CITY OF VANCOUVER
CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE
Judy Rogers, City Manager
Brent MacGregor, Deputy City Manager

M E M O R A N D U M

DATE: April 2, 2002

TO: Mayor and Members of Council

FROM: Judy Rogers, City Manager

CC: Syd Baxter, City Clerk

SUBJECT: 2002 POLICE SWORN & CIVILIAN SUPPORT STAFFING REQUEST

The attached report from the Chief Constable details the requests for 30 sworn staff and 46 civilian staff positions. This memo summarizes the City Manager's comments on these requests and reiterates the CONSIDERATION items included in the companion report on the 2002 Operating Budget.

Sworn Staff

At the time Council was dealing with the 2001 Operating Budget, the Chief Constable brought forward a request for 143 additional sworn officers, including permanent status for 20 officers approved on a temporary basis for the downtown eastside and 123 new sworn positions. This request was documented in a report entitled, Status Report: Workload Changes 1993-2000 that was circulated to Council. As part of the budget approval, Council agreed to formalize the 20 temporary downtown eastside positions and add an additional 30 positions, bringing authorized strength at the department to 1096 positions. This approval dealt with 50 of the 143 positions requested.

The department has now forwarded a request for an additional 30 positions to be approved in 2002. There is no funding associated with this request in 2002. Approval will allow the department to begin recruitment planning for hiring in 2003 at which time funding will have to be provided. The cost of these positions, if approved, is $2.3 million on an annual basis with funding being phased in between 2003 and 2007. The 2003 cost is anticipated at $1.5 million plus $597,000 for one time outfitting costs.

The City Manager concurs that there has been a significant increase in workload at the Police department as a result of process change imposed by the legislative and judicial branches of government and by operational requirements. A complete assessment of the request for 143 positions has notbeen completed, however, City and department staff continue to review the operational needs. If approved, this request will have addressed about 56% of the department's overall request and there continues to be a commitment on the part of the staff to review the justification for the balance. Staff propose to continue this work, seek the input of the new Chief Constable and report back to Council in January 2003, in advance of the 2003 Operating Budget.

The public consultation initiative undertaken as part of the Operating Budget process has confirmed that the public continues to view public safety as a high priority and the last place that it would support program changes. This would suggest there is a willingness to bear additional costs for policing.

Civilian Staffing

Earlier this year, Council heard a presentation from the Police Board on the need for additional civilian support staff in the department. This request is for 46 positions and is documented in the attached report from the Chief Constable. If approved in total, these positions would require additional funding of approximately $1.7 million annually to be phased in over 2002 and 2003 and one-time costs of $350,000 for outfitting.

The City Manager and Finance staff have reviewed the request for civilian staff with the department and are prepared to support consideration of 15 positions, including eight positions that have funding offsets in the existing Police department budget. The City Manager suggests that the positions be reviewed in the context of management of resources across the entire organization to ensure that we take full advantage of shared service opportunities. In coming to this conclusion, it was agreed that the priorities would be:

* positions that would result in additional officer time "on the street", including civilianization of functions now performed by sworn staff,

* positions that provide direct support to operational areas of the department and will improve operational effectiveness, and

* positions that address internal security issues identified by the department.

The net annual cost of these 15 positions, if approved, would be $410,000 plus $125,000 for outfitting costs. The 2002 cost is estimated at $265,000, including outfitting. The attached table summarizes the positions that have been agreed upon.

The balance of the civilian request requires further review by staff in the coming months. It is anticipated that a number of process reviews will be conducted as a means ensuring that the requests do not flow from ineffective or overlapping business processes. This work may result in additional reports toCouncil before year-end. Funding requirements for any additional staffing that Council might support will be minor in 2002 and can be provided from Contingency Reserve.

The City Manager notes that should Council agree to these requests from the Chief Constable there will be a cost of $265,000 in 2002, which could be funded from the Contingency Reserve provision in the budget. Use of this funding source for 2002 will not have a significant impact on the budget, although it will be a limiting factor in Council's ability to use Contingency Reserve to deal with funding issues during the balance of the year. However, approval of these requests will have a significant impact on the 2003 budget, increasing the pressure to either reduce program expenditures elsewhere in the budget or increase property taxes. As a result, the City Manager is putting the request for 30 sworn staff and the modified request for 15 civilian positions forward to Council for CONSIDERATION.

In summary, should Council support these requests, approval of the following consideration items in the 2002 Operating Budget report is appropriate:

E THAT Council approve an increase in the sworn staffing of the Police Department from 1096 to 1126 (30 positions) at an additional cost of approximately $2.3 million annually by 2007 (no cost in 2002, $2.1 million in 2003).

F. THAT Council approve an increase of 15 civilian positions, subject to approval of the City Manager, in the Police Department at an ongoing annual cost of $410,000 (after reallocation of existing funding) with funding of $265,000 to be provided in the 2002 Operating Budget from Contingency Reserve.

Judy Rogers
City Manager
judy_rogers@city.vancouver.bc.ca
policebudget.wpd
attachment

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