Edmonton Police Service Multi Year Staffing Plan

Attachment 1
Edmonton Police Service Multi Year Staffing Plan 2015-2019


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Strategic staffing delivers the resource
needs for operational goals and for
breakthrough results in a complex and
evolving environment .
Multi
Year
Staffing
Plan
2015-2019

2

Table of Contents

Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 3
1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 6
2. Background ........................................................................................................................................... 6
2.1 Strategic Alignment....................................................................................................................... 6
2.2 Integration with Planning Cycle .................................................................................................... 6
3. Development of the Plan ...................................................................................................................... 6
3.1 Considerations .............................................................................................................................. 7
3.1.1 Human Resources Recruitment and Training Capabilities .................................................... 7
3.1.2 Staff to Population Ratios ..................................................................................................... 8
3.1.3 Managing Patrol Performance and Patrol Span of Control .................................................. 9
3.1.4 Identified Needs .................................................................................................................. 10
3.1.5 Growth of the City ............................................................................................................... 10
3.2 Operating Impacts of Capital North West Campus ................................................................... 11
3.3 Other Operating Impacts of Capital Projects .............................................................................. 12
4. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................... 12
Appendix 1 - EPS Strategy Map ................................................................................................................... 14
Appendix 2 Edmonton Police Service Resource Types ............................................................................ 15
Appendix 3 Managing Patrol Performance (MPP) Model & Methodology ............................................. 16


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Executive Summary

This document outlines the Edmonton Police Service staffing needs for the next five years, from
2015 to 2019. Over this timespan, the Edmonton Police Commission is recommending a total
increase of 400 positions to the staffing levels of the Edmonton Police Service. If approved by City
Council, this would increase the Edmonton Police Services authorized establishment from 2,251
staff members to 2,651. Note that 64 externally funded positions are excluded from the total.

Approximately half of Edmonton Police Service employees are focused on receiving and responding
to calls for service from citizens. To determine the service standards for this fundamental function,
the Edmonton Police Service uses the Geographic Deployment Model and its associated program,
Managing Patrol Performance. Implemented in 2006, the Geographic Deployment Model
incorporates four Edmonton Police Commission approved service standards:

1. Seven (7) minute response time to priority one calls, 80% of the time,
2. A 25% allocation for directed activities
1
which focus on strategic community based prevention,
intervention and enforcement activities,
3. Fielding two man cars 40% of the time, and
4. Having at least one unit available in each Division to respond to immediate emergency calls.

The Managing Patrol Performance program also incorporates factors such as call volumes and time
spent on calls, and was updated in 2014 to include population and demographic indicators. The
updated model was then used to forecast the patrol constable requirements through to 2017. Given
these factors and the standards to be achieved, the Edmonton Police Service would require 157
additional patrol constables by 2017. Of the identified additional positions, a shortage of 93 exists in
2014.

In addition to the Geographic Deployment Model, the Edmonton Police Service recognizes that an
appropriate supervisory span of control is essential to ensure optimum operational efficiency and
communication. Research indicates that the optimum standard for supervisory span of control the
number of police officers reporting to a supervisor should be set at 1 sergeant for every 9
constables. To achieve this standard for the 157 new positions mentioned above, seventeen (17)
additional sergeants would be required.

In order to test the reasonableness of staffing requirements at a high level, the Edmonton Police
Service references the annual Police Resources in Canada report from Statistics Canada. In 2013, the
national average for the ratio of sworn police officers to 100,000 population ratio was reported as
197. Civilian, or non-sworn members that are employed by police services for support services,
professional/technical and administrative duties were reported at a ratio of 1 civilian for every 2.5

1
Directed Activities: Patrol shift work that is dedicated to activities that are either assigned or self-initiated to
members that are prevention, intervention or suppression based.

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sworn members. Therefore, the national average for the ratio of combined sworn and civilian staff
members to 100,000 in population is 276.

