DATE:	23 April 2012
TO/DEST:	Executive Director, Ottawa Police Services Board
FROM/EXP:	Chief of Police, Ottawa Police Service
SUBJECT/OBJET:	TENURE PROGRAM – 2011 ANNUAL REPORT

RECOMMENDATION

That the Ottawa Police Services Board receive this report for information.

BACKGROUND

Section 31(1)(c) of the Police Services Act states that a board shall establish policies for the effective management of the police force. Board Policy CR-7 provides direction with regard to managing the workforce within the OPS. It requires that the Chief have a tenure program in place and that, on an annual basis, a report be provided on the extent to which the tenure program met policy objectives. This report fulfils the requirement.

DISCUSSION

Strategic Drivers

In 2000, the Criminal Investigations Division undertook a study of investigative processes, mandates, and staffing. On October 25, 2001, the CIS 2000 Final Report was presented to the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) Executive. Recommendation 26 was key to addressing a series of staff related issues, it stated: “Section managers should identify the average length of tenure a member will spend in their section.” The rationale provided to support the recommendation was that rotation of members would help reduce burnout and tunnel vision, and would permit the continuous development of members’ knowledge, skills and abilities.

In the same time period, the Toronto Police Service (TPS) was facing similar challenges related to the rotation, development and supervision of staff in special investigative sections. Following an internal investigation into the TPS Central Field Drug Squad, the Honourable Mr. Justice George Ferguson was retained by TPS to conduct a review and author a report of findings.

The report entitled “Review and Recommendations Concerning Various Aspects of Police Misconduct” has become known as the Ferguson Report. When considering the importance of rotating staff, the OPS took notice of the Ferguson Report, which highlighted the need for a formally-structured process to facilitate the movement of staff into and out of “specialty” sections.

Beyond investigative areas of work, the OPS patrol supervisors have identified the need to rotate senior, experienced police officers to patrol operations to balance the increase in less experienced officers hired to replace retired officers. The rotation of officers to patrol and other areas was identified as a means of meeting the future needs of the Service with respect to knowledge, skills, abilities and experience.

Designing a Tenure Process

In order to meet the changing needs of the organization, a Tenure Design Team was created to develop a Tenure Program that was specific to the needs of the Ottawa Police Service and its membership. The team reviewed data from internal consultations and the results were used to assist in the development of a framework for Standard Operating Procedures, recommendations to policy, and the design and subsequent implementation of the Tenure Policy and Program. The goal of establishing a tenure program was to have a fair, transparent and fluid process in which to move and deploy our most important resource: our people.

The 2007-2009 Business Plan identified the creation of a tenure program under the strategic priority: “Employer of Choice for All, Goal #1: Manage Ottawa Police Service Talent”. The current 2010-2012 OPS Business Plan reflects the need for a continued, robust tenure program through “Investing in Our People”.

On April 28, 2010, the Ottawa Police Service’s Tenure Design Team won the 2010 Mercer Vision Award for Human Resources Innovation.

Governance

In order to guide the development of the new tenure process, a Steering Committee was convened comprised of Executive Sponsor, Deputy Chief Gilles Larochelle; business owners, representation from the Senior Officers’ Association and Ottawa Police Association, and other sworn members at various ranks from throughout the organization.

The initial role of the Steering Committee was to provide guidance and direction on the design and development of the new tenure process, and to oversee the on-going implementation of the tenure process as it rolled out.

In 2010, the position of Career Management Specialist – Tenure was created and the competition was won by Ms. Kendra Campbell. Ms. Campbell is part of the Career Development Team managed by Career Development Staff Sergeant Dan Longpré. This group reports to Inspector Scott Brown, Outreach and Development.

The membership of the Steering Committee was updated in 2011 to ensure there was ongoing representation from across the organization. The Steering Committee continues to play a key role with the tenure process in providing guidance and feedback and assisting with the fine-tuning of the process to ensure it remains relevant.

Process Overview

In 2011, the tenure process continued with a standardized framework that applied to the ranks of constable, sergeant and staff sergeant. The annual process started in the fall of 2010, with a report on tenure end-dates for sworn members in the following year. The list identified members by section and was sent to section heads for review and feedback.

A tenure posting was created in January of 2011 announcing the beginning of the tenure application process. There were 167 tenured positions that candidates competed for: 64 at the rank of Constable, 67 at the rank of Sergeant and 36 at the rank of Staff Sergeant. Each tenured position was listed with a corresponding link to the specific job description for the position. Eligible sworn members were able to submit a maximum of five (5) tenure applications for the annual process.

