Vancouver City Council |
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: June 2, 2003
Author/Local:T Schinbein/717-2682
RTS No. 03440
CC File No. 1376
Meeting Date: June 24, 2003
TO:
Vancouver City Council
FROM:
Chief Constable
SUBJECT:
Police Executive Restructuring
RECOMMENDATION
THAT Council approve the following reorganization of the Police Board's executive management team at no net cost to the Operating Budget and subject to Human Resources classification and contract negotiation:
a) the reduction of three police positions:
· Inspector, Executive Officer, Operations Division
· Inspector, Executive Officer, Investigation Division
· Inspector, Executive Officer, Support Services Divisionwhich will provide an annual savings of $364,000
b) an increase of one police position:
· Deputy Chief Constable, Operations Support Division
at an estimated annual cost of $152,000
c) an increase in three civilian positions:
· Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), Administrative Services Division
· Executive Assistant, Operations Support Division
· Executive Assistant, Management Services Divisionat an estimated annual cost of $125,000 for the CAO and an annual cost of $102,000 for the Executive Assistants. The resulting estimated net annual increase of $15,000 from the reorganization and one-time costs of $56,000 will be absorbed within the Police Department's Operating Budget.
CHIEF CONSTABLE'S COMMENTS
On February 19, 2003 and March 26, 2003 the Vancouver Police Board passed resolutions that approved a restructuring of the VPD into 5 Divisions led by an Executive of 1 Chief Constable, 4 Deputy Chief Constables and 1 Chief Administrative Officer.
The restructuring of the Executive is necessary to better manage the complex operations of the Vancouver Police Department. The proposed new structure will ensure greater accountability and result in the more equitable distribution of responsibility.
CITY MANAGER'S COMMENTSThe City Manager supports implementation of the new Senior Management Structure, including the additions and deletions to staff positions referenced in the report, subject to mutual agreement on the compensation levels for the positions.
COUNCIL POLICY
It is Council policy that changes in service levels either expansions or reductions, be approved by Council. This includes the creation and deletion of regular positions and the allocation of funding from revenues or taxation.
PURPOSE/SUMMARY
In order to implement the restructuring approved by the Board, the VPD is seeking Council approval for the following changes in authorized sworn and civilian strength:
Sworn
- 3 Inspector positions
+ 1 Deputy Chief Constable position
Civilian
+ 2 Executive Assistants
+1 Chief Administrative Officer (CAO)
DISCUSSION
Chief Constable Graham has recognized that the current organizational structure is not well suited to the effective and efficient delivery of police services in the City of Vancouver. With the extensive "flattening" of the organization that has occurred in the past, and downsizing of management that flowed from flattening, there are simply not enough executive level managers to provide the necessary high level direction that is required for the Department to be successful in achieving its goals.
In the last decade the Department has restructured numerous times to eliminate unnecessary supervisory and management layers. Three levels of supervisor and management have been completely removed from the organization (Corporal, Staff Sergeant and Superintendent). In 1998 the Department executive hierarchy consisted of one Chief and six Deputies. That year, the number of Deputies was halved by then Chief Constable Chambers. The net effect of the restructurings since 1993 has been a decrease of 19 middle management positions, a reduction of 37%.
The Vancouver Police Board approved restructuring that will see the current three Division Department move to a five Division configuration. The Operations and Support Services Divisions will each be divided into two. The five resulting Divisions are: Operations, Investigation, Operations Support, Administration Services and Management Services. The CAO will be in charge of the Administration Services Division, which will include the Financial Services Section. The placement of the various sections and units are still under review, however the principles that are guiding the final decisions include like functions will be assigned within the same Division, equitable span of control and work load.
The three Inspector positions that are recommended for elimination are the Executive Officers that report to the current three Deputy Chief Constable positions. These Officers supported the DCCs by taking on routine and administrative functions for the DCC. This work will be delegated to other Managers in the 5 Divisions. The Operations Executive Officer had responsibility for some operational Squads. These Squads will be moved to the new Operations Support Division.
Comparison With Other Police Agencies
A comparison with other similar-sized Canadian police departments, as well as with the much larger Toronto Police Service (see table below), demonstrates that the Vancouver Police Department is extremely lean in terms of the percentage of its authorized strength dedicated to management positions. While most police departments have fewer Deputy Chief positions than are proposed for the VPD, none of them are as flat as the VPD, and all of them have more managers' positions (per capita) at other levels.
Current Model |
5-DCC Model |
||||||||
VPD |
VPD |
EDM |
CLG |
WPG |
OTT |
TOR | |||
Auth Strength |
1,126 |
1,124 |
1,171 |
1,365 |
1,178 |
1,054 |
5,028 | ||
Total # of Exec. Mgrs. |
4 |
6 |
18 |
5 |
3 |
8 |
32 | ||
Chief of Police |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 | ||
DCC/Managers |
3 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
2 |
2 |
2 | ||
Current Model |
5-DCC Model |
||||||||
VPD |
VPD |
EDM |
CLG |
WPG |
OTT |
TOR | |||
Staff Supt. |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
6 | ||
Superintendent |
0 |
0 |
13 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
23 | ||
% of Auth Strength |
0.36% |
0.53% |
1.54 |
0.37 |
0.25 |
0.76 |
0.64 | ||
Current Model |
5-DCC Model |
||||||||
VPD |
VPD |
EDM |
CLG |
WPG |
OTT |
TOR | |||
Total # of Middle Mgrs. |
35 |
32 |
59 |
65 |
44 |
71 |
320 | ||
Inspector |
35 |
32 |
19 |
65 |
24 |
19 |
38 | ||
Staff Inspector |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
23 | ||
Staff Sgt. |
0 |
0 |
40 |
41 |
25 |
51 |
259 | ||
% of Auth Strength |
3.1% |
2.8% |
5.0% |
4.8% |
3.7% |
6.7% |
6.4% | ||
Total Mgrs. (Exec/Mid.) |
39 |
38 |
77 |
70 |
47 |
79 |
352 | ||
% of Auth Strength |
3.5% |
3.4% |
6.6% |
5.1% |
4.0% |
7.5% |
7.0% | ||
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
The five Division model will be implemented without a significant recurring impact on the budget. The Chief Constable proposes to eliminate the three "Executive Officer" Inspector positions reporting to each of the three current Deputies. Other than the one-time equipment costs for renovation and office equipment, a reduction by three Inspectors will fund most of the cost of an additional Deputy, a Chief Administrative Officer and two additional executive assistants. The one-time equipment cost is estimated to be $56,000. The ongoing salary increase will depend on the outcome of placing DCCs on contract. Using current salaries, the ongoing cost will be $15,000.
New Deputy Chief Constables will be placed on contracts, rather than the "exempt employee" status that exists now. A job description and selection of pay level for a Chief Administrative Officer has to be completed. Negotiating the Deputy Chief Constables' contracts and setting the CAO pay level will have an impact on the ongoing salary budget. We will not be able to make the final determinations of costs for theses positions until the contracts are finalized. The Police Board has directed that these costs be absorbed by the Department.
Annual Budget Impact
(Salary and Benefits)
Addition of 1 DCC Position $152,000*
CAO Position (Estimated) 125,000
Addition of 2 Executve Assistants 102,000
Deletion of 3 Inspector Positions <364,000>
Ongoing Additional Costs: $15,000
*Subject to contract negotiation
CONCLUSION
As discussed in the body of the report, there are simply not enough executive level managers to provide the necessary high level direction that is required for the Department to be successful in achieving its goals. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the number of current Executive members from 3 to 5. By providing three management positions to be eliminated, the Department has minimized any additional costs to achieve this restructuring.
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