Asking Police Chiefs the Right Questions to Make the Right, Data-Driven Decisions

Leonard Matarese returns with a police-only presentation to help you make informed policy decisions by knowing what to ask of your police departments.

How many police officers do you really need? How well is your police department performing? Are "officers per 1,000" and "number of calls" really meaningful measures? Matarese will tackle these questions and provide data that will help you rethink the workforce allocation of your police department.

The audience: Local government managers

You and your staff will learn how to:

• Understand the difference between “calls for service” and “workload”
• Quantify actual workloads in police departments by seasonal and weekday variables and identify whether personnel are allocated correctly
• Get the metrics you need from police departments (such as the percentage of police officers' non-committed time) to make staffing decisions
• Learn alternative strategies for handling calls for service
• Establish goals and priorities and know what you need to analyze
• Set measurable goals, identify performance problems, and apply strategies to follow the path of continuous improvement