South Orange Police Operational Report

Final Report

Police Operations

South Orange, New Jersey

Submitted by and reply to: ICMA Center for Public Safety

International City/County Management Association 777 North Capitol Street NE, Suite 500

Washington, DC 20002 [email protected]

202-962-3607

Police Operations, South Orange, New Jersey 2

ICMA Background

The International City/County Management Association (ICMA) is a 100-

year-old, nonprofit professional association of local government

administrators and managers, with approximately 9,000 members located in

28 countries.

Since its inception in 1914, ICMA has been dedicated to assisting local

governments in providing services to its citizens in an efficient and effective

manner. Our work spans all of the activities of local government—parks,

libraries, recreation, public works, economic development, code

enforcement, Brownfields, and public safety.

ICMA advances the knowledge of local government best practices across a

wide range of platforms, including publications, research, training, and

technical assistance. Our work includes both domestic and international

activities in partnership with local, state, and federal governments as well as

private foundations. For example, we are involved in a major library

research project funded by the Bill and Linda Gates Foundation and we are

providing community policing training in El Salvador, Mexico, and Panama

with funding from the United States Department of State (USAID). We have

personnel in Afghanistan assisting with building wastewater treatment plants

and have teams in Central America conducting firefighter rescue training

programs for disaster preparedness working with SOUTHCOM.

The ICMA Center for Public Safety Management (ICMA/CPSM) is one

of four Centers within the U.S. Programs of ICMA, providing support to local

governments in the areas of police, fire, EMS, emergency management, and

homeland security. In addition to providing technical assistance in these

areas we also represent local governments at the federal level and are

involved in numerous projects with the Department of Justice and the

Department of Homeland Security.


ICMA/CPSM is also involved in police and fire chief selection. We assist local

governments in identifying these critical managers through original research

we have conducted and which identifies the core competencies of police and

fire managers; we also provide assessment center resources.

Our local government technical assistance includes workload and

deployment analysis, using operations research techniques and credentialed

experts to identify workload and staffing needs as well as best practices. We

have conducted approximately 100 such studies in communities ranging in

size from 8,000 population (Boone, Iowa) to 800,000 population

(Indianapolis, Ind.).

ICMA Project Contributors

Thomas J. Wieczorek, Director, ICMA Center for Public Safety Management

Leonard A. Matarese, Director, Research & Project Development

Dr. Dov N. Chelst, Director of Quantitative Analysis

Priscila Monachesi, Quantitative Analyst

Dr. James E. McCabe, Senior Manager, Team Lead

James Gabbard, Senior Manager

Ryan Davies, Assistant Project Manager


Table of Contents

I. Executive Summary ...................................................................... 8

II. Methodology .............................................................................. 11

A. Data Analysis .............................................................................. 11

B. Interviews ................................................................................... 11

C. Focus Groups .............................................................................. 11

D. Document Review ........................................................................ 11

E. Operational/Administrative Observations......................................... 12

F. Implementing the Report’s Recommendations ................................. 12

III. Background .............................................................................. 13

A. South Orange Demographics ......................................................... 13

B. Uniform Crime Report/Crime Trends ............................................... 14

C. Comparisons/Benchmarks ............................................................. 16

IV. Operations ................................................................................ 20

A. Demand ...................................................................................... 20

1. Time Spent on Calls and Officers per Call ..................................... 24

B. Patrol Deployment and Staffing ..................................................... 25

1. Schedule .................................................................................. 26

C. Supervision ................................................................................. 28

D. Deployment ................................................................................ 29

1. Saturation Threshold and Rule of 60 ............................................ 31

2. Minimum Manning ..................................................................... 43

E. Desk Officer ................................................................................ 44

F. Community Relations/Special Investigations .................................... 45

G. Traffic Bureau ............................................................................. 46

H. Special Operations ....................................................................... 48

I. Technology on Patrol ..................................................................... 50

V. Detective Bureau ........................................................................ 52

A. Juvenile Aid Bureau ...................................................................... 56


B. Drug Investigations ...................................................................... 57

C. Crime Scene Investigations ........................................................... 58

D. Property and Evidence .................................................................. 59

VI. Administrative & Personnel ...................................................... 62

A. Training ...................................................................................... 63

B. Information Management/Police Records ........................................ 65

C. Communications .......................................................................... 67

D. Sick Time ................................................................................... 70

E. Labor-Management Relations ........................................................ 72

F. Policy and Procedure Manual Review ............................................... 73

G. Prisoner Holding/Detention Facility................................................. 76

H. Police Facility .............................................................................. 77

VII. Performance Assessment and Strategic Planning .................... 80

A. Goals and Objectives .................................................................... 80

B. Meetings and Briefings ................................................................. 81

C. Crime Analysis and Performance Tracking ....................................... 81

VIII. Summary ............................................................................... 86

Appendix A. Sample Four-Shift Deployment Plan ........................... 87


Tables

Table 1. 2010 UCR Crime Comparisons ................................................. 15

Table 2. SOPD in Perspective ............................................................... 18

Table 3. 2011 Calls for Service ............................................................. 21

Table 4. SOPD Deployment Schedule .................................................... 26

Table 5. Recommended SOPD Table of Organization ............................... 63


Figures

Figure 1. Deployment and Main Workload, Weekdays, Winter 2011 .......... 35

Figure 2. Workload Percentage by Hour, Weekdays, Winter 2011 ............. 35

Figure 3. Deployment and Main Workload, Weekends, Winter 2011 .......... 37

Figure 4. Workload Percentage by Hour, Weekends, Winter 2011 ............. 37

Figure 5. Deployment and Main Workload, Weekdays, Summer 2011 ........ 39

Figure 6. Workload Percentage by Hour, Weekdays, Summer 2011 ........... 39

Figure 7. Deployment and Main Workload, Weekends, Summer 2011 ........ 41

Figure 8. Workload Percentage by Hour, Weekends, Summer 2011 ........... 41


I. Executive Summary

ICMA was commissioned to review the operations of the South Orange Police

Department (SOPD). While our analysis covered all aspects of the

department’s operations, a particular focus of our study was on identifying

the appropriate staffing of the agency given its workload, community

demographics, and crime levels.

We analyzed departmental workload using operations research methodology

and compared that workload to staffing and deployment levels. We reviewed

other performance indicators, which allowed us to understand the

implications of service demand on current staffing. We reviewed the

department’s organizational design to determine if the many functions

required of a modern police agency are staffed appropriately.

Our study involved data collection, interviews with key police and

administration personnel, on-site observations of the job environment, data

analysis, comparative analyses, and development of alternatives and

recommendations. The general recommendations appear below and are

described in detail throughout the report.

Recommendations:

Empanel a calls for service committee in order to evaluate service

demands and attempt to reduce nonemergency responses.

Take immediate steps to change the current shift schedule that is in

place and create one that is aligned better with service demands.

Eliminate the position of desk officer in the agency

Disband the community relations/special investigations unit and merge

operations with the traffic bureau to create a new Special Operations

Unit.


Immediately discontinue the use of sworn personnel assigned to

school crossing and develop a plan that alleviates sworn personnel of

this responsibility.

Immediately discontinue staffing the traffic control officer position.

Develop an integrated traffic safety plan to coordinate traffic safety

enforcement, education, and engineering initiatives.

Create a Special Operations Unit staffed by one sergeant and five

police officers.

Equip marked patrol cars with license plate readers.

Expand the use of video surveillance technology to strategic locations

in the community.

Equip supervisory vehicles with the identical equipment found in patrol

units.

Reorganize the investigative functions in the SOPD by merging the

detective bureau with the juvenile aid bureau.

Develop and implement an investigative case management system for

all detective cases and operations.

Eliminate one captain position and in its place create the position of

administrative lieutenant, who will be responsible for training, records

management, communications, performance management, fleet,

facility maintenance, etc.

Develop and implement a sick leave management plan.

Constitute an informal labor-management council. This entity should

meet regularly, establish an agenda, publish minutes, and solicit input

from all members of the SOPD regarding workplace concerns and

potential solutions for these concerns. The council should be charged

with identifying organizational problems and collaborating on

developing and implementing workable solutions to these problems.


Conduct an immediate review and update of current policy documents.

These policies should be rewritten and consolidated into one manual

that provides clear guidelines for the department’s handling of police

operations and associated services.

Contract with an architectural firm to redesign the headquarters

facility to address not only the poor physical condition, but also to

reorganize it in a way that supports implementation of the

recommendations from this report.

Develop a performance evaluation system for all ranks and positions in

the department.

Develop a performance management system.

The department should consider developing and implementing a

citizen satisfaction survey to solicit community input on a variety of

issues.

Prepare annual reports and post on the department website to present

reported crimes and calls for service data by patrol sector.

Staff a crime analyst position.

Department meetings should follow a standardized agenda/format. All

units should be directed to participate actively in these meetings.

It is recommended that the department utilize a standard template to

convey pertinent performance information to village officials.

The department should be provided funding for annual ‘town hall’ style

meetings.

The department should consider creation of a shared leadership team

or council.


II. Methodology

A. Data Analysis

We used numerous sources of data to support our conclusions and

recommendations for the South Orange Police Department. Information was

obtained from the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, Part I

offenses, along with numerous sources of SOPD internal information. UCR

Part I crimes are defined as murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault,

burglary, larceny-theft, and larceny of a motor vehicle. Internal sources

included data from the computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system for

information on calls for service (CFS).

B. Interviews

This study relied extensively on intensive interviews with SOPD personnel.

On-site and in-person interviews were conducted with all division

commanders regarding their operations. We interviewed representatives of

the union to get an understanding of the labor-management climate in the

SOPD.

C. Focus Groups

A focus group is an unstructured group interview in which the moderator

actively encourages discussion among participants. Focus groups generally

consist of eight to ten participants and are used to explore issues that are

difficult to define. Group discussion permits greater exploration of topics. For

the purposes of this study, focus groups were held with representatives of

the department.

D. Document Review

ICMA consultants were furnished with numerous reports and summary

documents by the South Orange Police Department. Information on strategic


plans, personnel staffing and deployment, evaluations, training records, and

performance statistics were provided.

E. Operational/Administrative Observations

Over the course of the evaluation period, numerous observations were

conducted. These included observations of general patrol, special

enforcement, investigations, and administrative functions. ICMA

representatives engaged all facets of department operations from a

“participant observation” perspective.

F. Implementing the Report’s Recommendations

ICMA’s conclusions and recommendations are a blueprint for both the village

and police administrations. The village administration should have periodic

meetings with the SOPD to ensure that ICMA’s recommendations are

implemented. It is strongly recommended that the chief identify and task

one individual with responsibility for implementing these recommendations.

This person should establish a liaison with the chief of police, and should be

given the authority and responsibility to effectuate the changes

recommended. This includes ensuring the recommendations are executed in

a timely fashion and then evaluating the department’s progress every six

months for efficiency, effectiveness, and performance.

All of ICMA’s recommendations are practical and sensible and should be

implemented by the police administration within a reasonable period of time.

If the village desires, ICMA can provide a service to review, monitor, and

evaluate the department’s progress and ensure that the recommendations

are being implemented properly. If the police administration continues to

have difficulty implementing the recommendations, ICMA can assist with

implementation.


III. Background

Policing involves a complex set of activities. Police officers are not simply

crime fighters whose responsibilities are to protect people’s safety and

property and to enhance the public’s sense of security. The police have

myriad other basic responsibilities on a daily basis, including preserving

order in the community, guaranteeing the movement of pedestrian and

vehicular traffic, protecting and extending the rights of persons to speak and

assemble freely, and providing assistance for those who cannot assist

themselves.

The South Orange Police Department provides a full range of police services,

including responding to emergencies and calls for service, performing

directed activities, and solving problems. Both the village and the police

department are dedicated to the principles of community policing, and the

department strives to provide a high level of service to the South Orange

community.

A. South Orange Demographics

When determining the appropriateness of the deployed resources—both

current and future—a key factor for consideration is the demographics of the

community.