In comparison, the Edmonton Police Service currently has a ratio of 186 sworn members per 100,000
population; 11 members below the national average as reported by Statistics Canada. The Edmonton
Police Service has a ratio of 256 combined sworn and civilian staff members per 100,000 population;
20 below the national average. To meet the national average, in 2014, the Edmonton Police Service
would require 180 more positions. This comparison simply serves to inform the discussion around
the optimum staffing levels for the City of Edmonton.

Integral to the consideration of the required growth of the Edmonton Police Service is the Edmonton
context or story. The extraordinary physical and population growth of Edmonton was a key
consideration as this plan was being prepared. The population has grown by 60,000 over the past
two years alone, with projections that the pace of growth will continue to lead Canadas major cities.
Looking beyond the numbers to understand the Edmonton situation is equally important. As the
central core of a large metropolitan region, the City of Edmonton houses multiple social service
agencies, and provides services for the majority of the homeless, mentally ill and disenfranchised
citizens in the region. This population consumes a significant amount of police resources every day.

Edmonton comprises 70% of the regions population, but is home to 87% of its low income citizens. It
also contains 93% of the regions low income housing, and accounts for 90% of the overall regional
police expenditure. Simply put, Edmonton is doing more than its fair share to support and police the
greater metro region.

In addition to the significant population growth and Edmontons role as a regional hub, the city itself
is evolving into a vibrant, active, bustling metropolis. Nowhere is that more apparent than in
downtown Edmonton. The development of downtown Edmonton with new businesses, residences,
and attractions will not just replace existing facilities and events; it will take Edmonton to a new level
of activity. However, that vibrancy and activity will also generate the need for additional police
resources to ensure that downtown remains a safe and comfortable place for Edmontonians and
visitors alike. Anytime you have a concentration of attractions and events that bring large numbers
of people into a relatively small area it pays to be prepared and to have sufficient resources to keep
the peace.

Hence, the staffing plan also addresses the rapidly evolving policing needs of the Citys revitalized
downtown. The Edmonton Police Commission has included a request for Council consideration of 40
additional staff in the Edmonton Police Service 2015 proposed Operating Budget. It is important to
note that not all these officers would be deployed at any one time or for any one event, but would
provide sufficient resources to allow for appropriate ongoing coverage as downtown activity grows.

In addition to the staffing implications from the Geographic Deployment Model, the increases
required to maintain an appropriate span of control, and the need to provide sufficient resources for

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a growing City, the decisions of other orders of government can significantly impact the workload of
the Edmonton Police Service. For example, the recent R. v. Spencer Supreme Court decision changed
the rules regarding access to internet and cell phone subscriber information. Rather than taking
fewer than 15 minutes to make a Law Enforcement Request to an internet service provider, the
Edmonton Police Service is now spending three to ten hours putting together a Production Order or
Search Warrant to obtain that same information. As thousands of these Law Enforcement Requests
are made every year, time consumption has increased exponentially. This is just one example of how
changes not in our control effect the utilization of Edmonton Police Service resources.

In summary, to meet the policing needs of a growing city, the EPC recommends that Council fund
400 new positions over the next five years. The Edmonton Police Service is confident it can recruit
and hire to meet the target of 400 more staff over the five years, through its scheduled recruit class
program, its ability to run extra classes as needed, and the recruitment of experienced officers.

In the 2015 Operating Budget, 98 positions will be requested at an annualized cost of $15.4 million.
Fourteen (14) of the 98 positions are funded and the remainder will be requesting funding from
Council. The table below outlines the positions Edmonton Police Service will be seeking over the
next five years.