The process of reviewing each application for eligibility of the candidate was completed by Tenure Selection Panels. These panels consisted of seven (7) staff sergeants for the constable and sergeant applicants and a panel of seven (7) inspectors for the staff sergeants. Selection panels occurred within four weeks of the application deadline. The selection panels created ranking lists for each position, and these lists were used to identify successful candidates for the positions to be vacated by officers reaching the end of their tenure. The annual transfer date was selected to be the first Monday in October and officers were notified of their assignments by General Order on the 6^th of June, 2011.

The tenure process provided a simple and clear method to identify members who were due to tenure out of their positions and identified qualified candidates on ranking lists to fill each position. The ranking lists prove to be effective in quickly identifying the next qualified candidate when unanticipated vacancies occur throughout the year.

Table 1 below identifies the tenure transfer numbers for the first three (3) years of the process. These numbers demonstrate the controlled rotation of personnel within the organization.

The number of mandatory transfers varies from year to year based on a number of factors such as: the tenure in dates for the members into their positions, the number of members who transferred prior to their maximum tenure time, transfers resulting from promotions, secondments and U.N. Missions, retirements. All of these scenarios can affect the number of members required to tenure out of their position in any given year.

Table 1

Transfer Activity Resulting from the Tenure Program 2009 - 2011

	2009	2010	2011
Total Tenure Transfers	30	60	31
Breakdown:
Patrol to Tenured Position	12	26	14
Tenured Position to Patrol	15	24	15
Tenured Position to Tenured Position	3	10	2

Policy

The Tenure Process Design document created by the Tenure Design Team was used to develop the Tenure Policy, which was approved on the 6^th of October, 2008. With ongoing oversight of the program since that time, there have been three (3) subsequent policy updates to make the process more effective.

CONSULTATION

Not applicable.

FINANCIAL STATEMENT

Not applicable.

CONCLUSION

The OPS recognizes the importance of maintaining a fair and transparent tenure program to facilitate the transfer of sworn personnel. The goal has consistently been to not only ensure the mandatory rotation of personnel after a specified time period, but also to meet the current and future needs of the Service with respect to knowledge, skills, abilities and experience, while enhancing support and supervision to a younger workforce.

Tenure is a living process that includes ongoing consultation to make it a success by meeting organizational goals and being clear and transparent to our sworn members. The Career Development team seeks and receives input on an ongoing basis and conducts a yearly review of the program. Starting just its fourth year, the tenure program cannot be considered a mature process, but it is becoming more ingrained within the organization. Employee mental health and well being is a cornerstone of my strategic agenda. Evaluating the efficacy of the Tenure Program, with input from all areas of the Service, will be a priority as we move forward.

(Original signed by)

Charles Bordeleau

Chief of Police

Attach. (Annex A)

Annex A

2011 Tenure Policy Recommendations and Approvals

1. Amend the Tenure policy to have newly-promoted Staff Sergeants remain in their first assignment, whether Patrol or a tenured position, for a minimum of one (1) year before being eligible to apply for a tenured position.

Reason: This change would provide greater stability in the positions and ensure consistency for newly-promoted Staff Sergeants.

2. Amend the Tenure Policy to remain in keeping with other business rules relating to cellblock. Recommendation that Superintendents add a business rule which gives them the option of vacating the position or holding the position for the officer to return to upon the end of their one-year assignment in cellblock, based on operational ability to do so as determined by the Superintendent.

Reason: Superintendents have indicated they want the Cellblock Assignment Process to continue taking precedence—as this has been the most effective way to staff the cellblock—but requested clarity as to the impact this should have on tenure placement.

3. Amend the Tenure Policy to reflect that Constables require one (1) full year on patrol at the completion of a secondment unless successful in applying for a tenured position at the next stream.

Reason: Going from Secondment to secondment goes contrary to wanting to bring experience to Patrol and some measure of consistency in Staffing.

4. Amend the Tenure Policy to include the tenure positions of Front Desk Staff Sergeant and Front Desk Sergeant with tenure durations of four (4) years for Staff Sergeants and three (3) years for Sergeants.

Reason: Support from the Superintendent, Unit Inspector and Staff Sergeant was unanimous

5. Amend the Tenure Policy to add Airport, Court Security and Information Desk Constables to the patrol criteria. Time as part of a UN Mission is to be counted as patrol time as well.

Reason: Bring Policy in line with what was already being practiced.

6. Amend the Tenure Policy to add the following wording, underlined: Maternity/Parental Leave – When a member is on maternity or parental leave, the time does not count towards the time in the tenured or patrol position.