South Orange is located in Essex County and is a commercial and retail hub

in central New Jersey. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the village’s

population has stayed relatively constant over the past two decades, and is

now estimated at 16,200.

The racial makeup of South Orange is estimated to be 60.2 percent white,

28.7 percent African American, 5.2 percent Asian, 6.0 percent two or more


races or other race. Of the total population, approximately 6.0 percent is

Hispanic or Latino.

South Orange is also the home to Seton Hall University. The university has

approximately 5,200 undergraduate students, 3,400 graduate students, and

1,800 faculty and staff members. There are 2,250 students living in on-

campus housing and approximately 1,000 living off-campus in South

Orange. Seton Hall estimates the daily campus census to be approximately

8,000 students, staff, and guests; there is parking for 2,400 vehicles in

campus parking facilities. Undoubtedly, Seton Hall brings vibrancy to South

Orange, and also places substantial demands for police services on the

SOPD. These demands must be accounted for when determining appropriate

staffing.

South Orange is also immediately adjacent to the city of Newark, and

nestled between several larger communities. This places demands on the

police department in the forms of crime, traffic, and quality–of-life issues.

B. Uniform Crime Report/Crime Trends

As defined by the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, the seven major

Part I offenses are used to measure the extent, fluctuation, and distribution

of serious crime in geographical areas. Part I crimes are the seven most

serious offenses: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary,

larceny, and motor vehicle theft.

In 2010, South Orange reported a UCR Part I violent crime rate of 358

violent crimes per 100,000 residents (see Table 1). For UCR Part 1 property

crimes, the rate in South Orange is 2,556 property crimes per 100,000

residents. The violent crime rate in South Orange is 18 percent higher than

the state rate, and 11 percent lower than the national rate. The rate of


property crime is 24 percent higher than the state average and 15 percent

lower than the national average.

Table 1. 20101 UCR Crime Comparisons

Agency Population Violent Crime

Rate*

Property Crime

Rate*

U.S. 308,745,538 404 2,942

New Jersey 8,791,894 303 2,057

Population Comparison

Middle Twp. 18,911 397 3,511

Denville Twp. 16,635 42 944

New Milford 16,341 31 612

Secaucus 16,264 185 2,951

South Orange Village 16,198 358 2,556

Readington Twp. 16,126 31 819

South River 16,008 200 1,424

Madison Boro 15,845 32 745

Warren Twp. 15,311 33 490

Neighboring Comparison

Irvington 53,926 1,669 4,004

Maplewood Twp. 21,944 264 2,014

Newark 277,140 1,041 3,323

Orange 30,134 1.112 3,634

Note: * = per 100,000.

Additionally, South Orange can be compared to other communities in New

Jersey. To do this, we took information from the FBI UCR Program on Crime

in the United States and compared South Orange with other jurisdictions of

similar population size in New Jersey, as well as to communities in the

immediate vicinity.

For this analysis, Middle Township, Denville Township, New Milford,

Secaucus, Readington Township, South River, Madison Boro, and Warren

1 At the time of this report only 2010 UCR data were available on comparison jurisdictions.


Township were selected for population comparisons; Irvington, Maplewood,

Newark, and Orange were selected for neighboring comparisons. It should

be noted that the populations of these communities range from 277,000 to

15,000. This analysis is not intended to compare South Orange with Newark

or Warren. Rather, it is simply meant as an illustration of communities in

New Jersey and how they compare with respect to rates of crime.

Examination of the comparisons presented in Table 1 indicates that South

Orange has a relatively high crime rate compared to communities of similar

size. In the group of jurisdictions of similar size, South Orange has the

second highest violent crime rate and third highest property crime rate, but

is only fifth in population rank among the communities. This indicates a

greater crime rate than the population would suggest. Additional

consideration must be given to the influx of students living at Seton Hall

University. While not counted in the population statistics, on-campus

residents surely contribute to the crime statistics and artificially inflate the

crime-population comparisons.

When putting South Orange in perspective with its immediate neighbors,

however, a different picture emerges. It appears that on three sides South

Orange is flanked by communities with very high rates of crime. Of the

communities listed only Maplewood has a lower crime rate than South

Orange. Newark, Orange, and Irvington have substantially greater crime

rates than South Orange, in some cases more than double or triple the state

average.

In totality, it can be concluded that South Orange enjoys a relatively low

crime rate and the department does a commendable job managing crime in

the community.

C. Comparisons/Benchmarks


In order to put South Orange’s crime rate information into perspective, it is

important to compare the SOPD with other police departments. The IBM

report Smarter, Faster, Cheaper2 looks at several financial, organizational,

and demographic variables in order to assess the relative efficiency of police

departments. This study looked at 100 major U.S. cities in a wide range of

regions and sizes. In addition, the Bureau of Justice Statistics publishes

periodic reports on the administrative and managerial characteristics of

police departments in the United States. These documents are useful in

benchmarking the SOPD on several key variables. Keeping in mind that

each community has characteristics that govern the style and size of its

police department, these characteristics and comparisons are useful in

understanding the relative performance of the SOPD.

The benchmarks that are illustrative of the police department’s performance

are the amount of spending per capita on police services, crime rate,

spending per serious crime, and sworn officers per capita.

The SOPD spends approximately $414 per capita on police services. This is

higher than the $216 per capita spent on average. With a crime rate of

2,914 serious crimes per 100,000 residents in 2010, the rate in South

Orange is much lower than the average crime rate of 5,000 in the cities

studied. Spending per crime in South Orange is $2,300 per serious crime,

which is substantially less than the average expenditure per crime of

$6,702. Also, the SOPD employs fifty-one sworn officers, or 309 officers per

100,000, which is higher than the average per capita deployment of 190

officers per 100,000 residents.

A similar perspective on operational efficiency can be gained by inspecting

the amount of money spent on overtime costs as a percentage of overall

2 Smarter, Faster, Cheaper: An Operational Efficiency Benchmarking Study of 100 US

Cities, IBM 2011; and, Bureau of Justice Statistics (2007). Law Enforcement Management

and Administrative Statistics.


spending. In 2011 the SOPD spent approximately $427,000 on police

overtime. This expense represents approximately 6.4 percent of the overall

budget. This is considered high and demonstrates liberal use of overtime

expense.

Table 2. SOPD in Perspective

Benchmark Area SOPD Benchmark Vs. Benchmark

Per capita police spending $414 $216 HIGHER

Crime rate 2,914 5,000 LOWER

Spending per serious crime $2,300 $6,702 MUCH LOWER

Officers per capita 309 190 HIGHER

OT percent of budget 6.4 5 HIGHER

According to the information in Table 2, the SOPD gets mixed marks for

financial benchmarks. Costs of operations appear lower in some areas and

higher in others. This is related to many factors that will be discussed in the

body of the report. In brief, the department spends more per captia and has

a higher number of officers per capita due largely to policing philosophy and

sustained organizational commitments in the community. Spending per

serious crime is markedly lower in South Orange. Overtime expenses are

high and are being driven by several factors, including a rigid staffing

schedule, unlimited sick leave coupled with minimum required patrol staffing

levels, and an imbalance in operational resources.

The key to operational efficiency, however, is not found exclusively in

financial austerity. The size and style of a police department and the types

of services that it provides are a reflection of the character and demands of

the 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 analysis that follows is an attempt to

build upon this discussion and answer the “how many” and “how to deploy”


questions that are the essence of police operational and personnel resource

decisions.

Our report now turns to the various elements of the SOPD and an

assessment of those elements in context with prevailing industry standards

and best practices.


IV. Operations

The SOPD provides the community with a full range of police services,

including responding to emergencies and calls for service (CFS), performing

directed activities, and solving problems. The SOPD is a service-oriented

department providing a high level of service to the community. Essentially,

every call for service gets a police response and every criminal case gets

investigated. The department embraces this approach and considers every

request for service from the public important and deserving of a police

response.

A. Demand

Time and time again, it was reported to the ICMA team that no call is

considered too minor to warrant a response and no case is too small to

warrant an investigation. From the command staff to the rank-and-file

officers, this approach was demonstrated to us on numerous occasions. The

result of this policing philosophy is the delivery of comprehensive policing

services to the South Orange community. The department has the hallmark

of a small-town approach to policing, in which people are not just citizens

but members of a community. Service is personalized, the police are part of

the fabric of the community, and expectations for police service are high.

This approach is not without costs, however. Considerable resources are

needed to maintain the small-town approach. The patrol division must be

staffed with enough officers to respond to virtually every call placed to the

SOPD, and the investigative division must be prepared to investigate every

case that presents itself. From conversations with SOPD officers of all ranks,

it’s clear that the community of South Orange expects this level of service,

and the SOPD is structured to deliver it.


Because the department entertains almost every request for police service,

the choice will be between the options of “Do we continue to police the

community in a full-service mode?” and “What steps can we take to

restructure demand and still promote order and safety?” That is, the

department must decide whether to sustain this comprehensive level of

police service or take the steps necessary to manage it. Essentially, this is a

political decision regarding the quantity of police services offered to the

South Orange community. But quality doesn’t need to suffer. The

recommendations offered regarding operations, if implemented, will permit

the SOPD to continue its full-service model of policing and run the agency

more efficiently while keeping personnel resources stable into the

foreseeable future.

Table 3. 2011 Calls for Service

Category Total Calls % of Total

Accidents 653 5.3

Alarm 2,175 17.5

Animal calls 55 0.4

Assist other agency 347 2.8

Check/investigation 2,330 18.7

Crime–persons 212 1.7

Crime–property 611 4.9

Disturbance 661 5.3

Juvenile 113 0.9

Medical calls 737 5.9

Miscellaneous 458 3.7

Prisoner–arrest 35 0.3

Prisoner–transport 67 0.5

Suspicious person/vehicle 876 7.0

Traffic enforcement 3,103 25.0

Total 12,433

Table 3 presents information on the categories of calls for service received

from the public that were handled by the SOPD during 2011. In total, SOPD


officers were dispatched to 12,433 calls during that 12-month period, or

approximately thirty-four calls per day.

In general, CFS volume in South Orange is low. The SOPD has no problem

handling service demands from the public, and as other sections of the

report will demonstrate, the patrol function appears to be overstaffed.

At the same time, the quantity and quality of calls for service can be

examined for enormous potential for operational efficiencies. Certain types

of calls do not necessarily require the response of a sworn police officer. For

example, at motor vehicle accidents involving only property damage, the

police role is largely administrative: preparing and filing reports. Similarly,

industry experience also tells us that greater than 98 percent of all burglar

alarms are false alarms and that CFS regarding animal complaints are

typically only nuisance-type calls and do not involve a matter of public

safety or danger. The bottom line here is that a substantial number of CFS

dispatches to officers in the SOPD could be eliminated.

The alarm industry is a strong advocate of developing ordinances and

procedures to address police responses to false alarms and will work closely

with any agency exploring this issue. The 98 percent of alarm calls that are

false are caused by user error, and this can be addressed by alarm

management programs. For example, a double-call verification protocol is

becoming the norm across the country. Alarm reduction needs to be

addressed aggressively in South Orange. Adopting an alarm callback

program has the potential to reduce calls for service by more than to 1,000

calls, or roughly 8 percent of all CFS that come from the public.

Automobile accidents are another category for which the response by a

sworn officer is questionable. Most accidents involve only property damage

to vehicles and the role of an officer is simply report preparation. When

injuries occur or vehicles are inoperable and blocking traffic, however, police


response is important. Proper training of dispatchers and inquiries by

dispatchers during the initial call-taking process can easily triage vehicle

accident calls to determine which ones actually require a police response.

Dispatching police officers to all vehicle crashes is not recommended. It is

recommended that the SOPD cease responding to CFS involving property

damage only motor vehicle accidents. Examination of Table 3 indicates that

5.3 percent of all CFS handled during the study period were traffic accidents.

Arguably, most of these CFS were administrative in nature and did not

necessarily warrant the response of a sworn police officer.