Table 1: Edmonton Police Commission Recommended Five Year EPS Resource Increase
Description Resources Required Cumulative
Total
Sworn Non-Sworn
GDM Patrol Constables 157
GDM Sergeants 17 174
Meet Investigative and Operational Support workload Child
Protection, Communications, Canine, etc.
15 189
North West Division and Campus 49 11 249
Operating Impacts of Capital 3 251
New Service Needs:
Downtown Edmonton Revitalization 40 291
2016 - Patrol Traffic, training, etc. 37 328
Non-sworn staff increase as required to meet national average 72 400

Total

314

86 400

On an annual basis, this increase is phased in as follows:
Table 2: 2015-2019 Edmonton Police Commission Staffing Recommendation by Year
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Total
Total Requests 98 120 71 59 52 400
Staff to 100,000 population ratio (est.)
259 263 262 260 258

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1. Introduction
The purpose of this plan is to outline the staffing needs required to achieve the goals of the Edmonton
Police Service over the next five years (2015-2019).
2. Background
2.1 Strategic Alignment
The Edmonton Police Service strategy has been aligned with the City of Edmontons Strategic Plan -
The Way Ahead and the Strategic Directions of the Law Enforcement Framework for the Province
of Alberta. This information has also been captured and integrated within the EPS Strategic
Objective under What We Require (see Appendix 1).
2.2 Integration with Planning Cycle
The EPS has integrated a continuous review and improvement exercise in coordination with the
operating budget to determine the optimum use of existing resources to address new needs.
Critical resource requirements are addressed expediently through these exercises.
Results based budgeting, combined with assessments based on risk and value, examines internal
operations and allows the EPS to align service needs and community expectations. Each year, over
83% of the EPS annual operating budget is spent on personnel staffing increases and managing
growth.
The EPS has been conducting these on-going internal resource re-allocation exercises annually ($3.0
million in 2012; $6.7 million in 2013; $4 million in 2014). This practise continues through the course
of the year to ensure that resources are aligned with our strategies and priorities.
3. Development of the Plan
Our plan was developed utilizing the following information:

1. Areas of the EPS were requested to assess and provide updates to their staffing needs;
2. Principles of the Geographic Deployment Model (GDM) and the related Managing Patrol
Performance (MPP) statistical program were used to update the requirements to meet the
calls for service and workload in patrol response divisions. Patrol divisions make up
approximately half of the total workforce of the EPS;

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3. Span of control
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for the patrol function was kept at 1 sergeant for every 9 constables. The
current level of 1 to 15 has increased steadily from 2006 and requires adjustment to the
current standard to provide an appropriate level of supervision and mentorship;
4. Span of control for other areas of the EPS is a standard of 1 supervisor to 10 employees with
some exceptions based on the function of the area; and
5. The Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics Police Resources in Canada 2013 report was
utilized to determine comparable staff to population ratios for discussion purposes.
Resource needs are considered based on many factors. Appendix 2 provides additional information on
these factors. The next sections will document the various results of using this information.
3.1 Considerations
3.1.1 Human Resources Recruitment and Training Capabilities
Existing training capacity is based on three classes annually of 40 per class (120 yearly) and one
experienced officer class each year. The current staffing complement is sufficient to maintain
this schedule.
Considering the recommended 400 positions for the next five years and assuming 71% of these
positions will be sworn, there will be a need to hire and train approximately 284 sworn
members over and above projected attrition of 355. To meet the hiring targets, additional
classes of new recruits and experienced officers can be added as required.
For non-sworn staff, Human Resources would be capable of recruiting additional growth needs
within the current complement of staff. Based on the 2013 national average of non-sworn staff
to sworn police members of 29%, when sworn police members are added for growth a
proportionate number of non-sworn staff should be added as well.
Table 3 Capacity of EPS Recruit Training and Expected Attrition
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Total
Planned Classes
3
120 120 120 120 120 600
Additional Classes
4
10 10 10 10 40
Total Classes 130 130 130 130 120 640
Less Attrition
5
(75) (77) (75) (64) (64) (355)
Surplus Capacity for Growth 55 53 55 66 56 285

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Span of Control refers to the number of staff a direct supervisor has under their responsibility. When dealing
with highly complex functions and a more junior staff, the need for a more hands on supervisor is increased.
3
Planned Classes do not include additional resources that may be hired as experienced officers.
4
Additional Classes of new recruits or experienced officers
5
Internal memo EPS Recruiting and Attrition of Sworn Members, 2014-2018, Feb. 24, 2014.

