REPORT

RAPPORT

 

 

DATE:

 

17 November 2005

TO:

 

Executive Director, Ottawa Police Services Board

FROM:

 

Director General, Ottawa Police Service

SUBJECT:

RESPONSE TO COUNCIL REQUEST – INTEGRATION OF CIVILIAN WORKFORCE

 

 


RECOMMENDATION

 

That the Ottawa Police Services Board receive this report and consider the following recommendations at its meeting on 28 November 2005:

1.                  Confirm a status quo model with respect to civilianization for 2006 and 2007.

 

2.                  Direct Ottawa Police Service staff to work with City staff to study future opportunities to link OPS and 311 services.

 

3.                  Forward this report to Council as supplementary material to the 2006 budget submission.

 

BACKGROUND

 

During the review and approval of the 2005 Ottawa Police Service budget request, Council passed the following motion:

 

Moved by Councillor D. Deans

Seconded by Councillor D. Holmes

 

BE IT RESOLVED that the Police Services Board be asked to thoroughly investigate the costs/savings associated with fully integrating their civilian workforce with the City of Ottawa’s administration; and this be accomplished in time to realize savings in the 2006 budget.

 

City and OPS staff have worked together to prepare this report.  It is designed to achieve four objectives:

1.      Outline the OPS strategy with respect to civilianization;

2.      Identify the roles that civilians play within the Police Service;

3.      Outline the high level of integration between the Police Service and the City; and

  1. Identify any potential cost savings or future opportunities for further administrative integration with the City.

 

DISCUSSION

 

The Success of the OPS Civilianization Strategy

 

Civilianization was adopted as a key efficiency strategy from the beginning of the police amalgamation process in 1995.  A review of the new Ottawa-Carleton Regional Police Service showed that there were many functions performed by sworn officers that are performed by civilians in other organizations. 

 

There was a clear argument to be made for civilianization in terms of economics and efficiency, taking into account the salary differences.  The civilian pay line is set lower than that of the sworn officer.  By hiring civilians to perform roles previously assigned to sworn officers, it provided the organization with the opportunity to re-deploy sworn personnel to operational roles, thus limiting the growth in the number of sworn officers during those initial years following the police amalgamation.  Reports to the Transition Board show that 57 officers were re-deployed to front-line duties as a result of this initiative.

 

Ottawa Police has achieved a high level of civilianization relative to a group of its counterparts across Canada.  Civilians are employed in executive, professional, technical, operational and administrative roles across the organization, enabling sworn officers to be deployed to operational assignments.  OPS ranks 2nd in civilianization amongst a group of peer and larger police services, as measured by data that Statistics Canada gathers.  As Table 1 shows, the ratio of police officers to civilians is 2.27:1 in Ottawa.  This level is in stark contrast to Vancouver, which is 12th and has a ratio of 5.54 sworn officers for every civilian. 

 

Table 1

Comparison of Ratio of Police Officers (2003) to Civilians (2003)

 

Service

 

2003

Officers

2003

Civilians

Ratio

 

Rank

 

Peel

1,454

688

2.11

1

Ottawa

1,107

488

2.27

2

Calgary

1,442

619

2.33

3

Toronto

5,315

2,203

2.41

4

Hamilton

712

275

2.59

5

Durham

736

261

2.82

6

York

973

331

2.94

7

Montreal

4,070

1,368

2.98

8

Halton

502

155

3.24

9

Edmonton

1,225

335

3.66

10

Gatineau

300

74

4.05

11

Vancouver

1,192

215

5.54

12

 

Source: Police Resources in Canada, 2004 (Statistics Canada,85-225,X1E).

 

Notes:  In accordance with Statistics Canada scoring rules, for the purposes of their report the definition of police officer does not include a recruit officer attending OPC or a rookie officer assigned to their coach.  It is also based on officers on strength, not authorized complement.  The authorized complement of Ottawa sworn officers for 2004 was 1,161.

Functions Performed by Civilians

 

The 2006 Draft Budget Documents show the OPS civilian full time equivalent complement will be 523 positions for the coming year.  Most of the positions - 85% or 441 civilians - are in roles directly supporting police operations, as Table 2 shows below.  Roughly 5% of civilian staff (28 positions) provide administrative support to the organization.  The remainder – 10% or 54 staff - are in functions which would be “parallel” to a City function: Financial Services, Fleet, Human Resources, Mail Services, Police Facilities and Security Operations.