Three categories of CFS—accidents, alarms, check/investigation—represent

more than 41 percent of all CFS volume from the public in South Orange,

but a police response at the large majority of these incidents is likely not

necessary. These categories of CFS must be examined carefully. It is

strongly recommended, therefore, that the SOPD establish a committee that

includes all the principal stakeholders in this process and which has the

responsibility for evaluating the CFS workload with an eye toward reducing

nonemergency CFS response. The Chief of Police and Town Council

members should meet to discuss the possibility of reducing CFS responses

and eliminating types of CFS handled by the SOPD. This committee should

begin with these three major categories of CFS response and formulate the

response (or nonresponse) protocols for these assignments.

Recommendation:

Empanel a calls for service committee in order to evaluate service

demands and attempt to reduce nonemergency responses.


Our data analysis supports the notion that a thorough examination by the

SOPD of CFS response is necessary in order to eliminate, downsize, and

streamline CFS.

ICMA recommends that from a policy perspective the responses to major

categories of CFS be reduced, including responses to traffic accidents

involving only property damage; an alarm callback system be instituted; and

911 call-takers and dispatchers be trained to trigger a police response in

cases only when there is an emergency situation.

1. Time Spent on Calls and Officers per Call

Further examination of various elements of the CFS and patrol response

data also warrants discussion. Key tables in the data analysis section of this

report provide a wealth of information about demand, workload, and

deployment in South Orange. Three key pieces of information demonstrate

the how patrol resources are used in South Orange. These three statistics

are found in the data analysis section under Table 6, Occupied Time; Table

7, Number of Responding Units; and Table 11, Average Response Time

Components. Taken together these statistics provide an excellent lens

through which to view the efficiency of patrol operations in South Orange.

According to the data in Table 6, SOPD patrol units on average take 22.1

minutes to handle a call for service. This figure is approximately 26 percent

less time than average occupied of about 30 minutes for a CFS, based on

our experience.3 Also, the SOPD, according to Table 7, dispatches 1.4

officers per CFS. The number of officers dispatched (like occupied time)

varies by category of call, but is lower than policing norms of about 1.6

officers per CFS. In other words, the SOPD uses fewer officers overall to

3 ICMA considers 30 minutes to be a benchmark of police departments to handle CFS. This figure is

derived from data analyses of police agencies similar to the SOPD.


handle a CFS and does so in less time than an average police response of

similar size agencies.

Similarly, according to Table 11, response times for CFS in South Orange

averaged less than five minutes per call. This is substantially lower than

many communities of similar size and well below the generally accepted

target response time of fifteen minutes per call.

Taken together, our analysis of occupied time, number of officers per call,

and response time shows an efficient deployment of patrol officers to CFS in

South Orange.

In sum, the various data show that patrol services in the SOPD is

overstaffed. Reductions in the patrol division can be achieved, even while

managing CFS volume more aggressively, thus making the overall function

of the SOPD more efficient and cost-effective.

B. Patrol Deployment and Staffing

Uniformed patrol is considered the “backbone” of American policing. Bureau

of Justice statistics indicate that more than 95 percent of police departments

in the U.S. in the same size category as the SOPD provide uniformed patrol.

Officers assigned to this important function are the most visible members of

the department and command the largest share of resources committed by

the department. Proper allocation of these resources is critical in order to

have officers available to respond to calls for service and provide law

enforcement services to the public.

In South Orange general patrol operations are staffed using three 10 hour

and40 minute shifts. The shifts are organized into two separate rotations (A

and B) and work four days on and four days off. Each rotation, therefore has

three shifts (days, evening, nights) and each shift is staffed with one


lieutenant, one sergeant, and five police officers (due to vacancies, three

shifts have four officers). The day shift reports to work at 6:50 a.m. and

ends at 5:30 p.m., the evening shift starts at 1:20 p.m. and ends at

midnight, and the night shift starts at 9:20 p.m. and ends at 8:00 a.m.

Table 4. SOPD Deployment Schedule

Shift Hours Rotation Lt. Sgts. Officers

Day 0650x1730 A 1 1 5

B 1 1 5

Evening 1320x2400 A 1 1 4

B 1 1 4

Night 2120x0800 A 1 1 4

B 1 1 5

Total 6 6 27

Our examination of the patrol staffing and workload demands, combined

with on-site observations and industry norms, leads us to several

recommendations with respect to patrol deployment.

1. Schedule

The shift schedule in place in South Orange is inefficient. Using three 10

hour and 40 minute shifts results in eight hours of overlapping coverage

each day. Inspection of the timing of this overlap shows that it is creating

substantial inefficiencies in patrol coverage and costing approximately 15 to

20 percent more in personnel than necessary to provide the same service.

Overlaps occur at three times during the day: for one hour and ten minutes

(1:10) whenn the night and day shifts meet, for four hours and twenty

minutes (4:20) when the day and evening shifts meet, and for two hours

and forty minutes (2:40) when the evening and night shifts meet. Ideally,

overlaps in staffing should be designed to align staff availability with


demands for service. The shift model in the SOPD appears haphazard and

only minimally addresses service demands.

Additionally, the four-on/four-off rotation translates into officers working

1,946:40 hours each year (182.5 work-days each year, with a 10:40 shift),

which is 133:20 hours less than a conventional work-year of 2,080 hours.

While it is not uncommon to compensate police officers under less-than-full

staffing plans, this must be considered when exploring options than provide

more efficient staffing models

Furthermore, the 10:40 shift is an awkward shift length. The available

literature on shift length provides no definitive conclusions on an appropriate

length of shift. A recent study published by the Police Foundation examined

8-hour, 10-hour, and 12-hour shifts, and found positive and negative

characteristics associated with all three.4 ICMA contends that the length of

the shift is secondary to the application of that shift to meet service

demands. Again, a 10:40 shift does not appear to address any needs, and

unnecessarily lengthens the workday of the officer.

It is also understood that the current schedule is a provision of the labor

contract and subject to collective bargaining. However, the current shift

model in place in South Orange is inefficient and immediate steps need to be

taken to change it.

It is not necessarily the length of the tour, but the manner in which the

model is structured that creates the inefficiency. Eight-hour, ten-hour, and

twelve-hour work schedules exist, and are in use by many police

departments across the U.S., and which take advantage of shift length and

start/end times to meet the needs of the community and the department.

The plan in place in South Orange appears to do little in the form of service

4 Police Foundation, The Shift Length Experiment: What we know about 8-, 10-, and 12-

hour shifts in policing, 2012.


delivery and costs the village and the SOPD substantially more than

necessary to provide police services.

Therefore, it is strongly recommended that the department seek to modify

the shift schedule to more appropriately align the schedule to meet the

demands of the community. An example of an alternative shift schedule is

provided in Appendix A. This schedule relies on 10:40 minute shifts, but

uses four start times instead of three, and reduces supervisory staffing by

four lieutenants. There are numerous options available that are superior

alternatives to the current patrol shift schedule in place in the SOPD. These

alternatives should be pursued aggressively.

Recommendation:

Take immediate steps to change the current shift schedule in place

in the SOPD and create one that is aligned better with service

demands.

C. Supervision

Inspection of the SOPD table of organization reveals a very low supervisor to

subordinate staffing ratio. Span of control, or the ratio of subordinates to

supervisors, is an important characteristic of an organization and indicates

the amount of supervision and direction given to individual employees. In

the SOPD patrol shifts, the span of control from lieutenant to sergeant is

1:1, and for sergeant to police officer it is 1:5 (and 1:4 in shifts with the

vacancies). This is a very low span of control and the SOPD should examine

closely these supervisory ratios to afford greater responsibilities for all

ranking officers in the department. In particular, an organizational span of


control where one supervisor is responsible for only one subordinate should

be adjusted to increase the span of control.

A potential solution to this condition is to realign the patrol schedule (and

the other units in the department) to create a structure that diffuses

supervisory responsibility appropriately. This recommendation should be

taken into consideration with a realignment of the patrol shift schedule to

create a more efficient work model (scheduling and supervision) for the

entire organization. In other words, the organization is “top heavy” with an

excess number of ranking officers. The SOPD should explore organizational

restructuring to align staffing resources more efficiently and reduce the

number of supervisors in each rank.

D. Deployment

Although some police administrators suggest that there are national

standards for the number of officers per thousand residents, that is not the

case. The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) states that

ready-made, universally applicable patrol staffing standards do not exist.

Furthermore, ratios such as officers-per-thousand population are

inappropriate to use as the basis for staffing decisions.

According to Public Management magazine, “A key resource is discretionary

patrol time, or the time available for officers to make self-initiated stops,

advise a victim in how to prevent the next crime, or call property owners,

neighbors, or local agencies to report problems or request assistance.

Understanding discretionary time, and how it is used, is vital. Yet most

police departments do not compile such data effectively. To be sure, this is


not easy to do and, in some departments may require improvements in

management information systems.”5

Essentially, “discretionary time” on patrol is the amount of time available

each day where officers are not committed to handling CFS and workload

demands from the public. It is “discretionary” and intended to be used at the

discretion of the officer to address problems in the community and be

available in the event of emergencies. Discretionary time, or non-committed

time, can be used for a whole host of proactive and community policing type

activities. First, non-committed time allows officers to patrol locations prone

to crime, disorder, and traffic problems. Routine patrol not dedicated to

calls for service is a deterrent to crime and disorder. It is impossible to

calculate the deterrent value of this effort, but it is a valuable resource to

have available. Also, when not responding to CFS, officers can interact with

the community, attend school and community meetings, perform proactive

enforcement in trouble areas. Furthermore, non-committed time allows

officers to demonstrate a strong presence in visible areas of the community.

When there is no discretionary time, however, officers are entirely

committed to service demands, do not get the chance to address other

community problems that do not arise through 911, and are not available in

times of serious emergency. The lack of discretionary time indicates a

department is understaffed. Conversely, when there is too much

discretionary time officers are idle. This is an indication that the department

is overstaffed.

Staffing decisions, particularly in patrol, must be based on actual workload.

Once the actual workload is determined the amount of discretionary time is

determined and then staffing decisions can be made consistent with the

department’s policing philosophy and the community’s ability to fund it. The

5 John Campbell, Joseph Brann, and David Williams, “Officer-per-Thousand Formulas and

Other Policy Myths,” Public Management 86 (March 2004): 2227.


SOPD is a full-service police department, and the philosophy is to address

essentially all requests for service in a community policing style. With this in

mind it is necessary to look at workload to understand the impact of this

style of policing in the context of community demand.

To understand actual workload (the time required to complete certain

activities) it is critical to review total reported events within the context of

how the events originated, such as through directed patrol, administrative

tasks, officer-initiated activities, and citizen-initiated activities. Doing this

analysis allows identification of activities that are really “calls” from those

activities that are some other event.

Understanding the difference between the various types of police

department events and the staffing implications is critical to determining

deployment needs. This portion of the study looks at the total deployed

hours of the police department with a comparison to the time being spent to

currently provide services.

From an organizational standpoint, it is important to have uniformed patrol

resources available at all times of the day to deal with issues such as

proactive enforcement and community policing. Patrol is generally the most

visible and most available resource in policing and the ability to harness this

resource is critical for successful operations.

1. Saturation Threshold and Rule of 60

From an officer’s standpoint, once a certain level of CFS activity is reached,

the officer’s focus shifts to a CFS-based reactionary mode. Once a threshold

is reached, the patrol officer’s mindset begins to shift from one that looks for

ways to deal with crime and quality-of-life conditions in the community to

one that continually prepares for the next CFS. After saturation, officers


cease proactive policing and engage in a reactionary style of policing. The

outlook becomes “Why act proactively when my actions are only going to be

interrupted by a CFS?” Uncommitted time is spent waiting for the next call.

Sixty percent of time spent responding to calls for service is believed to be

the saturation threshold.

In general, a “Rule of 60” can be applied to evaluate patrol staffing. The

“Rule of 60” has two parts. The first part maintains that 60 percent of the

sworn officers in a department should be dedicated to the patrol function,

and the second part maintains that no more than 60 percent of manpower

should be “saturated” by workload demands from the community.

a. Rule of 60 – Part 1

According to the SOPD “Table of Organization” dated 05/01/2012, patrol in

the SOPD is staffed by one captain, six lieutenants (one vacancy), six

sergeants, and twenty-seven police officers assigned to a CFS response

capacity. These thirty-nine sworn officers represent 76 percent of the fifty-

one sworn officers in the SOPD. This percentage is higher than the 60

percent benchmark for patrol staffing for an agency the size of the SOPD.