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3.1.2 Staff to Population Ratios
The EPS utilizes information contained in the Police Resources in Canada 2013 report to assist in
determining needed resources. This report states that the national average for police (sworn
member) to 100,000 population ratio is 197
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. Civilian, or non-sworn, staff are employed by
police services for differentiated staffing, support and administrative duties at a ratio of 1 for
every 2.5 sworn members. Rounded, this gives a staffing to 100,000 population ratio of 276.

The 2014 Municipal Census results were announced on August 29, 2014. The population has
grown by over 30,000 per year over a two year period and is expected to continue at that rate.
In 2014, when the new census figures are factored into this equation, the EPS has a police to
staffing ratio of 186; 11 members below the national average. The full staffing to population
ratio is 256; 20 below the national average. To meet the national average in 2014 would require
180 more positions immediately. Edmontons population is anticipated to grow by on average
30,000 per year. Strictly based on this increase, an additional 83 positions should be added
every year for the foreseeable future
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.
If the recommendation to increase by 239 resources through to 2018 is kept, the EPS will not
see any progress in moving its staff to population ratio closer to the national average, but rather
will see erosion in the ratio. The overall impact of the change in population increase is
illustrated in the table below:
Table 4: Effect of Population Growth Forecast Change on Staff to Population Ratio based on
2013 Recommended Increase of 239 and 2014 Municipal Census
Year 2014 Population Forecasts
Population
Increase
Population
Forecast
Staff to
Pop
2012 Municipal Census 817,498 263
2014 Municipal Census 877,926 256
2015 30,000 907,926 255
2016 30,000 937,926 254
2017 30,000 967,926 250
2018 30,000 997,926 246

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Police Resources in Canada 2013, Statistics Canada, released March 27, 2014, p. 3.
7
For use in this analysis, the authorized positions are reduced from 2,315 by externally funded positions totalling
64 to a total of 2,251.

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In addition to simple population increases, the composition of the citizens can directly impact
the need for policing. In Edmonton there is a heavy concentration of young males between
the ages of 18 and 35. Statistics indicate that this population has heavier incidences of
interaction with police. As the region continues to grow at a high rate, Edmonton will
continue to draw people from across Canada and new immigrants. Most will be law abiding
but there will be those looking for opportunities to prey on others.
3.1.3 Managing Patrol Performance and Patrol Span of Control
The Managing Patrol Performance (MPP) model is a statistical model designed to determine the
staffing requirement to respond to calls for service in the patrol response divisions within the
service standards approved by the EPC: 7 minute response to priority 1 (one) calls for service
80% of the time, 25% time available for directed activities
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, 40% of all units 2 man, and one
free car available at all times (See Appendix 3).
A complete review of the models methodology was undertaken in in 2013 in conjunction with
the determination of the 6
th
Patrol Division (Northwest) boundaries. The creation of the new
division requires the redistribution of existing resources, based on workload, across the City.
Presently, 550 patrol constables work in patrol response roles.
The MPP analysis shows that the requirement for the patrol constable function should be
immediately increased to 643 constables to meet our current 2014 workload demands (this is an
increase of 93 members from the current 550). These resources will be deployed geographically
based on call volume, workload distribution and other factors as they are added to EPS strength.
Population and demographics are also considered in the forecasts.
Forecasting future workloads to 2017, an additional 64 patrol constables are calculated to be
needed to meet workload demands. Note that the MPP model does not project more than
three years into the future.
Patrol Sergeants have supervisory responsibility for the front line constables. The optimum ratio
is 1 Sergeant to every 9 Constables. This allows the Patrol Sergeants to effectively lead and
manage their staff and provides increased time for reviewing reports, completing performance
appraisals, providing mentorship and direction at high risk operational scenes.
Based on this standard span of control and the 157 constables forecasted to be required, an
additional 17 Patrol Sergeants are necessary. Consideration for non-sworn support staff also
needs to be included.