 

Table 2

Civilian Full Time Equivalents by Category

2006

 

Category

 Civilian Positions

Number

Percentage

1.  Directly Supporting Police Operations

441

85

2.  “Parallel” to a City Function

54

10

3.  Administrative Support

28

5

 

 

 

Total

523

100 %

 

Annex A provides a detailed breakdown of the sections included under the three categories of civilians. In the category of “Front Line”, the largest sections are listed below, along with the primary jobs performed by the civilians in those sections.   The range of jobs provided by civilians are:

·        Communications Centre/Switchboard (Communication Clerks and Call Takers): 116

·        Police and Criminal Records Processing (Report Analysts, CPIC Operators): 59

·        Court Security (Special Constables):  52

·        Court Liaison (Court Case Administrators): 45

·        Call Centre (Call Centre Agents): 29

·        Evidence Control (Evidence Custodians) : 10

·        Victim Crisis Unit (Counsellors): 7

 

Administrative support positions make up 5% of the total civilian group.  In 2006, the OPS will be an organization of 1,773 FTEs (sworn and civilian) supported by 28 administrative support staff; a ratio of 63.3:1. 

 

Integration with the Municipality

 

Civilian roles have been carefully chosen so as to avoid duplication with those at the municipality.  This issue is especially critical in the “Parallel to a City Function” category which makes up 10% of the civilian positions.  From the perspective of efficiency and effectiveness, ideally, there should be minimal overlap between the OPS and the City in these areas. 

 

Integration with the municipality characterized the approach proposed by the Police Services Board and approved by the Ontario Civilian Commission on Police Services when the new organizational structure for OCRPS was presented to them in December 1996.  In 2000, the Transition Board adopted as a principle the need to promote integration and avoid duplication in the creation of the new relationship between the Police Service and the fledgling City of Ottawa.  When it studied the matter, the Ottawa Transition Board Project Team found there to be a high level of integration between OPS and the City.

 

When choosing whether to retain services from the City or to pursue an in-house model, the Police strategy with respect to integration with the municipality has been simple and straightforward.  OPS has retained functions in instances when:

 

1.      Accountability to the Board and the Chief was a key requirement.  Examples of these functions include:  a) compensation, b) labour relations, c) financial planning and d) some legal matters.

 

2.      Sworn officer involvement was necessary, as in the case of a) police officer training, b) constable selection and recruitment, and c) HR policy matters dealing with sworn officer matters such as transfer, promotion and succession planning.

 

3.      Confidential police matters were a regular part of the function, including aspects of: a) security operations, b) financial transaction processing (informant funds, witness protection expenses, intelligence and surveillance project costs), c) corporate communications, and d) some human resource matters.

 

4.      A high level of strategic and organizational knowledge is required for the function including: a) HR policy, b) health and wellness, c) human resource planning, d) budget management, e) facility and security planning, f) corporate communications, and g) overtime and court time analysis.

 

5.      Knowledge of day-to-day police operations is critical to carrying out the function such as: a) mail services, b) tenant service requests and space fit-ups, c) vehicle deployment and coordination, d) media relations, e) time keeping, scheduling and attendance, and f) purchase order and other financial transaction processing.

 

A Closer Look At the “Parallel Functions”

 

Using the criteria outlined above, the decision was made during the amalgamation exercises to keep the functions identified below within the Police organization reporting to the Chief of Police.  This relationship ensures that the Chief can direct and control these critical resources.  In this way, the mandate given to the Chief under various sections of the Police Services Act can be carried out. 

 

The work done by these units would have to be done regardless of whether these units report through the OPS chain of command or through the City hierarchy.  It is not a duplication of work done at the City.  This conclusion becomes more apparent when the work of these sections is spelled out more clearly:

 

a.      Financial Services – 15 FTEs

·        Time and attendance keeping for 1,773 full time equivalent;

·        Budget planning and management of $190M operating budget and $17M capital budget;

·        Financial transaction processing in SAP for 200 cost and revenue centres.

 

b.      Fleet Services – 13 FTEs

·        Coordination and deployment of 500 fleet vehicles at 5 divisional locations on a 24/7 basis;

·        Staffing of 24/7 key and equipment dispatch room at Elgin Station;

·        Vehicle acquisition and disposal.