Adding in the sworn personnel (one sergeant and one police officer)

assigned to the traffic bureau and this percentage gets even higher. With

the traffic bureau included, there are 41 of 51 sworn personnel assigned to

CFS response, or 80 percent.

According to these statistics, the SOPD does not adhere to the first

component of the “Rule of 60.” The patrol function has a very high

percentage of sworn personnel and the staffing of the agency is not

balanced appropriately.


b. Rule of 60 – Part 2

The second part of the “Rule of 60” examines workload and discretionary

time and suggests that no more than 60 percent of time should be

committed to calls for service. In other words, ICMA suggests that no more

than 60 percent of available patrol officer time be spent responding to the

service demands of the community. The remaining 40 percent of the time is

the “discretionary time” for officers to be available to address community

problems and be available for serious emergencies. This Rule of 60 for patrol

deployment does not mean the remaining 40 percent of time is downtime or

break time. It is simply a reflection of the point at which patrol officer time is

“saturated” by CFS.

c. Saturation Index

This ratio of dedicated time compared to discretionary time is referred to as

the “Saturation Index” (SI). It is ICMA’s contention that patrol staffing is

optimally deployed when the SI is in the 60 percent range. A SI greater than

60 percent indicates that the patrol manpower is largely reactive, and

overburdened with CFS and workload demands. A SI of somewhat less than

60 percent indicates that patrol manpower is optimally staffed. SI levels

much lower than 60 percent, however, indicate patrol resources that are

underutilized, and signals an opportunity for a reduction in patrol resources

or reallocation of police personnel.

Departments must be cautious in interpreting the SI too narrowly. For

example, one should not conclude that SI can never exceed 60 percent at

any time during the day, or that in any given hour no more than 60 percent

of any officer’s time be committed to CFS. The SI at 60 percent is intended

to be a benchmark to evaluate service demands on patrol staffing. When SI

levels exceed 60 percent for substantial periods of a given shift, or at

isolated and specific times during the day, then decisions should be made to


reallocate or realign personnel to reduce the SI to levels below 60. Lastly,

this is not a hard-and-fast rule, but a benchmark to be used in evaluating

staffing decisions.

The ICMA data analysis in the second part of this report provides a rich

overview of CFS and staffing demands experienced by the SOPD. The

analysis here looks specifically at patrol deployment and how to maximize

the personnel resources of the SOPD to meet the demands of calls for

service while also engaging in proactive policing to combat crime, disorder,

and traffic issues in the community.

Figures 1 to 8 illustrate workload, staffing, and the “saturation” of patrol

resources in the SOPD during the two months in 2011 on which we focused.

By “saturation” we mean the amount of time officers spend on patrol

handling service demands from the community. In other words, how much

of the day is “saturated” with workload demands. This “saturation” is the

comparison of workload with available manpower over the course of an

average day during the months selected.

The figures represent the manpower and demand during weekdays and

weekends during the months of February and August, 2011. Examination of

these figures permits exploration of the second part of the Rule of 60. Again,

the Rule of 60 examines the relationship between total work and total patrol,

and to comply with this rule, total work should be less than 60 percent of

total patrol.


Figure 1. Deployment and Main Workload, Weekdays, Winter 2011

Hour 2321191715131197531

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

Pe

rso

nn

el

Added patrol

Patrol

Directed patrol work

Out-of-service work

Police-initiated work

Other-initiated work

Figure 2. Workload Percentage by Hour, Weekdays, Winter 2011

2220181614121086420

100

80

60

40

20

0

Hour

Percentage

Other-initiated

Most (+ Self-initiated & Out-of-service)

Total (+ Directed patrol)


Workload v. Deployment – Weekdays – Winter 2011

Avg. Workload: 1.2 officers per hour

Avg. % Deployed (SI): 17 percent

Low SI: 5 percent

Low SI Time: 0730 hours

Peak SI: 34 percent

Peak SI Time: 1830 hours

Figures 1 and 2 present the patrol workload demands and SI for weekdays

in winter 2011. As the figures indicate, the SI never exceeds the 60 percent

threshold. In fact, on average, approximately one officer is required on the

average weekday in winter to meet the service demands from CFS in South

Orange. The SI ranges from a low of approximately 5 percent at 7:30 a.m.

to a high of 34 percent at 6:30 p.m., with a daily average of 13 percent.

Note that direct public demand for services indicated by the solid blue line

(other-initiated) in Figure 2 demonstrates that at all times during the

weekdays in winter, the SOPD has more than adequate, even surplus, patrol

resources to meet that demand.


Figure 3. Deployment and Main Workload, Weekends, Winter 2011

Hour 2321191715131197531

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

Pe

rso

nn

el

Added patrol

Patrol


Out-of-service work



Figure 4. Workload Percentage by Hour, Weekends, Winter 2011

2220181614121086420

100

80

60

40

20

0

Hour

Percentage

Other-initiated




Workload v. Deployment – Weekends – Winter 2011



Low SI: 5 percent


Peak SI: 57 percent


Figures 3 and 4 present the patrol workload demands and SI for weekends

in winter 2011. As the figures indicate, the SI never exceeds the 60 percent

threshold. The SI ranges from a low of approximately 5 percent at 7:30 a.m.

to a high of 57 percent at 7:30 p.m., with a daily average of 14 percent.

Note that direct public demand for services indicated by the solid blue line

(other-initiated) in Figure 4 demonstrates that at all times during the

weekdays in winter, the SOPD has more than adequate, even surplus, patrol

resources to meet that demand.


Figure 5. Deployment and Main Workload, Weekdays, Summer 2011

Hour 2321191715131197531

10

8

6

4

2

0

Pe

rso

nn

el

Added patrol

Patrol


Out-of-service work



Figure 6. Workload Percentage by Hour, Weekdays, Summer 2011

2220181614121086420

100

80

60

40

20

0

Hour

Percentage

Other-initiated




Workload v. Deployment – Weekdays – Summer 2011



Low SI: 3 percent


Peak SI: 44 percent


Figures 5 and 6 present the patrol workload demands and SI for weekdays

in Summer 2011. As the figures indicate, the SI never exceeds the 60

percent threshold. In fact, on average, less than one officer is required on

the average weekday in summer to meet the service demands from CFS in

South Orange. The SI ranges from a low of approximately 5 percent at 6:30

a.m. to a high of 44 percent at 7:15 p.m., with a daily average of 18

percent. Note that direct public demand for services indicated by the solid

blue line (other-initiated) in Figure 6 demonstrates that at all times during

the weekdays in February, the SOPD has more than adequate, even surplus,

patrol resources to meet that demand.


Figure 7. Deployment and Main Workload, Weekends, Summer 2011

Hour 2321191715131197531

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

0

Pe

rso

nn

el

Added patrol

Patrol


Out-of-service work



Figure 8. Workload Percentage by Hour, Weekends, Summer 2011

2220181614121086420

100

80

60

40

20

0

Hour

Percentage

Other-initiated




Workload v. Deployment – Weekends – Summer 2011



Low SI: 4 percent


Peak SI: 44 percent


Figures 7 and 8 present the patrol workload demands and SI for weekends

in summer 2011. As the figures indicate, the SI never exceeds the 60

percent threshold. In fact, on average, less than one officer is required on

the average weekend in summer to meet the service demands from CFS in

South Orange. The SI ranges from a low of approximately 4 percent at 8:15

a.m. to a high of 44 percent at 8:30 p.m., with a daily average of 20

percent. Note that direct public demand for services indicated by the solid

blue line (other-initiated) in Figure 8 demonstrates that at all times during

the weekdays in February, the SOPD has more than adequate, even surplus,

patrol resources to meet that demand.

In Figures 2, 4, 6, and 8, the patrol resources available are denoted by the

dashed green line at the top. The 100 percent value indicates the total police

officer hours available during the 24-hour period. This amount varies during

the day consistent with the staffing of the shifts, but at any given hour the

total amount of available manpower will equal 100.

The red dashed line fixed at the 60 percent level represents the saturation

index (SI). As discussed above, this is the point at which patrol resources

become largely reactive as CFS and workload demands consume a larger

and larger portion of available time. The blue line represents workload


generated by calls for service from the public and the solid black line

represents total workload experienced by the SOPD.

Looking at the comparisons of the green, red, and black lines in the SI

figures, and comparing workload to available staffing, the data indicate that

there is an abundance of patrol resources available to meet the service

demands from CFS in South Orange. This means that there is an abundance

of non-committed time available for the officers to perform community-

policing activities, proactive enforcement, and create a strong visible

presence in the community. For each period under review, it is

demonstrated that less than one officer on average is necessary to handle

demand. In fact, the SI never exceeds 60 percent and only peaks at 44

percent during weekends in the summer. This information easily permits the

conclusion that the patrol shifts in the SOPD are overstaffed. ICMA is not

recommending that police officer staffing be reduced to one officer per shift;

however, a closer examination of staffing minimums should be conducted

with an eye towards reducing overall patrol staff.

2. Minimum Manning

Currently, the SOPD relies on a “hard” minimum manning level of four police

units on patrol. When vacancies occur in the shift schedule due to illness,

vacation, etc., the department incurs overtime to backfill those positions to

maintain the minimum manning level of four units on patrol. Examination of

the patrol saturation index indicates that during many extended periods

during the day, four units on patrol is an excessive and inefficient. However,

consideration must be given to the sustained operational demands of Seton

Hall University and the proximity of South Orange to high-crime

communities. Although the CFS volume and patrol saturation do not warrant

four units on patrol, other factors indicate that this level is reasonable. It is


recommended that the “hard” minimum be modified and supervisors be

given the authority to adjust this level (up or down) as they think

appropriate.

E. Desk Officer

Presently, the SOPD staffs a “desk officer” position. Generally, this position

is held by the shift lieutenant, or sergeant if the lieutenant is absent, and is

responsible for patrol operations during that shift. The position is staffed

every day, twenty-four hours, seven days each week. The position is fixed at

the SOPD headquarters and supervises the communications dispatcher,

handles walk-in and call-in complaints to the station house, and is

responsible for processing other administrative matters, including arrests. It

is strongly recommended that this position be eliminated from the patrol

staffing model in place in the SOPD and alternative supervisory coverage be

designed.

Based on the workload and staffing analysis, ICMA recommends that only

one supervisor is necessary to manage patrol operations in South Orange.

This supervisor should be primarily on patrol and assigned to the

headquarters facility only when necessary. Assigning a lieutenant to the

“desk” is inefficient, and considering there are eight hours of overlap each

day this could translate into two lieutenants assigned to the “desk” for one-

third of the day. Immediate steps should be taken to change this staffing

model.

Recommendation:

Eliminate the position of desk officer in the agency.


Other recommendations appear later on in this report that pertain to the

police facility and records management. These recommendations must be

integrated with the recommendation here to eliminate the desk officer

position.

In brief, the police facility needs to be remodeled and walk-in complaints

accepted only during limited hours during the day. After business hours, a

comfortable and secure waiting area should be established with telephone

communication with the police dispatcher to summon assistance if

necessary. This would eliminate the need for a supervisor to be inside the

station house; the supervisor could respond only as required. The

combination of these actions will result in better and more efficient service

delivery to the South Orange community.

F. Community Relations/Special Investigations

The Community Relations and Special Investigations Unit is staffed by one

sergeant and one part-time civilian. The responsibilities of the sworn

sergeant are many and varied, and include:

Special events permits

Licensing of taxis

Special event overtime assignments

Liaison for the county domestic response team

Liaison for a group home facility

Neighborhood watch program coordinator (security checks/security

surveys), for six neighborhood programs

Liaison officer for Seton Hall (public events/student issues)

Presentations and tours of police facility

Liaison with senior citizen groups

Road construction (overtime assignments)


Security assignments (fixed posts at Seton Hall and movie theatre)

Citizen complaints

Relieves desk officer

Fleet maintenance (The civilian member of the unit handles all fleet

maintenance responsibilities. There are eighteen marked and nine

unmarked vehicles (total of twenty-seven vehicles) and two trailers

that are utilized by the South Orange Police Department. These

vehicles are maintained by Maplewood Township through a contract

for service agreement.

