Police Staffing Allocation and Managing Workload Demand: A Critical Assessment of Existing Practices

Police agencies take a variety of approaches to determining their staffing allocation needs. Among these arethe per-capita, minimum staffing, authorized level, and workload-based methods. Based on a review of the literature,interviews with practitioners representing 20 diverse agencies across the USA and national focus group of 21 staffingexperts, this article assesses current trends and experiences in staffing allocation. Additionally, it examines thestrengths and weaknesses of alternative approaches to determining staffing need and to managing workloaddemand in ways that that minimize the use of sworn officers.Abstract Police agencies take a variety of approaches to determining their staffing allocation needs. Among these arethe per-capita, minimum staffing, authorized level, and workload-based methods. Based on a review of the literature,interviews with practitioners representing 20 diverse agencies across the USA and national focus group of 21 staffingexperts, this article assesses current trends and experiences in staffing allocation. Additionally, it examines thestrengths and weaknesses of alternative approaches to determining staffing need and to managing workloaddemand in ways that that minimize the use of sworn officers.