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Directed Activities: Patrol shift work that is dedicated to activities that are either assigned or self-initiated to
members that are either prevention, intervention or suppression based.

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3.1.4 Identified Needs
Impacting identified needs are the results of external decisions from the courts or other orders
of government that download additional work onto the EPS. For example, on June 13, 2014, the
Supreme Court of Canada rendered a decision in R. v. Spencer 2014 SCC 43 which dramatically
changed the law respecting the sharing of (private) information between third parties (generally
businesses for our purposes) and law enforcement.
Previous to Spencer, police could make a Law Enforcement Request (LER) of an internet service
provider (ISP) seeking the subscriber information for an identified IP address that was involved
in a police investigation in this case an internet child pornography investigation. However, in
Spencer, the Court ruled that police can only obtain this information (except in urgent
circumstances) through prior judicial authorization. This decision now means that where
previously a LER would be made, taking only a matter of minutes, police must now obtain the
same information via a Production Order / Search Warrant, which regularly take hours to obtain.
Further, subsequent to Spencer, almost every telecommunications provider has interpreted
Spencer such that they feel they can no longer respond to LERs for calling name and address
information (subscriber information) for all cellular phones, instead requiring police to obtain a
Production Order / Search Warrant for this information. This will further exacerbate the
negative resource implications of the Spencer decision.
Decisions such as this impact the identification of resources that the EPS requires on a go-
forward basis. This can occur at any time and the EPS must respond in a timely manner.
Presently we are working to determine what the resource impact of this will be.
3.1.5 Growth of the City
For an organization that is already behind the national average when it comes to police to
population measures, the explosive growth of the city provides additional challenges for the
EPS. The recently completed census indicated that more than 60,000 new citizens have moved
to Edmonton over the past two years, a growth rate that is expected to continue into the
foreseeable future. Keeping pace with this population growth is essential, as new residents
come with the expectation that their calls for assistance will be answered promptly. The only
way to do that is by having enough police officers available.
The growth of the downtown area is proceeding rapidly, with a number of high profile public
facilities either planned or under construction. The Rogers Arena, the Winter Garden Complex,
the Royal Museum, and several new condo and office towers will generate thousands of new
visitors to the downtown area every day. The growth is undeniably good news for Edmonton,
and there is a collective interest to keep the downtown as a good news story for the city. It will
be up to the police to make sure the areas are kept safe, secure, and welcoming for visitors and
residents alike.

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The Arena and Entertainment District will add a concentrated new population living in
downtown Edmonton and will add millions of visitors to this area annually. The addition of
another major event venue will compound policing service demands. As of July 30, 2014, there
are over 30 different development projects underway in Edmonton valued at $4.8 billion dollars.
There is also approximately $16.9 Billion in development over the next 20 years within the
Central Metropolitan Area. LRT expansion will also add to the workload of the EPS.
The City of Edmonton itself has numerous transformational projects that will impact the
resourcing needs of the EPS now and into the future. Annexations, Port Alberta, Blatchford
Field, the South Campus of the University of Alberta, the Quarters & West Rossdale are but a
few examples.
Annexation, by example, will result in additional patrol requirements which include patrolling
the QE2 Highway that will come within city boundaries. It will also include policing of the
International Airport and Highway 19.
As the central city in a massive metropolitan area, Edmonton has some unique social service
responsibilities that it must carry. Edmonton comprises 70% of the regions population, but is
home to 87% of its low income citizens. It also contains 93% of the regions low income
housing, and spends 90% of the overall regional spend on policing costs. Simply put,
Edmonton is doing more than its fair share to support and police the greater metro region.
Because of this, the staffing levels referred to in the GDM model and the Police Resources in
Canada report should be considered as minimum as opposed to optimum standards.