In-car cameras in patrol vehicles (these are not in supervisor cars)

Mobil data terminals in patrol cars (these are not in supervisor cars)

Automated external defibrillators (AEDs), of which four units are in

use. They are changed from in-service cars at shift change.

Recommendation:

Disband the community relations/special investigations unit and

merge operations with the traffic bureau to create a new Special

Operations Unit (see below).

G. Traffic Bureau

The SOPD staffs a traffic bureau consisting of one sergeant, one police

officer, one traffic control officer, and twenty-two school crossing guards.

The bureau personnel act as liaison to the U.S. and N.J. Departments of

Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the N.J. Department of

Transportation, AAA, N.J. State Police, and numerous other traffic

organizations throughout the state. Bureau personnel perform numerous

enforcement operations in the town, as well as respond to community

complaints regarding traffic. They perform tow truck inspections, process


impounds, coordinate the school crossing program, process accident reports,

maintain the intoxalyzer equipment, provide lectures on traffic safety, and

handle numerous traffic related events and operations during the year. In

general, the scope and breadth of the bureau’s operation is impressive.

One serious shortcoming of the traffic bureau is the administration and

staffing of school crossing assignments. This is not a criticism of the current

bureau, it is a criticism of the department’s deployment decisions with

respect to these assignments. Each school day, the SOPD staffs school

crossing posts that provide safe passage across streets at four schools in the

community. Responsibility for this assignment rests with the twenty-two

school crossing guards assigned to the traffic bureau. During times when a

shortage of crossing guards prohibits coverage at the school crossings, the

SOPD relies on full-duty, sworn police officers as school crossing guards.

ICMA strongly recommends that the assignment of sworn police officers to

school crossing responsibilities cease immediately.

The traffic bureau must complete one or all of the following measures to

change the current situation:

1. Identify more eligible school crossing guards to substitute during times

of absence of the regularly assigned guards, and/or

2. Coordinate with school officials to notify them to provide coverage at

school crossings when the regularly assigned school crossing guard is

absent, and/or

3. Prioritize the posts and ensure that all priority posts are covered and

leave vacant posts of lower priority.

Before school starts in the fall of 2012, the SOPD must develop and

implement a program that alleviates full-duty, sworn police officers from

performing school crossing guard functions.


Similarly, the SOPD staffs a per-diem position of traffic control officer. This

position’s function is to provide traffic control at the intersection of South

Orange Avenue and Scotland Road-Valley Street. This position adds no value

to the traffic safety mission of the SOPD and should be discontinued

immediately. The money used to fund this position can be redirected and

spent on other more pressing issues facing the department.

The SOPD traffic bureau also needs to embrace more vigorously strategic

planning initiatives aimed at improving traffic safety in South Orange.

Presently, the bureau works diligently at providing enforcement,

engineering, and education programs designed to improve traffic safety. The

recommendation is to focus these efforts to a greater extent, and rely on a

more focused identification of the specific problems, and then use resources

to target those problems in a coordinated and integrated fashion.

Recommendations:

Immediately discontinue the use of sworn personnel assigned

to school crossing and develop a plan that alleviates sworn

personnel of this responsibility.

Immediately discontinue staffing the traffic control officer

position.

Develop an integrated traffic safety plan to coordinate traffic

safety enforcement, education, and engineering initiatives.

H. Special Operations

SOPD operations are not balanced. As was mentioned in the discussion on

patrol staffing, too many resources are in the patrol division and there is too

much emphasis on responding to CFS and reactive policing. Best practices in


contemporary policing call for police organizations to have some form of

organizational capacity that operates in a proactive fashion. It is

recommended, therefore, that the SOPD create a new unit that will be

responsible for fixed geographic areas in the community and which will be

available to mobilize to address chronic or immediate community problems.

The unit would be created by collapsing the traffic bureau and the

community relations functions of the sergeant assigned to community

relations/special investigations (this unit would be disbanded). The new unit

should be staffed by one sergeant and five police officers. The officers would

have geographic responsibility for community policing in each of the four

patrol zones currently designated by the SOPD. The fifth police officer will be

assigned specifically as the traffic safety officer. Therefore, the current traffic

bureau and community relations/special investigations unit would merge into

one integrated unit/bureau. The duties and responsibilities of this new unit

would be as follows:

Crime prevention

Personal and facility security

Liaisons to organized community groups

Block watchers

Response to long-term and chronic crime and quality-of-life issues

School resource officers

Anticrime and plain-clothes operations

Proactive enforcement

Driver safety programs

The unit would act as liaison to the organized community from the

department and be available to conduct proactive enforcement operations at

the direction of the unit supervisor and/or chief. The personnel assigned

would have both individual responsibility for specific areas in South Orange


and collective responsibility to engage in proactive enforcement. Also, the

creation and staffing of this unit provides the SOPD with greater balance and

the ability to operate outside the structure of CFS response and reactive

criminal investigations.

Recommendation:

Create a Special Operations Unit staffed by one sergeant and five

police officers.

I. Technology on Patrol

The SOPD employs the standard technology for patrol operations. Each

patrol vehicle contains audio/video and computer technology; officers have

the capability to access department systems and prepare reports remotely;

and four cars each shift have an automated external defibrillator (AED).

Supervisory vehicles, however, are not similarly equipped and are missing

the computer and AED.

One piece of equipment that should be considered for inclusion in patrol

vehicles are automatic license plate readers. Recent research has shown that

license plate readers are very effective tools for apprehending auto thieves

and recovering stolen vehicles. They cost around $25,000 per device, but

can check license plates about ten times faster than an officer manually

checking license plates. Their use can result in double the number of arrests

and recoveries of stolen vehicles.6 Agencies that employ LPR technology

report that over the next five years they plan on increasing the deployment

of LPR to equip approximately 25 percent of their patrol cars. It is strongly

6 Police Executive Research Forum study of LPR effectiveness in the Mesa, AZ police dept.


recommended that the SOPD implement this technology and install LPR in at

least one marked patrol car in each service area.

The SOPD is near installation of an automatic license plate reader at a fixed

location. This site is a busy thoroughfare between South Orange and Newark

and a likely route for stolen vehicles and travel by criminal suspects. Ideally,

a high-resolution camera should be installed at this location instead of the

LPR. Furthermore, the department should consider investing in additional

video surveillance technology throughout the village and should site cameras

at other main thoroughfares that are main routes of access and egress from

South Orange, as well as the downtown area. The expense of purchase and

installation of these devices is small in comparison to the value added in

security, safety, and enhanced criminal investigative capabilities. In the

absence of additional surveillance technology, however, the decision to

mount the LPR in a fixed location is sound. The recommended mix of

technology in this area is to mount fixed video cameras at strategic locations

and deploy the LPR technology in the police cars on patrol.

Recommendations:

Equip marked patrol cars with license plate readers.

Expand the use of video surveillance technology to strategic

locations in the community.

Equip supervisory vehicles with the identical equipment found

in patrol units.


V. Detective Bureau

The South Orange Police Department’s Detective Bureau provides full

investigative services. The detectives investigate all of the criminal

complaints that are reported to the police department, including all felony

and misdemeanor cases and other incidents or situations that may require

some type of investigative service. If the department encounters a homicide

or other major felony the Essex County Prosecutor has the authority to take

the lead and supervise these cases. The County Prosecutor’s Office is staffed

with investigators and crime scene personnel who routinely play a leading

role in all homicides and major case investigations within the county. The

County Prosecutor’s Office does receive support in these investigations from

all of the police agencies within the county.

The detective bureau is staffed by one captain, one lieutenant, one sergeant,

and four detectives. The detectives are laterally transferred into the division

from patrol, and do not assume a permanent rank of detective. They serve

in this position until such time as the chief of police determines that

reassignment is appropriate.

Detectives are assigned to follow-up all reported crimes regardless of the

type of offense. All crime victims are contacted by the assigned detective as

part of the case follow-up procedure. The detective bureau is forwarded

copies of all of the crime reports on a daily basis. The detective lieutenant

reviews these reports and based on his assessment the cases are assigned

to the individual detectives. There is no case solvability process currently in

use. Cases are assigned solely on the basis of the lieutenant’s review.

The detective bureau does not utilize an investigative tracking system. The

detective lieutenant has the ability to determine case load levels from his

communication with the detectives on a regular basis. There is no method in


use to determine the number of cases each detective solves or the number

of cases each one is assigned. If information is needed as to what detective

was assigned to a case this information can be obtained through a records

search, but is not readily available.

The detectives work a nine hour and thirty minute shift. Their work schedule

is four days on and three days off. The detectives have either Monday or

Friday off and each of them works one afternoon shift per month. This

schedule also requires that they work one Saturday per month and also

have the on-call duty for that weekend. When the on-call detective is called

out there is a minimum of four hours overtime. The detective has the option

to take the overtime in cash or compensatory time.

The detective bureau is a small investigative unit that is willing and capable

to handle criminal investigations within its jurisdiction. The detectives

themselves and the department’s leadership do recognize the limitations

placed upon them by their resources and by the statutory authority of the

County Prosecutor’s Office. They are also willing to seek assistance from the

Essex County Sheriff’s Department in the investigation of complex drug

cases.

The detective bureau does not utilize a case assignment procedure that

includes assessing each case on its solvability factors prior to assignment; it

maintains a policy of assigning all reported offenses. The bureau does not

track case assignments to the individual detective. There is also no

procedure in place to track the investigative status of cases or to routinely

access an individual detective’s disposition of cases.

Records can be obtained from the records management system after reports

are submitted by the detectives. In general, these reports are submitted and

filed at the conclusion of the case and this limits the supervisor’s ability to

monitor the progress of the cases in real time. The lieutenant must rely on


his ability to communicate with the individual detective to monitor the status

of an investigation.

The department does track case dispositions through “The BEAST” (Bar-

coded Evidence Analysis Systems Tracking) property and evidence software

package. This case tracking capability is utilized primarily to track evidence

and property for destruction. It is not used to track the status of current

case investigations.

The department takes pride in assigning all criminal complaints to a

detective for investigative follow-up. This is an established practice that the

officers within the department believe the public has come to expect. ICMA

does recognize that this is a common practice in many medium- and small-

sized departments throughout the United States. We also recognize that this

practice is well intentioned and is part of the culture of many police

departments. ICMA also recognizes that in times of economic difficulty

continuing this practice may not be economically feasible.

The department should immediately adopt a policy of reviewing each case to

determine if there are any factors present that could lead to identifying the

offender and or the recovery of stolen property. If certain evidentiary facts

are not available the cases should not be assigned. This will save valuable

investigative hours and allow investigators to concentrate on cases that

have investigative leads that will more likely be solved. A program that

utilizes volunteers to contact crime victims of property crimes is an effective

way to keep victims advised of the status of their case.

The detective lieutenant works diligently to keep track of the detectives’

investigations through personal contact. He would be much more effective in

the management of his detectives and the cases that they are working if a

computerized case assignment and case management system was utilized.

There are software programs available that not only could be utilized by the


lieutenant but also by other authorized members of the department to

routinely review individual cases. This would undoubtedly lead to more

efficient use of the detectives’ time, and would create greater opportunities

to successfully conclude cases. The detective bureau must abandon its

current informal practice of investigative case management. Without proper

screening and tracking mechanisms, it is difficult to determine caseload,

clearances, and effective investigations. The detective commanders must

explore the application of the records management system to determine if

cases should be assigned, based upon accepted solvability factors, and then

track cases to their conclusion to ensure appropriate investigations occur.

The current workspace used by the detectives, like the facility in general, is

sub-par. The department is currently preparing to move the detective

bureau to the main floor of the building The chief recognizes that the work

space provided currently is not sufficient. The new space will provide an

improved work area and easier access to the detective bureau for the public.

