11 Police Officer Allocation Study

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Executive Summary The use of outside consultants in reviewing the staffing levels of an agency does not necessarily indicate that an agency is improperly staffed or that the city leadership lacks confidence in either the department or its leadership. An independent review of departmental staffing and operations is very desirable every five to ten years to ensure both elected and appointed leaders - and members of the community - that the department is keeping up with state and national standards and that the funding provided the department is appropriate. It should be clearly remembered that the staffing level of a local police agency is entirely discretionary. There is no state or federal law that prescribes how many officers and employees must be provided. These decisions are made locally and are often based on the city's economic condition, the crime rate, and citizen's perception of safety and desire for specific levels of service. While there are national and state "averages," these averages fail to take into consideration the myriad of factors, including the citizen's expectations or the city's financial condition. While staffing decisions are discretionary, they do have great impact on an agency's ability to perform basic functions. It is the intent of this study to identify these impacts so that city leadership can make the most appropriate decision on staffing levels for the department. In order to compare perFormance and operations we have selected three cities in the northeast Texas area similar in size (Denison, Greenville, and Marshall) and the two largest area cities (Dallas and Fort Worth) for comparison purposes. Throughout this report you may see references to these comparison cities. Data presented for these cities was obtained from the 2006 Crime in Texas published by the Texas Department of Public Safety and from personal contact with the Police Chief. It should be pointed out that there is no Page 5