A Systems Approach to Managing Police Staffing and Workload Demand

Sunday, October 15, 2023

10:00 AM – 11:00 AM PST

Location: Room: 4

Submitter and Speaker(s)

Michael David

Social Science Analyst
U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS)
Washington, District of Columbia, United States

Speaker(s)

Jeremy Wilson, PhD

Professor
Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan, United States
Eric Echevarria

Chief of Police
Peoria Police Department, Illinois
Peoria, Illinois, United States
Terry Cherry

Senior Police Officer
Charleston Police Department, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina, United States
Rick Myers

Interim Chief of Police
Commerce City Police Department, Colorado
Commerce City, Colorado, United States
MM

Maureen McGough

Co-Founder, The Policing Project
30x30 Initiative
New York, New York, United States

Citing the COVID-19 pandemic, the police reform movement, changing demographics and generational preferences, and still other factors, many police agencies across the U.S. have been battling significant shortfalls of sworn staff. Calls for greater diversity and skillsets among police officers further complicate staffing efforts. Typically characterized as a recruitment or retention problem by various stakeholders, this oversimplifies the challenge, ignoring important factors and leading to piecemeal solutions. In this session, we present and discuss a six-step, strategic framework for developing and maintaining effective police workforces and managing workload demand that draws on two decades of research on staffing allocation, workforce profiles, and recruitment and retention.