DATE:	28 April 2014
TO/DEST:	Executive Director, Ottawa Police Services Board
FROM/EXP:	Chief of Police, Ottawa Police Service
SUBJECT/OBJET:	TENURE PROGRAM – 2013 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 specific direction to the Chief with regard to managing the workforce within the Ottawa Police Service (OPS). The Policy identifies the requirement for the Chief to have a tenure program in place, to be reported on annually. This report fulfils the requirement.

DISCUSSION

The Need for a Tenure Program

Police services across the country have identified the need to implement workforce management strategies that will balance organizational needs for experienced personnel with the members’ need for challenging work, aligned with their career goals, which enables them to lead a healthy and balanced life.

· The Ottawa Police Service CIS 2000 Final Report recommended that: “Section managers should identify the average length of tenure a member will spend in their section.” The rationale for this 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 his review of the Toronto Police Service Central Field Drug Squad, entitled “Review and Recommendations Concerning Various Aspects of Police Misconduct,” the Honourable Mr. Justice George Ferguson highlighted the need for a formally-structured process to facilitate the movement of staff into and out of “specialty” sections.

In 2008 a Tenure Design Team was created to develop a Tenure Program that was specific to the needs of the OPS and its membership. The goal of establishing a tenure program was to have a fair, transparent and fluid process in which to move and deploy the sworn workforce. The policy and program framework was developed by this group, based on consultations with the members, vetted by the Tenure Steering Committee and approved by the Chief on October 6, 2008 for implementation. Since that time, there have been three (3) subsequent policy updates to make the process more effective.

The administration of the Tenure Program is the responsibility of the Superintendent of Resourcing and Development and his Team. The Steering Committee continues to be an important resource to this group, providing guidance and feedback and assisting with the fine-tuning of the process to ensure it remains relevant.

The 2013 Process

In 2013, the Tenure Program was status quo, and applied to the ranks of Constable and Sergeant. Staff Sergeant placements continued to be managed by the Superintendents in the same manner as 2012, relying on the transfer process.

The primary steps of the Tenure Process are set out below. Interest in the Program was at its highest level to date with a record number of 1,088 applications received.

· A General Order was released in January of 2013 announcing the commencement of the Tenure application process.

· A total of 120 positions were open for candidate competition: 57 at the rank of Constable and 63 at the rank of Sergeant.

· Eligible sworn members were able to submit a maximum of four (4) tenure applications.

· Selection panels evaluated applications and created ranking lists for each position.

· Successful candidates were drawn from the lists for the 120 positions.

· The annual transfer date was selected to be the first Monday in October.

· Officers were notified of their assignments by General Order on June 19, 2013.

· The ranking lists were also used to select a qualified candidate when unplanned vacancies occured throughout the year.

Table 1 below identifies the tenure transfer numbers for the first five (5) years of the Program. These numbers demonstrate the magnitude of planned 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 members moving into positions; the number of members who transferred prior to their maximum tenure time; transfers resulting from promotions, secondments and U.N. Missions; and retirements.

Table 1

Transfer Activity Resulting from the Tenure Program

2009 - 2013

	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
Total Tenure Transfers	30	60	32	78	93
Breakdown:
Patrol to Tenured Position	12	26	14	33	37
Tenured Position to Patrol	15	24	16	31	39
Tenured Position to Tenured Position	3	10	2	14	17

2013 Tenure Program Review

The Chief is also required under the monitoring requirements of Board Policy CR-7 to “review the effectiveness of and adherence to the Tenure program and procedures.” Accordingly the Planning, Performance and Analytics Section of OPS commissioned an evaluation of the Tenure Program in 2013, which was undertaken by Prairie Research Associates Inc. (PRA).

PRA began the program evaluation with a strategic review, examined the tenure process as a whole, and analyzed its impact on members and the organization. They arrived at 6 key findings and made recommendations for improvement.

A final technical report on the review was provided to the Resourcing & Development Superintendent (R&D) on December 24 2013 and a management response was requested by the Chief. Staff submitted the Management Response early in 2014. The process of finalizing and implementing the revisions to the Tenure Program is underway, for launch in 2015.

PUBLIC 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 ensure the rotation of personnel after a specified time period and 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.

(Original signed by)

Charles Bordeleau

Chief of Police