The explosion in development happening in Edmonton, current and future requirements
from the judicial system and evolving criminal activities will factor into the policing needs of a
safe city.
3.2 Operating Impacts of Capital North West Campus
Our North West Campus will require increases in resources as the campus becomes operational.
This is a growth capital project and the resource needs can also be considered as growth
resources. The majority of this increase relates to the new Patrol Division as the EPS will need
to staff the additional supervisory ranks, clerical, intelligence and services necessary to support
the front line staff. The EPS is moving forward in 2014 to begin to establish the Northwest
Division in advance of the facility opening in 2018.
The EPS is therefore identifying a three year phased approach to be included into the operating
budget beginning with 14 new resources in 2015; 22 in 2016 and the remaining 17 in 2017. This
request includes dispatch and communications staff.
An additional seven resources, necessary to support the overall campus, including facility staff
and supports in detainee management are expected to be added in 2018.

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3.3 Other Operating Impacts of Capital Projects
The EPS is currently forecasting a need for 3 additional positions as a result of funded capital
projects.
Table 5: Operating Impacts of Capital Projects - Incremental Totals
Operating Impacts of Completed Capital Projects - Personnel Needs
Proj # Project Description 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Total
Funded Renewal Projects
CM-60-1433 Police IT Systems - Infrastructure 2 2
CM-60-1460 Police IT Systems - Applications 1 1
Total Funded Capital Plan - 1 2 - - 3

If there are new approved capital projects for the 2015-2018 Capital Budget period, additional
resources may be required to provide support for new technology or facilities.
4. Conclusion
To accommodate growth and support the economic momentum that has built up and is continuing, the
organization must respond proactively. New future sworn and non-sworn positions are essential, and
are complimented by other efforts in place such as the annual internal resource allocation/re-allocation
exercises and numerous efficiency and effectiveness improvement initiatives.
Positions for critical, required and projected needs will be requested through the annual operating
budget process.
To move the EPS forward and meet community expectations as expressed in the most recent Citizen
Survey
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, 400 new positions are required and have been approved by the EPC for consideration by City
Council. This will increase the staff to population to 273 per 100,000 population by 2019. This is still
below the current national average of 276.
Table 6: 2015-2019 Edmonton Police Commission Staffing Recommendation by Year
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Total
Maintain Service Levels 35 60 52 52 52 262
Northwest Campus 14 22 17 7 60
Operating Impacts of Capital 1 2 3
New Services 49 37 86
Total 98 120 71 59 52 400
Staff to 100,000 population ratio (est.)
259 263 262 260 258

9
Edmonton Police Service 2014 Citizen Survey, May 2014. P. 42. Among other indicators, only 56% of citizens feel
that the EPS is doing a good job of prompt response while 37% feel that an average job is being achieved.

13

The 400 positions are broken down by service type (see Appendix 2 for definitions) in Chart 2 below.
These identified needs are primarily for core or core support services.
Chart 1 Identified Resource Needs by Service Type

245, 61%
90, 22%
2, 1%
53, 13%
10, 3%
Core Services
Core Support Services
Strategic Services
Northwest Division
Other Operating Impacts
of Capital


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Appendix 1 - EPS Strategy Map


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Appendix 2 Edmonton Police Service Resource Types