 

c.       Human Resources – 18 FTEs

·        Labour relations for Police Services Board (employer);

·        Administration and support of 172 WSIB claims annually (2004) (178 to end of Q3/2005);

·        Compensation and benefits  - implementation of collective agreement settlements, management of job evaluation plan for civilian bargaining unit; administration of benefits for retirees and senior officers;

·        Processing, tracking and managing data in HRIS related to transfers, promotions, hires, fires – 70% annual churn rate;

·        Recruiting – includes both sworn and civilian hiring; in 2004 we hired 64 new officers and processed over 300 staffing actions.  In addition, we hired 27 students as part of our summer student program;

·        Promotion and performance management processes – in 2004 129 sworn officers participated in the promotion process resulting in 29 promotions to date.

 

d.      Mail Services – 4 FTEs

·        Daily pick-up at 25+ locations;

·        Confidential, police information.

 

e.      Police Facilities and Security Operations– 5 FTEs

·        Tenant Service Requests (170 requests – to date in 2005);

·        Accommodation Refit  (8 major renovation projects undertaken in 2005 costing between $75K and $2.2M each, 10 requests for special project assignment space, SSI space requirements);

·        Liaise with RPAM to coordinate facility workplans managed by the City with on-going 24/7 police operations;

·        Facility Planning – review ongoing existing facility space utilization (8 main buildings and 14 community police centres) and identify new facility requirements to accommodate anticipated staffing increases and service delivery model changes (South Division, West Division, Joint Tactical Facility);

·        Security Coordination - ongoing implementation of ISMS system, determine physical security requirements in all police facilities, management of building access and related administration functions.

 

A number of studies have confirmed that these functions are performed effectively when measured against standard cost benchmarks.  For example, the HR Audit conducted by Deloitte Touche in 1999 confirmed that the staffing level of HR was at the industry standard of 1 staff member to 100 employees. 

 

The Directors and Managers in these sections also take on much more of a generalist role than their counterparts at the City.  For example, the Director of Financial Services and Materiel Management is responsible for a number of sections including:

·        Financial Planning and Alarm Management;

·        Payroll Services;

·        Quartermaster;

·        Evidence Control Services;

·        Fleet Services.

 

A preliminary review of the City’s scope and span of responsibilities standards confirms that OPS conforms to those organizational design principles.

 

City Services Used by the OPS

 

There are many services that the Police Service contracts from the City to ensure that there is not a duplication of effort.  In most cases, costs are charged back to the OPS for the use of these services and are, therefore, reflected in the overall Police tax rate. 

 

A comprehensive outline of the services provided by the City to OPS is included in Annex B.  The key City providers are:

·        Financial Services Branch

·        Legal Services

·        City Clerk’s Branch

·        Fleet Services

·        Information Services Branch

·        Employee Services

·        Real Property Asset Management

·        Client Services and Public Information Branch

 

When searching for services, the OPS checks with the City first to see if there is a possibility of gaining these services from our partner.  For example, the OPS recently sought a replacement for employee assistance services (EAP).  City staff advised OPS staff that it would not be possible for the police to use the internal City provider.  OPS needs exceeded their capacity and they could not meet the OPS requirement for 24-hour EAP response.  As a result, OPS staff secured these services from an external provider.

 

Continuing the Search for Opportunities to Civilianize and Promote Integration with the City

 

In 2000, the Transition Board work identified a number of areas for follow-up to continue to promote integration and efficiency.  Almost all have been implemented with the associated cost savings achieved as a result.

 

·        Three positions were transferred to the City in 2001 for a savings of $175K.

o       Fleet administrator / analyst;

o       Financial analyst;

o       WSIB Administrator;

o       In the case of the Human Resources function, the position took on WSIB work and expertise that the City offered.  After 14 months, and a review of workload, the position was transferred back to Ottawa Police’s Human Resources.

 

·        OPS reduced 911 costs for the City by $250K. 

o       The savings resulted from the civilianization of 12 sworn officer positions in the Communications Centre;

o       A significant reorganization of the Police and Criminal Records Processing Section was undertaken to free up the 12 civilian positions that were transferred to the CommCentre to make these savings possible; 

o       The 12 sworn officer positions were then re-deployed to front-line positions.

