadsheet. This will allow the Department to better evaluate the performance of their detectives and may help identify any needed staffing changes. Should this data indicate that the Department can work effectively with fewer detectives; the Department should also consider the staffing level of its detective supervisors. With fewer detectives, an efficiently operating Detective Bureau may no longer need two Detective Sergeants in the Traditional Bureau. 17. SHARED SERVICES OPPORTUNITIES Observation The Department operates several part-time teams to handle specialized tasks, including the Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT), Arson Investigation Team, Crime Scene Investigations, and Automobile Accident Investigations. These specialized teams are staffed as additional part-time assignments for full time officers assigned from several Departmental units including Patrol, the Detective Bureau, and Special Operations. We were able to obtain utilization data from the Department that reflects the number of investigations conducted by the Clarkstown specialty teams, but the Department was not able to provide the number of hours spent by the teams to conduct the specialty work and/or investigations. 37 P a g e Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis 17. SHARED SERVICES OPPORTUNITIES (Continued) Observation (continued) As part of our procedures, we met with the Rockland County Sheriff to discuss several ideas and concepts, with one of them being the opportunity for the Clarkstown PD to potentially share services with Rockland County where possible and appropriate. Through our discussions, we found that the Rockland County Sheriff’s Office operates several of the same, or very similar, specialized teams. In addition, the Sheriff’s Office offers the services of these specialized teams to other municipalities and law enforcement agencies within the County free-of-charge. As part of our engagement, we attempted to analyze the appropriateness of the Department maintaining their own teams, creating a potentially unnecessary redundancy of service, as the Town of Clarkstown residents are already funding the teams at the Sheriff’s Office through the County’s tax levy. There are several factors that must be considered when determining if a municipality such as the Town of Clarkstown should maintain their own specialized teams or instead utilize county-wide teams such as those offered by the Rockland County Sheriff’s Office. The primary factors to consider would be the actual cost of maintaining the teams, the level of service provided by the teams, and frequency of use of the individual teams. Relative to the costs of maintaining the specialized teams, there are three major drivers for spending as follows: 1. The cost to train the individual team members (for both new officers and reoccurring periodic training for experienced officers), 2. The cost to pay team members who are often called in on overtime when the team is utilized 3. The cost of acquiring the equipment required to provide the services. Based on data obtained from the Department, the Automobile Accident Investigations team responded to and investigated ten accidents in 2015, five of them involving fatalities. In 2014, the team investigated four accidents, none of them fatal. Handling traffic infractions and accidents is one of the most significant responsibilities of the Department. During our discussions with members of both the Department and Sheriff’s Office, the consistent message was that it is important for any police department the size of Clarkstown’s to have their own team to conduct accident investigations. We also received consistent feedback that Clarkstown’s accident investigation team was well trained and performed high quality work. Again, based on data obtained from the Department, the CIRT team responded to 10 calls for service in 2015 and 12 calls in 2014. The team currently has 35 members disbursed throughout most of the units within the Department. To maintain CIRT’s high level certifications, each of these members is required to attend training consisting of two days per month plus one week per year. Under current policy, much of the training is attended in addition to the officers working their regular shifts, resulting in significant additional training costs. The Department spent approximately $166,000 and $182,000 on CIRT training overtime in 2015 and 2014, respectively. It should be noted that overtime for CIRT training is paid at each officer’s regular salary rate, not the traditional 1.5x overtime rate. Based on our discussions with Sheriff Falco of Rockland County, should the Department pursue a partnership with the County’s REACT (Rescue Entry and Counter-Terrorism) team rather than operate their own stand-alone CIRT team, the Department could reduce the size of their specialty team to approximately 10 to 12 officers. This would represent a significant decrease in the number of team members assigned to this part time team, and would accordingly represent an approximate 71% decrease in the training time required. 