The following resource types are referenced when the EPS considers its staffing needs:
Delivery of Core Services: These are services that directly contribute to the achievement of
organizational goals and strategy which include staffing to meet calls for service, dispatch,
forensics, intelligence services and serious crime investigations.
North West Division Patrol Station: Considered an operating impact of capital, the EPS has
begun staffing the 6
th
patrol divisional station and have leased a temporary facility until the new
station is completed and available to occupy. This decision is in response to critical service
demands. The resources for this new division will include the supervisory and civilian resources
required to staff the new station. These resources are considered to be core services.
Core Support Services: These are services that support/ enable core service providers to achieve
organizational goals and strategies which include activities such as securing and storing
collected evidence, training of staff, records management, occupational health and safety,
paying the staff, paying the bills and ensuring that facility, technology, vehicle and equipment
needs are met.
Strategic leadership, supervisory and support services: These are services that contribute to
the strategic planning cycle, management of organizational initiatives, and executive decision
making processes including internal audit and strategic services to support senior leadership :
Operating impacts of capital projects: These are resources required to support new major
facilities including facility, security and technical staff and for the support of new technology
projects.
Leading Change Strategies for achieving our vision of being the safest major city in Canada:
These are strategies related to Violence Reduction focused on Community Action Teams,
Seniors, Youth and Aboriginal citizens of Edmonton among others.
Annexation/Transformational City Projects Strategies to Police a Larger City and Denser
Geographic Footprint
a. As the City proceeds with plans to annex land to the south of Edmonton, there will be
resources needed to meet existing policing requirements such as the International
Airport, rural calls for service, and the Highway 2 and 19 corridors. The EPS continues to
work with the Citys Annexation team and has established an internal working group to
determine these impacts accurately.
b. Other transformational City developments such as Blatchford Field, West Rossdale, the
Quarters and LRT Expansion will potentially impact on policing as the city becomes more
densely populated and provides additional amenities. The Downtown Arena Project and
the surrounding development will impact policing in the shorter term and require
concentrated police time and response. Longer term, the continuing LRT expansion will
require more focused police time.


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Appendix 3 Managing Patrol Performance (MPP) Model & Methodology

This program is designed to determine the number of required units for a specific area and a specific
time interval. The algorithm used on this software is based on a queuing model. The model is designed
to estimate, for different staffing levels, how often a caller will have to wait for service and how long
that wait is likely to be. This queuing model is used to determine the number of units needed in order to
meet EPS patrol performance goals of 7 minute response time for priority one calls for service (CFS),
25% proactive time (15 minutes per hour per unit) and an average number of free units of at least 1.
The MPP software requires the following patrol workload data for each area and time interval:
Number of deployed patrol units
Call rate
Number of units deployed for each Call for Service
Average service time
Average administrative time
Percent of calls by priority level
Area
Average travel speed for patrol units responding to calls by priority level
Preliminary statistical analyses were conducted to identify and exclude outliers in the data.
The number of required units for 2014 to 2017 was estimated using forecasted values for the call rate,
average service time, administrative time and travel speed. For each one of these quantities a particular
statistical model was developed. Population, age of the neighborhood, day of the week, hour, month
and indicator variables for EPS and areas such as LRT stations were considered as predictive factors for
the statistical models.
Distribution of one person / two person units
Police agencies have different policies, regulations and minimum staffing requirements, to address the
distribution of one person and two person cars (units) during shifts. The Edmonton Police Service
requires 60% one person and 40% two person cars during a 24 hour time period. The MPP software
does not include the distribution of one person and two person cars directly in the calculation of the
minimum units required. To address this distribution, an additional analysis of the MPP results is
required.
As mentioned above, MPP is used to obtain the number of units required for each time interval and area
of the city. Further analysis is required to determine how those units are distributed between two
Person Units and one Person Units. The following is a list of the requirements for such distribution
identified by the Edmonton Police Service.
1. The number of two-person units deployed on the first watch (i.e. starting at 21:00 hrs) must be
larger than 65% of the total number of units deployed on that watch.
2. The number of two-person units deployed on the third watch (i.e., starting at 17:00 hrs) must be
larger than 55% of the total number of units deployed on that watch.

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3. The number of two-person units deployed in a day must be more than 38% but less than 54% of the
total number of units deployed on that day.
A linear program was used to determine the optimal distribution of the number of units while meeting
the above mentioned restrictions.
Staffing Requirements
The number of constables needed per squad is calculated based on the optimization routine that
determines the number of two Person Units and one Person Units.
a) Current staffing
The frontline strength of the Edmonton Police Service is 550 constables.
b) Predicted Staffing Requirements
The following table contains the forecasted number of constables required for the years 2014, 2015,
2016 and 2017.

Year Number of Resources
2014
2015
2016
2017
643
676
680
707

Although the table above indicates the forecasted number of resources needed for patrol, not all
positions are included in the recommendation. A balance between competing needs has been made.

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Edmonton Police Service Multi Year Staffing Plan 2015-2019

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