The detectives all have desktop computers that allow access to the

department’s records management system. This also allows them to write

reports and direct them to the lieutenant for review. The detectives indicate

that one issue of concern to them is the radio communication issue that is

discussed in the section on communication of this report.

The detectives have access to vehicles but do not have take-home vehicles.

Due to the fact that case assignments and case clearance information is not

readily available, determining the appropriate staffing levels is difficult.

However, after interviewing detectives, patrol officers, and supervisors and

reviewing the department’s current investigative procedures, it would appear

the current staffing level is appropriate.


A. Juvenile Aid Bureau

The juvenile aid bureau is staffed by one sergeant and one detective. They

are assigned all of the criminal cases involving juveniles, including missing

and runaway juveniles. The JAB is supervised by the sergeant but the

sergeant reports to the lieutenant of detectives. In the past two years the

JAB has investigated twenty-five runaway cases. Also in the past two years

there have been a total of 160 arrests of juveniles within the department. In

each of these cases a JAB detective or general assignment detective has

been assigned to the follow-up. There is no computer tracking system in use

by the department that tracks the progress of these cases. The detective

bureau captain indicated that investigative information about important

cases is known to all detectives regardless if they work in the JAB or not. He

also indicated that the detective lieutenant knows who is assigned to cases

and their dispositions.

In order to determine the effectiveness of this unit it is important to track

the number of cases that are investigated by these detectives. These

statistics could be used to determine the workload to make certain there is

sufficient work for these two positions. The assignment of a sergeant to

supervise one detective is problematic. The table of organization has the

sergeant in this unit reporting directly to the investigative captain. The

sergeant in the JAB does work closely with the lieutenant in the detective

bureau and is often supervised by him.

Recommendations:

Reorganize the investigative functions in the SOPD by merging

the detective bureau with the juvenile aid bureau.

Develop and implement an investigative case management

system for all detective cases and operations.


B. Drug Investigations

The South Orange Police Department does not have a drug crime

investigations unit. When drug crimes are reported they are assigned to an

SOPD detective for follow-up. If the case requires a lengthy investigation

and cannot be cleared by the SOPD detective, the Essex County Sheriff’s

Department is contacted and the case is turned over to their bureau of

narcotics to continue the investigation.

The SOPD tracks the status of the drug evidence sent to the state police to

determine if a suspect has plead guilty or has requested a trial. The

disposition of the case is also monitored to establish a time frame for

destruction of the submitted drug evidence.

Observations/Recommendations

The South Orange Police Department does not have the resources to staff a

drug investigations unit. Utilizing the sheriff’s drug investigations unit works

well. Currently, there is not a formal procedure in place to receive

information back from the Sheriff’s Department about information supplied

by the SOPD. Information and intelligence gained from these investigations

and arrests could prove to be very valuable to SOPD detectives and patrol

officers.

The department should initiate a regularly scheduled intelligence meeting

with the Essex County Sheriff’s drug investigations personnel. This would

afford SOPD personnel the opportunity to receive updates and intelligence

information regarding this type of criminal activity in South Orange. If the

investigations are concluded this information should be distributed to SOPD

patrol officers.


C. Crime Scene Investigations

The South Orange Police Department does not have a crime scene

investigations unit. Crime scene work is handled by the SOPD detectives.

Each detective is trained to examine crime scenes for fingerprints and how

to process for fingerprints in the event they are located. The detectives are

also trained to photograph crime and accident scenes. Each of the detectives

has access to a camera and fingerprint processing equipment. In the event

of a complex or major crime scene the department can request assistance

from the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office. The County Prosecutor has

investigators and crime scene technicians available if needed.

There are no records maintained that record the number of crime scenes

worked by the detectives or responses by the crime scene personnel from

the County Prosecutors Office.

Recommendations/Observations

The South Orange Police Department does not have the resources available

to create its own crime scene investigations unit. The current procedure of

relying on the detectives to perform some crime scene services and then

calling on the County Prosecutor’s Office to assist in more complex cases

works well.

The proper handling of crime scenes and the evidence obtained from them is

critical to the successful conclusion of investigations. ICMA would

recommend that all of the detectives and uniform officers that are called

upon to handle crime scene work should be given as much continual training

as possible. The SOPD should provide updated training in the areas of latent


print recovery and crime scene photography. There also should be routine

inspections of cameras and equipment.

The department should also make certain that written department policy

addresses the proper procedures for the handling and processing of evidence

and found property.

D. Property and Evidence

The evidence and found property retained by the department is stored in

four separate locations. There are two evidence storage rooms located

within the detective bureau office; a third evidence room is located in a

room that is down the hallway very close to the detective bureau. A fourth

storage area is located in the police department garage area; this is a caged

area that contains evidence and property that is being purged from the

system and at some point in the future will be removed for destruction. All

of these locations are secure and can only be accessed by authorized

persons. The lieutenant in charge of the detective bureau is also the

evidence custodian.

All of the evidence and found property retained by the department is bar-

coded and stored. The department utilizes “The BEAST” systemfor this

function. This system is widely used by many law enforcement agencies

nationwide. This system is recognized in the law enforcement profession as

an efficient, reliable evidence management system.

The ICMA on-site team visited the evidence rooms with the officer in charge

of all property and evidence, Lieutenant James Aiosa. Lieutenant Aiosa and

two of his detectives are the only police employees authorized to handle

evidence and property. The two evidence rooms located within the detective

bureau could best be described as closets with sliding doors. The evidence


and property contained within these closets filled the entire space, and the

items contained within were not easily accessed due to the limited space.

The third evidence storage space was located in a hallway near the detective

bureau. This location contains drug evidence and other large evidence and

property items. There was a distinct, unpleasant odor easily detected upon

opening the door. It was obvious that the room lacks proper ventilation. This

room was also very full of evidence and property. The fourth storage area in

the police department garage contained property that is being retained for

disposal. The items are stored in a caged area that is secured, and, while

the area is secure efforts should be made to dispose of these items in a

timely manner.


Evidence and property retention is a critical responsibility of every law

enforcement agency in the United States. It is no different within the SOPD.

The primary concern with the evidence and property within the department

is available space. With additional space the items stored could be more

easily accessed and properly stored. Also, any storage room must be

properly ventilated if drug evidence is to be retained for extended periods of

time.

The department has recognized this issue and is in the process of moving

the detective bureau to recently vacated space on the main floor of the

police building. The plan calls for moving all evidence into the space that is

now occupied by the detectives. This will allow for the consolidation of all of

the property and evidence into a single location. As part of this plan the

department should make certain there is proper ventilation of the room. If

marijuana and other drugs are to be retained for long periods of time a

separate drug room should also be part of the department’s plan. Security of


this facility must also be reviewed as part of this move. An electronic entry

system should be considered. This will allow for the recording of entry to the

room and identification of the person entering. A camera system that

monitors access points should also be considered.

All currency that is retained by the department is retained in a safe. As an

added measure of security, all jewelry is heat sealed in plastic bags before

being stored. DNA evidence is stored in a refrigerator in the garage evidence

storage area. The new allocation of space will allow the department to also

separate items such as money, drugs, jewelry, and firearms into secure

areas where they can be easily inventoried and accounted for on a routine

basis. It will also allow the DNA storage location to be moved inside the

building

ICMA recognizes that some of these recommendations are costly, but we

also recognize that if evidence is compromised there is no second chance.

Cases can be lost and with it public confidence in the department.

ICMA also recognizes that the department is aware of the needs in dealing

with evidence and property is and putting forth an effort to improve its

storage facility.

ICMA would also recommend a review of all evidence handling policies,

procedures, and directives. This would be a very good time to document in

detail the handling, storage, and disposal of evidence and property.


VI. Administrative & Personnel

In general, the organization and staffing of the SOPD administration is “top-

heavy,” with an excess number of sworn officers in command positions.

ICMA recommends a modified organizational structure that will eliminate

positions, be most cost-effective, and improve the overall management of

the department. Having two captains, in addition to the chief, responsible for

operational and support functions in an organization the size of the SOPD is

unnecessary. ICMA recommends reducing this rank to one captain, who will

act as the principal executive officer for the chief of police.

In addition, the position of captain in charge of investigations should be

changed to a lieutenant. This lieutenant should be responsible for

investigations and special operations (see recommendation above). The

combination of these two personnel changes eliminates managerial

positions, broadens the span of control of mid-level managers, and increases

operational efficiency.

Furthermore, a new position should be created for a lieutenant in charge of

administration. The administrative lieutenant would report to the chief and

be responsible for IT, fleet, building maintenance, communications, records,

and training. The table of organization presented in Table 5 is a summary of

these recommended changes.


Table 5. Recommended SOPD Table of Organization

Unit Chief Capt. Lt. Sgt. PO/

Det

Total

Sworn

Executive 1

Investigations and Admin. Div. 1 1

Subtotal Administration 1 1 1 3

Investigations

Investigations Admin. 1

Criminal Investigations 1 4

Special Operations 1 4

Subtotal Investigations 1 2 8 11

Patrol Operations

0700x1700 1 1 6

1100x2100 2 4

1700x0300 2 4

2100x0700 1 1 6

Subtotal Patrol 2 6 20 28

Total RECOMMENDED 1 1 4 8 28 42

Total CURRENT 1 2 6 9 32 50

Difference -1 -2 -1 -4 -8

The next section of the report discusses the various administrative, support,

and personnel functions of the department.

A. Training

The SOPD training program is handled by the operations commander, who

retains all training records within his office. Due to a lack of funds there are

few training opportunities available that require travel and overnight stays.

All in-service training within the department is accomplished during the shift

overlaps of the 10 hour and 40 minute work schedule.

Officers are required to complete the following training to retain their New

Jersey Police Certification.

CPR–every two years


Firearms qualification–twice annually

Use of force–twice annually, taught in conjunction with firearms

qualification

Domestic violence–annually

Pursuit training–twice annually

In-service training topics–Bias training, jail confinement.

The operations commander indicated that there is not a computerized

management system in use to track training at this time. He stated that the

department is currently exploring the possibility of utilizing a computerized

system but no decision has been made. He also stated that there is no

accurate accounting of training records currently available. Captain Heckel

produced sign-in sheets of officers attending training programs, but there

was no other information about the training classes readily available.

Captain Heckel indicated there are minimum standards for police training,

but there is no reporting requirement to the State of New Jersey.


Police training is of critical importance to all members of a police

organization. The South Orange Police Department has the ability to

dedicate on-duty time to its training program that would be accommodated

by the current shift schedule. The department should make a commitment

to regularly schedule training that is meaningful and timely. Qualified and

experienced instructors should be utilized whenever possible. A robust

training program would serve the department very well.

The retention of police training records is very important to the department

and to the officers who receive the training. Having the ability to recover

and document training accomplishments will assist department managers in


determining an officer’s skill level for promotional opportunities and

transfers to specialized positions within the organization. These records will

also be very valuable if the department ever becomes involved in litigation

where officer training becomes an issue. The department currently has a

records management system that could be utilized to catalogue and store

training records with little expense or difficulty. This should be pursued

immediately.

All of the members of the department who were interviewed are interested

in training opportunities both inside the department and outside. Increasing

the training opportunities for the department would greatly enhance officers’

capabilities to deliver quality service to the public.

B. Information Management/Police Records

The information management section is staffed by two full-time records

clerks and one part-time clerk. The records section is located on the main

floor of the police building and there is an public access window that allows

the public to communicate directly with staff members. All records

generated by the department, both electronic and paper, are retained within

the records section.

The department’s police vehicles are equipped with mobile data terminals

(MDTs). Officers can write their reports from inside the police vehicles,

including incident reports or accident reports. After completion, reports can

be transmitted to the shift lieutenant. The lieutenant can then read the

reports and either send them back to the officer for revisions or forward

them to the information management office for filing. The officers can also

hand-write reports if necessary. These reports are also forwarded to the

lieutenant for review. After approval, these reports are then forward to the


information management clerks where they are scanned and filed within the

records system.