38 P a g e Clarkstown, NY Police Department Organizational and Operational Efficiency Analysis 17. SHARED SERVICES OPPORTUNITIES (Continued) Observation (continued) According to data provided by the Department, the Arson Investigation team investigated six cases in 2015 and five cases in 2014, and the Crime Scene Investigation team handled 98 and 87 cases in 2015 and 2014, respectively. Again, we were not able to obtain the number of hours that each of the above cases or investigations took to complete. Recommendation Based on our findings, we believe it to be appropriate for the Clarkstown Police Department to maintain its own Automobile Accident Investigation team going forward. The team is well trained and performs quality work for the community. Also, feedback from the Rockland County Sheriff and others in the law enforcement community, as well as our past experience, indicate that an agency the size of Clarkstown should operate its own Automobile Accident Investigation team to best service the community. Given the lack of data available for analysis, we are not in a position to make a recommendation related to the opportunity for shared services with the Rockland County Sheriff’s Office for the Department’s other three specialty teams, the Arson Investigation team, Crime Scene Investigation, and CIRT team. The Department does not monitor the exact number of hours spent on training and calls for service. Without the benefit of this cost and utilization data for each team, it is difficult to effectively determine each team’s appropriateness. Additionally, we are not presently positioned to properly assess the quality of the specialized services provided by either the Department or the County. For example, we are unable at this time to determine that the New York State certification recently received by the Town's CIRT results in a higher level of service than the analogous Rockland County REACT which Sheriff Falco assured us receives training meeting NTOA’s (National Tactical Officers Association) professional standards. We recommend that as the Department implements the recommendations of this report, including those affecting training and overtime policy, the Town should capture and closely monitor the costs of training and calls for service. If the Department is able to satisfy its training requirements and keep costs low enough to be comparable to the cost of lending 10 to 12 officers to the County’s REACT team, then there is virtually no downside to Clarkstown maintaining their own CIRT team. A similar analysis should be conducted for the Arson investigation team, which handled six cases in 2015 and five cases in 2014, and the Crime Scene Investigation team, which handled 98 and 87 cases in 2015 and 2014, respectively. If the Department is able to keep costs in line with what would be spent to lend officer’s to the Sheriff’s Office teams, or if it can be determined that the benefit to the Town’s residents is greater than the additional cost to maintain their own teams, it may be appropriate for the Department to keep their own specialized teams. This analysis should be performed regularly as a collaborative effort between the leadership of the Department and the Commissioner and/or Town. Given the above observations and recommendations related to shared services, we do feel there may be future opportunities for Rockland County and the Town of Clarkstown to efficiently and effectively combine their efforts to share services for the specialized teams identified above. While this report and its recommendations serve as the initial basis for identifying potential efficiencies, with the benefit of additional utilization data, there may be opportunities for additional cost savings identified in the future. 39 P a g e Attachment A Town Board Professional Standards (IA) CCRB Admin Chief of Police Emergency Management Operations Captain Emergency Ops Sgt Administrative Captain Detective Bureau Patrol Detective Lt. Admin Police Chaplain Special Operations Admin Lt Admin Spec . Ops Lt. Information Services Administration Traditional Bureau 3 Dispatchers Juvenile Aid Bureau Special Assignments Spec Ops Sgt. Squad 1 Patrol LT ILP Sgt. 3 Sgts 18 Officers Detective Sgt. Detective Sgt Detective Sgt Public Info Officer / Records Admin Sgt. DA ILP IT Sgt. Traffic 4 Officers Community Police 2 Officers SRO's 6 Officers DARE 2 Officers Animal Control 1 Officer Aux Police 35 Civilians ILP Officer 3 Dispatchers Squad 2 Patrol LT Information Detective 12 Detectives 4 Detectives DA Narcotics Identification Officer 2 Officers 4 FTClerks , 1 PT Clerk Electronic Comm. Specialist 3 Sgts 18 Officers Range Instructor DA Organized Crime 2 Officers DEA Strike TaskForce 1 Officer Street Crime Street Crime Sgt. Computer Installation Asst. Property Room Officer 3 Dispatchers Squad 3 Patrol LT 3 Sgts Information Services Specialist 18 Officers 1 Dispatcher Midnight Squad A Patrol LT 1 Patrol Sgt 9 Officers 1 Dispatcher Midnight Squad B 2 Sgts 9 officers 1 Dispatcher Midnight Squad C 2 Sgts 9 Officers Warrants 3 Officers Information Services Specialist 1 Officer