Police Allocation Manual

Intended for the use of municipal police departments, this manual presents methods of determining the number and allocation of personnel for patrol and traffic services for municipal police agencies. The procedures are based on an analysis of officer workload with respect to the amount of time required to complete various tasks in four categories: reactive; proactive, self-initiated and community policing; proactive, uncommitted patrol; and administrative. The procedures rely on historical data and user- supplied performance objectives. Individual chapters present an overview of the methodology, guidelines regarding general implementation strategies and issues of data definition and collection, a recommended data collection and implementation procedure, data requirements.

Intended for the use of sheriffs' departments, this manual presents methods of addressing two crucial resource allocation issues: (1) the total number of officers required to provide an acceptable level of traffic services and (2) how a specified total number of officers should be allocated by geographic regions or time periods to produce the maximum agency productivity. The staffing and allocation methods are based on a review of procedures currently used by State and provincial agencies throughout the United States and Canada. Individual chapters present an overview of the model, worksheets and instructions for a step-by-step process for determining staffing levels, and a worksheet for determining staff allocations over several geographic areas or time periods. Guidelines for using the manual, forms, and appended supplemental worksheet and tables.

This manual is designed to be used by municipal police agencies whose mission includes the delivery of patrol and traffic services. It may be used to determine staffing levels for a traffic division with limited patrol coverage or for a patrol division with traffic responsibilities. This version is derived from earlier editions that were based on a review of procedures currently used by state and sheriffs' departments throughout the United States and Canada. The framework and rationale presented in the manual are the result of a distillation process that identified the "best" procedures, and then modified and blended those procedures into a comprehensive model for determining appropriate patrol staffing levels and deployment patterns. The procedures in PAM will provide agencies with a logical and explicit format in which to frame requests for additional personnel and/or staff allocation. In addition, it is anticipated that it will serve as a catalyst for stimulating further discussion and research in the area of patrol staffing and allocation for law enforcement agencies.

Intended for the use of municipal police departments, this manual presents methods of determining the number and allocation of personnel for patrol and traffic services for municipal police agencies. The procedures are based on an analysis of officer workload with respect to the amount of time required to complete various tasks in four categories: reactive; proactive, self-initiated and community policing; proactive, uncommitted patrol; and administrative. The procedures rely on historical data and user- supplied performance objectives. Individual chapters present an overview of the methodology, guidelines regarding general implementation strategies and issues of data definition and collection, a recommended data collection and implementation procedure, data requirements.

This report documents a computer program called the Patrol Car Allocation Model (PCAM85), which is designed to help police departments determine the number of patrol cars to have on duty in each of their geographical commands. It tells a department how to match its resources to the time-varying pattern of demands based on desired levels of performance, manpower schedules, and dispatching policies. This volume gives complete instructions for collecting data and operating the program; the Executive Summary (R-3087/1-NIJ) describes PCAM in nontechnical terms; and the Program Description (R-3087/3-NIJ) provides file specifications, installation instructions, and a listing of the program. PCAM85 is a modernized version of a program that was written in 1975 and is documented in reports of identical titles numbered R-1786/1, R-1786/2, and R-1786/3.