All reports and other departmental records are filed electronically. This

includes payroll documents and vacation and sick leave records.

The department utilizes an electronic citation system. The officers in the field

use a hand-held device that transmits the citation information to the

department’s records system, where it is reviewed and then forwarded to

the court.

The records management system software and hardware have been in use

since the late 1990s. The system software in use is based on Microsoft®

Access® The system has received upgrades and has been integrated into

other computers within the department. The original company from which

the system was purchased is no longer in business. The department has

contracted with the individual who was involved with the now defunct

company to supply upgrades and service for the system. The records

management employees indicate that they are able to continue to manage,

store, and retrieve information. The information management personnel did

not report any major problems with the system except to say it was old.

The patrol officers who were interviewed regarding the mobile data terminal

access to the records system. They indicated that there were frequent

disruptions of service that would not allow them to send their reports to the

information management computers. This then requires the officers in the

field to hand write reports or to write their reports on a workstation inside

the police building.

All records are retained in secure storage areas. All current records that date

back to 2004 are retained in the information systems work area on the main


floor of the police station. Records dated 1995-2003 are stored in a secure

basement storage room.

Recommendations and Observations

The information system currently in place continues to meet the basic needs

of the department. The age of the equipment and software does require

more maintenance and does not allow the department to take advantage of

new technology that has been come on the market since the early 1990s.

The main reason that the equipment functions as well as it does is the

employees that use it. They have the institutional knowledge of the

department’s operations and their equipment to continue to get the job

done. They do not have the up-to-date equipment and software that would

allow the department to utilize information that is gathered to further the

mission of the department. ICMA would recommend that the department

initiate a needs assessment study of the information management system.

The department should prepare a five-year plan that outlines future

information management needs. As part of the five-year plan the

department should calculate the funding it needs to upgrade the system on

a gradual basis so as to not create a large fiscal impact in a single budget

year.

C. Communications

The communications center is staffed by three full-time dispatchers and

three per-diem (part-time) dispatchers. The per-diem employees are limited

to working twenty-four to thirty hours per week. The dispatchers work eight-

hour shifts, which are 0630 to 1430, 1430 to 2230, and 2230 to 0630. The

department makes an effort to have civilians working the dispatch desk. The


dispatchers act as both call-takers and dispatchers. The department is

attempting to hire a fourth per-diem dispatcher. When dispatchers are

unavailable for duty due to illness or leave sworn police officers work the

dispatch desk as an overtime assignment. All sworn police officers are

trained to work in the dispatch center

The center is located in the front of the police building; controlled access is

through an electronically controlled doorway. There is also a window that

allows the lobby to be viewed from the duty officer’s desk. The duty officer is

assigned to a desk that is located inside the communications center. This

allows the duty officer to handle activity in the lobby and closely monitor the

activity within the communications room. The duty officer is trained to

handle the radio and phones within the center and assist if there is a critical

incident or a high call volume.

The computer-aided dispatch system (CAD) is twelve years old. The hand-

held portable units are Motorola units that are seven years old. The

department has ordered a new console that will provide a much needed

upgrade to portions of the system. The department expects delivery in June

2012.

Each communications shift has a duty officer assigned. The duty officer is a

police lieutenant and his post is a desk located just a few feet from the

communications console. His primary responsibilities are to handle situations

in the lobby, handle persons requiring access to the secure area of the

building, monitoring jail inmates within the jail detention area, providing

patrol supervision when needed, and providing assistance and supervision to

the on-duty dispatchers during busy periods. If there is not a lieutenant

available a sergeant may fill this position for a shift.



It is obvious that the communications system equipment is older and is in

need of updating. The department does recognize this fact. The addition of a

new console will significantly improve the communications center’s

equipment situation and is a sign that the village is working to improve the

system.

There are other issues that still remain that need to be addressed. Officers

report dead spots within the community that will not allow radios to transmit

or receive. The hand-held radios are older and have limited service life

remaining. Officers are concerned and feel that these are significant safety

issues that have an impact on their ability to work effectively.

The ICMA team viewed this equipment and recognizes there are legitimate

communication problems that need attention. There is no reason to believe

that the situation is going to improve significantly without some investment

in new technology. A needs assessment should be undertaken to evaluate

the current communications system and what is needed to make certain that

a reliable system is in place. The officers that use the system must have the

confidence in their equipment and know that they will be able to

communicate with headquarters at all times.

One option that many municipalities and county governments have

considered is a consolidated emergency services communication center.

South Orange may be at a place in time where this might make good

economic sense. The combining of dispatch services by multiple jurisdictions

could create an efficient, modern system that would improve communication

services to a larger geographic area. Cities and towns across the country

have realized that combining law enforcement, fire, and EMS services

enhances response times , service delivery, communications between

departments, and significantly reduces the number of dollars spent.


The police department has a very large, vacant space within its building that

was recently vacated by the court system. This would be an ideal location

for a multijurisdiction emergency operations dispatch center.

D. Sick Time

Examination of the department’s sick time usage indicates cause for

concern. There appears to be an overextended use of sick time that

demonstrates mismanagement of sick leave, employee dissatisfaction, and

potential abuse.

According to the PBA and SOA employee contracts, sworn officers in the

SOPD are entitled to a full-year of sick privileges. This has been translated

as “unlimited” sick and officers avail themselves of this privilege liberally. In

2011, the fifty-one sworn officers took 599 sick days over 286 occurrences.

This equals twelve sick days per sworn officer, and a sick leave occurrence

on average every other month. Thus, the average sworn officer in the SOPD

calls in sick every other month for two days. This pattern appears to be

holding for 2012 as well.

Recommendation:

It is recommended that the SOPD develop and implement a Sick

Leave Management Plan.

Development of a plan would entail a thorough examination of the reasons

behind the frequent use of sick leave. Research in organizational

performance views excessive use of sick leave as a symptom of employee

dissatisfaction and low commitment to work. Of course sick leave is intended

for illness and injury and, undoubtedly, the majority of time used by SOPD

officers is for this purpose. However, the extended, frequent, and robust use


of sick leave could also signal a workforce in distress from working

conditions and not from illness or injury.

The first element of this plan should be to explore this issue and determine

the factors associated with the frequent and regular use of sick leave. While

it is impossible to determine the specific nature of the SOPD excessive sick

usage, several factors should be considered.

The SOPD adheres to a “hard minimum” level for patrol staffing. In other

words, there are a fixed number of patrol officers that must be present for

duty on each shift. Rigid staffing levels, particularly in the context of

unlimited sick, promote abuse. If an officer calls in sick and the shift is at

minimum manning, another officer is called in on overtime to fill this

vacancy. The combination of these two policies creates the conditions to

drive up reports of sick and overtime expense. The SOPD has high levels of

both sick use and overtime.

The physical condition of the SOPD facility is poor. Working in a poor

environment undoubtedly contributes to an officers reluctance to report for

work. Immediate steps need to be taken to improve the physical space

occupied by the SOPD.

In addition to this first step, the department needs to develop a monitoring

program to curtail abuse and limit the use of inappropriate sick leave.

According to the SOPD, little if any monitoring of employees on sick leave

occurs. There is also no effort made to work with medical personnel to limit

the number of days an officer is actually out sick, and little effort made to

work with medical personnel to compel an officer to return to work sooner.

Essentially, there are no negative sanctions associated with calling-in sick,

and remaining out sick for extended periods.


It is recommended that the department work with the PBA and SOA to

design the program, address the conditions contributing to the excessive use

of sick time, and develop a system to check abuse. Eliminating hard

minimum manning levels and establishing flexible manning levels would

reduce both sick leave and overtime. Improving the physical condition of

the headquarters facility would lower sick leave usage. Establishing

monetary incentives for not using sick leave would also limit sick leave and

abuse. Lastly, requiring officers to report to medical personnel working for

the department in order to evaluate the officer’s illness or injury and

recommend an appropriate time for convalescing, would limit the amount of

time spent out sick.

E. Labor-Management Relations

Sound labor relations are important to a well-managed organization and a

motivated workforce. ICMA met with representatives from the SOPD

employee association to get a better understanding of the labor-

management climate in South Orange.

The representatives of the union were professional and articulated numerous

concerns. Many of these concerns are addressed in the body of this report.

In general, the union representatives were concerned with the poor working

conditions and the disrepair of the SOPD headquarters, the inadequate

communications and computer equipment, the paucity of training

opportunities, and an overall low level of morale. Many of the items raised

could be addressed by cooperation and communication between the unions,

the SOPD, and the village administration.

Recommendation:


The SOPD should constitute an informal labor-management council

made up of the Chief of Police and representatives of the South

Orange PBA. This entity should meet regularly, establish an agenda,

publish minutes, and solicit input from all members of the SOPD

regarding workplace concerns and potential solutions for these

concerns. The council should be charged with identifying

organizational problems and collaborating on developing and

implementing workable solutions to these problems.

F. Policy and Procedure Manual Review

An important part of the ICMA review of departmental operations was a

review of the department’s rules and regulations. The analysis team met

with the chief of police and was provided with three documents that are

currently used by the department to define operational guidelines and

procedures.

The first document that was reviewed was the “Manual of Regulations and

Procedures.” This manual appears to have been last updated in the early

1990s. It contains policy entries dated 1991 thru 1996. This manual contains

many high-liability policies that are not mentioned in any of the more

current policy or rules documents. This would indicate that these then are

the policies currently being utilized for police operations. Some examples of

these rules and regulations are as follows:

Motor Vehicle Pursuits (Policy #2:00), updated/reviewed 7/1/93

Prisoner Confinement (Policy #2:02), updated/reviewed 6/13/93

Domestic Violence (Policy #2:05), updated/reviewed 11/14/91

Bias Incident Investigation Standards (Policy #2:09), updated/

reviewed 1/21/92


Use of Force by Law Enforcement Officer (Policy #2:14), updated/

reviewed 8/22/91

Use of Oleoresin Capsicum (Policy #2:20), updated/reviewed 2/9/96

Performance Evaluation (Policy #1:04), updated/reviewed 8/22/91

Employee Complaint Reception & Interview / Internal Affairs Operating

Procedures (Policy #1:03), updated/reviewed 4/2/92.

The above mentioned policies are of critical importance to the organization

and must be reviewed at least every five years. These same policies must be

monitored continually for changes in the laws initiated by the legislative

branch of government, court decisions, executive orders, changes in best

practices, or technology innovations.

The entire “Manual of Regulations and Procedures” should be updated and

reviewed. The document should be reprinted and all entries should be

approved and signed by the chief of police.

The second set of documents we reviewed is a separate blue book that is

titled “South Orange Police Department Rules and Regulations.” There are

no official signatures or dates on the documents contained within the book.

There are references to policy numbers #1:11 thru #8:11.

The third set of documents is in a separate blue book that is not titled and

has no index or table of contents. This book contains more current

departmental policy. The contents include the following:

Public Information (Policy#2:20), dated 12/2/07

Patrol Response to Active Shooter (Policy #2:21), dated 7/1/07

Building Evacuations (Policy #2:22), dated 10/1/07

Response to Bomb Threat/Detonation (Policy #2:23), dated10/1/07

Tardiness (Policy #2:24), dated 1/1/08

Response to School Lockdown (Policy # 2:25), dated 10/1/07


Mobile Video Recorders (Policy # 2:28), dated 10/7/10

Body Armor Mandatory Wear Policy (Policy #2:30)

Drug Testing (Policy #2:32), dated 11/7/11.

These listed policy additions are appropriate and timely. They should be

consolidated into a single manual. They should also be approved and signed

by the chief of police. The chief must acknowledge that he is responsible and

accountable for all of the policies that are being utilized by the department.


ICMA recognizes that maintaining an updated policy and procedure manual

is essential to the professional operation of all police organizations. Clearly

written policies make certain that the operations of the department reflects

the current laws, professional standards, best practices, community

expectations, and the leadership philosophy of the department managers.

ICMA strongly recommends an immediate review and update of the current

policy documents. These policies should be rewritten and consolidated into

one manual that provides clear guidelines for the department’s handling of

police operations and associated services.