 

 

·        Civilianization was also a feature of the SSI initiative.  A total of seven positions were civilianized under that initiative.  The sworn positions freed-up were re-assigned to 7 of the requirements under the SSI program.  

 

The Special Case of the OPS IT Network

 

It has not been possible to integrate the IT network with the municipality, given the extensive network security and the restrictions to personnel which must be implemented in order to meet the RCMP certification requirements for CPIC in this area.  The OPS network and the staff that access it must adhere to very strict standards set by the RCMP in order to qualify for access to the CPIC system.

 

The criminal information provided by the RCMP and accessed through the OPS network is critical to the police operation.  The CPIC system (Canadian Police Information System) operated by the RCMP is the only system which contains information on matters across Canada.  Police officers consult the system many times each day to gain up-to-the-minute information about persons of interest in their community.  Officer health and safety could be compromised if access to this information was suspended.

 

A decision was made early in the creation of the OCRPS and again during the OTB process to permit the OPS IT system to remain as an independent entity.  It cannot be part of a wider City network and still comply with the requirements of the RCMP.

 

To ensure the costs of the OPS IT function are reasonable, a benchmarking exercise was undertaken in 2002.  Using a methodology developing by EDS, the IT functions at Ottawa Police were examined using a total cost of ownership model (TCO).  In all cases – applications, hardware and networking - the analysis showed that the OPS IT function is very competitive.  The monthly support costs are:

 

·        Police specific applications - $260 /workstation

·        Non-police specific applications - $168 / workstation

 

The OPS and the City have found some practical ways to cooperatively use the OPS network.  For example, the OPS is hosting an important function on behalf of the Fire Service.  The Fire Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system resides within the OPS network and is serviced and supported by OPS staff.  It is an element of the Versaterm software system which OPS uses to manage police calls for service (CAD), police reports (RMS) and to provide officers with a wireless mobile workstation in their vehicle (MWS) capable of remote report entry (MRE).

 

The OPS will also be providing data to the municipal court from its network as part of the new approach to electronic traffic ticketing.  In the very near future, electronic traffic ticket data will be transferred from the OPS network to the City network, eliminating a very onerous paper process and reducing the costs associated with data entry for both the OPS and the City. 

 

 

 

City’s Capacity for Additional Workload

 

This issue of integrating more OPS civilian functions with the City’s administration must also be considered from the perspective of whether the City has the capacity to take on this work.  It is only through eliminating positions that savings can be achieved.

 

City staff considered this issue and contributed the following section:

 

The Universal Program Review (UPR) and the subsequent creation of the 2004 Budget introduced efficiency gains by reducing internal service levels to their minimum and therefore removed any additional capacity or internal flexibility to respond to increases in service demand.

 

The majority of these reductions came from the Centers of Expertise (CoE) within the Corporate Services Department and the previous Human Resources Departments.  In fact, the HR Department was downsized and became a Branch within Corporate Services.  Almost half of the internal service reductions were achieved through reductions to service levels in Information Technology Services Branch, resulting in the City moving to a minimal level of support for technology infrastructure and strategic technology initiatives.

 

As a result, the CoEs continue to be under pressure to delivery basic day-to-day services and are no longer able to meet the demands of their existing internal client base within the City. There is no capacity to undertake additional work or new initiatives within their existing resource level.

 

CONSULTATION

 

This report is being tabled as part of the public consultation process for the 2006 budget.

 

FINANCIAL STATEMENT

 

N/A

 

CONCLUSION

 

The analysis shows that both the Police Service and the City have followed up on a wide range of opportunities to ensure that integration between the two groups is high and overlap is minimal.  The need to achieve these two goals has been emphasized at each formal review process over the last ten years:

·        The police amalgamation;

·        The municipal amalgamation;

·        The police and universal program review;

·        Annual board and city budget reviews.

 

This review has shown that there are no significant opportunities at this time to take further integration steps and realize cost savings.  A status quo situation is recommended for the near term period of 2006 and 2007.

 

However, the implementation of the 311 Service Delivery Model at the City this year opens the door for discussions on a service area that has never been in existence before.  As the 311 Service stabilizes and matures it will be possible in the future to explore whether 311 can play a role in police operations. 

 

 

 

Debra Frazer

Director General

 

 

 

Vince Bevan

Chief of Police

 

 

Annex A

Annex B