Police review calls for overhaul to reduce costs
Chief calls independent report possible starting point for change
Overhauling the executive structure of the Saskatoon Police Service, transferring some jobs from sworn officers to civilians and changing the number of hours in patrol officer shifts are among the ways the police service can save taxpayer money, according to a long-awaited operational review of the organization.
The findings of the $200,000 independent review of the Saskatoon Police Service’s (SPS) operations began in April 2016 and wrapped up in August 2017, but were kept under wraps until this spring because the Saskatoon Board of Police Commissioners did not want to release the review until a new chief of police was hired and given a chance to look at the recommendations.
Police Chief Troy Cooper was sworn in at the end of February and the 142-page operational review was made public this week in the Board of Police Commissioners’ agenda.
The document will be discussed at the board’s meeting on Thursday afternoon.
A spokesperson for the SPS says Cooper will comment on the report following that meeting.
In a missive to the Board of Police Commissioners, Cooper writes that all recommendations in the review will be considered “as a starting point for the potential to change, innovate and improve” operations.
“The recommendations are valuable options to consider in planning, but they may not be the only option available given the evolving nature of policing,” he wrote.
Cooper notes that several of the recommendations included in the review may require bargained changes to the collective agreement which governs the terms and conditions of employment for sworn officers.
Here are some of the findings of the operational review:
SPS executive structure includes overlap of responsibilities:
The existing executive structure consists of a chief, two deputy chiefs and three superintendents. The review notes that structure “does not provide for a logical division of responsibilities and accountabilities,” in part because there is overlap between the responsibilities of the deputy chiefs.
The report further notes that the police service would benefit from having a civilian staff member from corporate services have a chair at the executive level.
“It cannot be assumed ... a senior police officer is likely to fully understand the multi-faceted financial, budget and reporting practices used by private and government entities. This knowledge and experience is important in the effective management,” the review reads.
The review recommends two alternative executive models that would ultimately result in cost savings: A chief, three deputy chiefs and an executive director responsible for corporate services; or a chief, one deputy chief, three superintendents and an executive director responsible for corporate services.
Civilianization would save money:
The review notes that there is a “divide” within the SPS whereby non-sworn staff “feel less than full members” — an issue exacerbated by the fact that no civilian staff sit at the executive level.
While the SPS has a high ratio of civilian staff to sworn staff when compared to other Canadian police forces, there remain opportunities for cost savings, the report reads.
One of those areas is in the communication centre, where special constables — who are not sworn officers — handle 911 and other non-emergency calls under the supervision of a sergeant.
“The Sergeants assigned to the Communication Centre often have no experience in communications or radio systems prior to their transfer to that section. This places the Sergeant in the position of not being able to effectively supervise, and places burden on the very experienced radio and calltaking staff, who have much more experience with the call taking and dispatch function,” the report reads. It adds that “The use of supervisory personnel who are not fully familiar with Communications processes and protocols, raises the possibility of liability issues for SPS.”
The report notes that a communication centre supervisor does not need to have the training of a sergeant and that hiring a civilian would save the SPS money. 12-hour shift model ‘deploys resources ineffectively:’
The SPS patrol unit operates 24-hours a day and has employees working four days on, four days off on staggered 12-hour shifts. This results in officers working more than 40 hours a week and they accumulate earned days off or overtime pay.
The report says that cutting shifts to 11 hours and 27 minutes creates a 40-hour work week when accounting for unpaid breaks, which would eliminate employees consistently getting earned days off.
Employees in the SPS criminal investigation division are scheduled to work daytime hours from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. or 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. When major crimes happen, they work overtime.
“It is ineffective not to have investigative personnel working on the weekend, which are no longer quiet policing days but the busiest, and often an ideal time to contact witnesses,” the report notes. Sergeants need more timely training:
The report notes that newly promoted sergeants can be transferred to positions with minimal notice or consultation. Some sergeants interviewed by the consultants who did the operational review said that had not been trained appropriately. “Their training became the responsibility of the staff of the unit in which they were now working. The formal training was often delayed for several months. The obvious shortcoming is that there is a period of less than effective and efficient work,” the report says.
SPS indicated to the consultants that training sergeants before a transfer or promotion is not always possible because “There are finite dollars for training and time off associated with training.
“Given this, the Service strives to provide the needed training as soon as possible after someone goes into a specialized area.”
SPS has no cybersecurity incident response plan:
The operational review recommends that the SPS establish a cybersecurity incident response plan.
The current absence of such a plan “would likely result in an inefficient response and uncoordinated handling of the event,” the report says. This is particularly damning given “the critical nature of information held by police agencies” and the potential impact on communities if the information is lost.
Fire or water damage could put SPS out of commission for ‘several weeks:’
While the SPS’ operational and administrative data would be recoverable in the event of a fire, electrical failure, water damage or other event, the SPS does not have the infrastructure to being critical systems back up, the report notes.
“Suitable space would have to be located, servers and network connectivity would have to be purchased and configured, and only then could the backed-up data be restored, to permit resumption of SPS business. Acquisition of new servers/network infrastructure and its deployment to bring systems back on line could take several weeks,” the report says.
It notes that the cost of establishing a standby data centre would be “significant.”
Employees say they receive too many emails:
SPS employees told the consultants working on the operational review that sorting through emails consumes a significant percentage of their workday.
“Staff reported that they sometimes arrive at start of shift to a large number of emails requiring their attention. Some staff admitted during the Review that their response to this inordinate volume of email is simple: mass deletion of all email. While this approach can immediately reduce the inbox pressure, it is a poor business practice, generates potential organizational liability, and leads to important messages being missed,” the report says.
The report recommends that email distribution lists be reviewed to ensure only relevant parties are included and that employees be discouraged from using the “reply all” function on emails.