G. Volunteers

Volunteers in policing have long been recognized as providing a valuable and

important service to the community. The SOPD should seek out interested

volunteers in the community and establish a structured and organized

volunteer policing service. Volunteers can perform numerous support and

operational functions for the SOPD. Volunteer efforts could be leveraged to

address administrative and clerical functions, community emergency

response teams, security and citizen patrols, school and traffic crossings,

fleet management, and community policing. The applications of volunteer


service in policing are as numerous as there are people interested in

volunteering. Volunteer programs are vibrant all across the United States

and information on these programs can be found through Volunteers in

Policing Services (VIPS).

H. Prisoner Holding/Detention Facility

The South Orange Police Department utilizes a jail detention facility to

detain arrested suspects until completing the paperwork necessary to turn

suspects over to the Essex County Jail. The suspects are brought into the

facility and placed into a cell. Suspects are detained in the facility for no

more than twenty-four hours, but in most cases they are transferred within

six hours. The arresting officer must complete the paperwork and then

contact the county jail to request permission to transfer the suspect. If the

Jail personnel are too busy the suspect must be kept in the SOPD facility.

When the facility is holding suspects the department’s duty officer monitors

the prisoners’ activities through surveillance monitors and visits the cell

block every thirty minutes.

The facility contains four cells for male inmates, two cells for female

inmates, and two holding cells to accommodate juveniles. The department

also performs all breath testing within the facility.

The department does take bail money and in certain cases prisoners can

bond out of the SOPD instead of being sent to the county jail.

The detention facility must comply with the State of New Jersey Department

of Corrections regulations and does receive annual inspections from this

agency.



The department should immediately explore the possibility of taking arrested

suspects directly to the county jail. The following observations should be

considered.

The safety of officers is a major consideration. The officers would not

be required to handle prisoners multiple times.

Officers would be able to return to their patrol duties more quickly.

The existing jail area could be used for the expansion of police-related

services and additional office space.

Situations involving civil liability could be reduced significantly

reduced. Situations where prisoner safety is a concern could be

eliminated.

The duty officer would no longer be responsible for the jail area and

prisoners during his tour of duty.

Any change in the current booking procedure would depend on the

willingness of the sheriff to take the prisoners immediately after their arrest.

I. Police Facility

The ICMA team spent two days working within the South Orange Police

Department building. In general, the building is in disrepair, unclean, and in

poor condition. ICMA had the opportunity to speak with the civilian

employees and the sworn police officers that work for the department. These

individuals had concerns about the condition of the building and how it

related to their surroundings and working conditions. The following is a

summary of employee comments and our own observations.

The public entry door to the front lobby was standing open for extended

periods of time.


The men’s public restroom in the lobby was not clean.

The lobby floor in the front entrance needed mopping.

The restroom adjacent to the chief’s office was in need of mopping and

general cleaning. The toilet tissue dispenser was broken. There

appeared to be a space on the wall where a urinal had been removed.

The railing for the main stairway leading to the basement was missing

from the wall. The railing was observed leaning against a wall in a

downstairs hallway.

The men’s locker room was in need of mopping and general cleaning.

The adjacent restroom and shower area was in need of cleaning.

According to one officer, one urinal was removed because it leaked

continually; it was not replaced.

There was a strong odor coming from the doorway leading into the

evidence storage room.

There were stains on ceiling tiles in the briefing room. These were

results of previous leaks.

At the front of the building half of the sidewalk leading to the front

door is blocked by an overgrown bush.

The parking lot and garage bays were littered and unkempt.


It is obvious that there are a number of maintenance issues that are of great

concern to officers and civilian employees. Many of these problems could be

fixed without great expense or difficulty. The building was constructed in the

early 1970s and an inspection of its general condition would be very helpful

in determining what future repairs might be needed. The condition of the

building is an important issue to the people that work there.


With the municipal court relocating to Maplewood, the open administrative

space affords the SOPD an opportunity to develop a master plan for the

headquarters facility. It is strongly recommended that the SOPD and the

village contract with an architectural firm to redesign the headquarters

facility to address not only its poor physical condition, but to reorganize it in

such a way that it supports implemention of the recommendations from this

report.


VII. Performance Assessment and Strategic Planning

Generally speaking, the department does not demonstrates the ability to

manage its knowledge inventory and to use performance data for decision

support. The organization does not identify clear performance goals or

demonstrate the ability to engage in systems thinking and double-loop

learning technologies. The department does not routinely use timely data to

obtain an accurate view of the internal and external work environments.

A. Goals and Objectives

The department does not have a multiyear, long-range strategic plan.

Strategic goals and strategies should be set for the department by the chief.

Strategies must be linked logically to measurable goals (such as, “Reduce

the level of violent crime (rape, robbery, aggravated assault) by 5 percent”).

The department does not prepare or issue annual reports. These reports, at

a minimum, should include the following:

Aggregate data regarding the various types of use of force by police

officers (i.e., TASER, firearm, etc.)

Data regarding total calls for service, broken out by day of the week

and hour of the day

Data regarding total reported violent and property crimes and

respective clearance rates

Data regarding arrests and offense(s) charged

Retirements and hires

Results of citizen satisfaction surveys

Individual reports submitted by all divisions and bureaus.


In addition to annual reports, the SOPD should explore the creation of

strategic plans with respect to sick and overtime reduction, crime, and traffic

safety.

The department does not appear to use appropriate methods to ensure the

quality and accuracy of its performance data.

B. Meetings and Briefings

The SOPD holds monthly planning meetings. These meetings take place at

headquarters and are moderated by the chief. They are attended by the

supervisory personnel assigned to all sections of the department. No

meeting agenda are produced, no minutes are taken, and no follow-up or

action items are assigned.

Crime data and a variety of reports are reviewed at these meetings, which,

among other things, are designed to formulate and evaluate crime

strategies.

Planning meetings and command staff meetings are necessary, indeed

critical, to a department’s ability to operate a performance-based

management system and to actually use data to inform its most important

crime fighting and administrative decisions. Many successful American police

departments combine or blend these meetings, so that the administrative

results of a department’s crime fighting strategies can be clearly seen and

understood.

C. Crime Analysis and Performance Tracking

Patrol officers record their daily activity via hard-copy activity reports. These

reports capture such activities as vehicle stops, tickets issued, field


investigation and accident reports prepared, searches conducted, etc. A

section of the report is available for recording narrative descriptions of

specific patrol activities. Activity reports also include an inventory of

equipment carried in the vehicle while on patrol, as well as the total number

of miles travelled each shift. The narratives contained in these scanned

reports are a valuable information resource regarding incidents that were

initiated by or responded to by patrol personnel.

ICMA recognizes the value of having both patrol and investigative personnel

prepare these activity sheets to summarize their personal patrol and

investigative activities. It is important for personnel to self-report personal

activity, as it enhances an overall sense of supervision and personal

accountability. This also serves as a redundant system of checks and

balances for important performance measures. Supervisors should monitor

on a continuous basis the personal performance of all members of the

department.

The department’s website features the use of crime mapping software. This

is an excellent feature for the public. However, the use of mapping

technology appeared largely nonexistent in the department for use in

enforcement operations. For example, the “line-up” room, lunch room, and

similar spaces in the headquarters building were lacking any crime analysis

or crime maps for officers to view.

The department does not have a specific position responsible for crime

analysis.

Annual performance reviews are not prepared for members of the

department.


The headquarters building does not have an information kiosk or automated

terminal that allows members of the community to submit certain crime

reports

The department does not attempt to solicit input from citizens about the

performance of officers.

The department does not have a volunteer program.

Recommendations:

The SOPD must develop a performance evaluation system for all ranks

and positions in the department.

The department should consider developing and implementing a

citizen satisfaction survey to solicit community input on a variety of

issues. The current system only captures the opinions of “victims” of

incidents who respond to the department’s mailed form. Data that are

more meaningful could be obtained if surveys were hand-delivered or

otherwise made available to a broader array of citizens coming into

personal contact with department employees. Ideally, these surveys

would be sponsored by the department, yet be conducted and

analyzed by individuals outside the department. Citizen surveys can

serve as an external measure of performance, providing useful

feedback so the department can better understand what citizens see

as their needs, expectations, and priorities. Surveys also perform a

quality control function by asking citizens to describe their past

experiences during encounters with the police. Results of citizen

surveys can continue to be reported via the department’s annual

reports. The department website could be used to record and

summarize citizen response.


The department should consider the creation and use of a single data

dashboard of select or ‘key’ performance indicators. This dashboard

would contain timely and accurate data concerning select performance

indicators from a variety of crime fighting and administrative activities

(e.g., reported crimes, vehicle accidents, arrests, citations, field

interrogations, citizen complaints, overtime expenditures, etc.) that

provide a comprehensive view of the department’s essential

operations. A live feed of data presented in a clear and usable format

could prove to be invaluable in terms of monitoring the department’s

relative degree of success in achieving stated annual (i.e., long-term

strategic) and tactical goals. The list of indicators would be regularly

reviewed and revised as necessary.

The department should prepare annual reports and its website should

present reported crimes and calls for service data by patrol sector.

The department should staff a crime analyst position

Department meetings should follow a standardized agenda/format. All

units should be directed to participate actively in these important

meetings. In order to ensure accountability, patrol supervisors should

be directed to present significant or unusual cases arising within their

areas of responsibility, supplemented by input from the detective

bureau, the special investigations unit, and the community services

bureau, as necessary. Agenda and minutes should be prepared and

distributed.

Both command staff and planning meetings should entail a significant

amount of joint problem solving. These meetings should not be used

or understood simply as informational meetings. Participants should be

encouraged to think creatively at these meetings and to work

collaboratively. There should be a significant amount of personal

accountability and follow-up from one meeting to the next.


It is recommended that the department utilize a standard template to

convey pertinent performance information to village officials. This

would include primarily budgetary and administrative information,

such as sick time, comp time, and overtime expenditures, as well as

any other measures that the chief and village officials agree to include.

The exact list of performance indicators should be determined by the

chief and village officials. The important thing is that: 1) regular (i.e.,

monthly) meetings take place; 2) that timely and accurate

performance information be conveyed on a regular basis to officials;

and 3) that performance discussions follow a uniform/standardized

template or format.

The department should be provided funding for annual ‘town hall’ style

meetings. These meetings have proven to be invaluable to other high-

performing agencies that use them for: open communication and

feedback; team building; and training purposes.

The department should consider creation of a shared leadership team

or council. These initiatives have been taken by several high-

functioning American police departments and have proven to be

successful. (See for example, Wuestewald, Todd, “Shared Leadership:

Can Empowerment Work in Police Organizations?” 73 Police Chief

no.1, January.)


VIII. Summary

The result of the ICMA study indicates there are several improvement

opportunities that exist for the SOPD. A redesigned table of organization, a

revised shift schedule, and a reconfigured and refurbished working

environment head the list of potential areas to target in the SOPD.

Embracing and adopting these recommendations will undoubtedly advance

the SOPD from its current position to a more balanced and efficient

organization.


Appendix A. Sample Four-Shift Deployment Plan

Patrol Personnel, Shifts, and Shift Strength, Four-Shift Model

Patrol Personnel

Lt. Sgt Officers

2 6 20

Supv. Assignment

Lt. Sgt Shifts

2 1100x2100

1 1 2100x0700

1 1 0700x1700

2 1700x0300

PO Shift Schedule

M T W H F Sa Su M T W H F Sa Su M T W H F Sa Su M T W H F Sa Su

Weak 1100x2100 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

2

Strong 2100x0700 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

3

Strong 0700x1700 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

3

Weak 1700x0300

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2


Sample Daily Deployment, Four-Shift Model

Tour # PO

Hour

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

W 1100x2100 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

S 2100x0700 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

S 0700x1700 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

W 1700x0300 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

PO 5 5 5 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 5 5 5

SUPV 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

Total 7 7 7 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 7 7 7 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 7 7 7

South Orange Police Operational Report

Government & Nonprofit

Transcript of South Orange Police Operational Report