WORKSTUDY-A_SANTA ANA PD - STRATEGIC PATROL STAFFING PLAN - FINAL REPORT

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immediately sent to the scene once the dispatcher has obtained sufficient information regarding the nature of the call. Priority 1 calls for service. The data points assessed are from the time the call is answered by the dispatcher to the time the officer is en route to the scene. Since these are Priority 1 calls for service, it is expected that the time between these two data points is small. However, before assessing the data, an adjustment must be made for call-taking time. Once the dispatcher answers the 911 call, there is a period of time in which the dispatcher is obtaining sufficient information before the dispatcher can get an officer en route to the scene. This information includes the nature of the incident, location, and other pertinent information. Since there is not a field within the computer aided dispatch system to definitely determine if a Priority 1 call is being held due to a lack of patrol personnel availability, the research team needed to establish a time standard. After discussion with SAPD command staff and personnel a standard of 80 seconds was established. It was determined that if a Priority 1 call was not dispatched within 80 seconds of being answered, it was typically being held because no officer was available to handle the call. In applying this standard, it was determined that 34.32% of the Priority 1 calls for service in 2013 took 81 or more seconds to dispatch. What accounts for the excessive hold time in dispatch for 35% of the Priority 1 calls received by SAPD. Some of the excess hold time in dispatch is probably due to shift changes. It is a constant challenge in most law enforcement agencies to keep up with the call volume during shift change. Some of the excess hold time in dispatch may be due to inefficient processes within dispatch and patrol such as the unwillingness to preempt an officer on a lunch break to respond to a Priority 1 call for service. However, the magnitude of the problem leads the research team to the conclusion The strategic staffing that the excessive hold time is due largely to insufficient staffing in patrol. plan for patrol that is described later in this report will focus significantly on increasing the immediate availability of officers and decreasing the hold time in dispatch for Priority 1 calls for service. Critical Issue #2: Excessive Response Time to Priority 1 Calls for Service Excessive response time to Priority 1 calls for service was identified as the second critical issue facing SAPD patrol. The first critical issue focused on insufficient immediate availability for Priority 1 calls. These two issues may sound similar, but they are, in fact, distinct from one another. The calculation of the immediately availability factor ends once an officer is dispatched to a Priority 1 call and that is when response time begins to be calculated. Response times are measured from the time an officer is dispatched to the call for service to arrival at the scene. Basically, the hold time described in the first critical issue is excluded in calculating the response time to Priority 1 calls for service. Ќ