5.9. SR 06-05-2006
City of EII< River Item Number
REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION 5.9.
Agenda Section I Meeting Date Prepared by
.t\dminis tra cion June 5, 2006 Lori J ollnson, City ..r\drninistrator
Item Description Reviewed by
Request .L\dclitiol1al Police Officer and Options for [\dditional
Co'verage
Introduction
The police departlnent llas recel1tly experienced an increase in acti\Tity tllat is compoul1dlllg tlle
departlnel1t's existing staff shortage. Police Cluef Beahel1 and I request consideration of adding all
additional officer as soon as possible so tllat all shifts are adequately c01lered.
Discussion
It llas been tluee years since any additions \vere lnade to tlle police force. In tllat tline, dle City's
population has grO\Vl1 by sev'eral tllousand people and dle type of acti"vity tlle police departmel1t deals
\vitllllas cllanged sigr1ificantly. For tlle past tluee budget years, dle Police Cluef 11as requested additiol1al
staff to 111.eet serv'.ice del1lands. TIlese requests 11a\Te 110t been filled. Instead, in 2004 a t\velv.e-llour shift
schedule \vas itnplelnented becallse it allo\vs for lnore officers on duty at tlle sal11e tUne. Tlus \vorked
\vell and delayed tile need to lUre additional patrol officers. HO\Ve,\Ter, e\Ten 'v~itll tills sclledule in place,
tllere are times ,vllen tllere are not enough officers to cO\Ter all sllifts.
Currently, at a rnll1llnll1TI tllere are dlIee officers on at all tllnes. Ho\ve'ver, if an officer is sick, on
'vacation, in court, or in training, it is increaslllgly difficult to get anotller officer to CO\Ter because tlle
officers are already required to put in a considerable amount of ov'ertline. It is critical to ha\le at least tlle
11lliul1.1uln coverage of tllree officers per shift in case of a lnajor incident so tllere are enougll officers to
respol1d to otller calls tllat occur at tlle salne Wne.
Chief Beallen llas identified several \vays to address tile staff sllortage III tlle sllort terlTl. 1. TIle use of
cOlnpensatory titne 11as been efuuinated and 'vacation wne requests are not being allo\ved unless sl1ift
cO\Ferage is in place. 2. Resel\ies l11ay be used to assist on some shifts to 11andle routine, lninor calls. 3.
TIle Captains al1d Chief \vill take sllifts as needed. 4. i\ contractual arrangelnent \vidl anotller la\v
enforcelnent agency l1.1ay be needed to pro\lide back-up cO\Terage for unexpected absences.
.i\ltllougll tllese \villllelp for a \vbile, dley are not long-term solutions. Based 011 tlle industry average of
1.5 officers per 1,000 in population, Elk River is about five officers sllort. TIle long-tefln solution is to
add all additional officer to co.ver tlle increasing demands for service.
The request for an additional officer is being mo'ved up froln the 2007 budget to llelp deal \Vitll tlle
current staff sllortage. ..c\.dditional staff requests in tlle 2007 budget otller tllan a police officer include an
entry-level laborer in tlle street department, increasing a part-titne recreation adtnifllstration coordinator
position to full time, and adding additional seasonal staff in tlle street depart1nent. If only one POSitiOl1
can be funded, I recoln1nend tllat it be a police officer.
s: \ Council\Lori\200Cl \police addl sraff.doc
TIle tllird candidate in tlle current recruiunent process to fill tlle existing 1:\\70 v'acancies is an experienced
officer \vllom Chief BeaIlen \vould like to Ilire. Getting an experienced officer \vill cost sliglldy lTIOre as
l1e is requesting a laterallTIo\Te; 110\Ve"Ver, tlle benefits of 11aving an experienced officer far out\veigll tlle
cost giv"en tlle deparrrnent's relatively ne\v staff. Hiring no\v \vhen a candidate is in place \vill elirninate
tlle need to go tlltougll tlle reclwting process tllereby sa\ring titne and 1noney'.
Financial Impact
Funding is av'ailable in tlle 2006 budget to cover tile additional cost of adding the officer duringJune or
July. .L~n additional $25,000 froln ISD 728 for tlle liaison program, Sa\Tings ftoln delaying tlle llliing of
replacelnent officers for a total of se.ven montlls, and pay savings resulting from retirelnents are a\railable
to co.v.er tlle costs of tllls additiol1al officer. Furtller, o\Tertime costs \vill be reduced by tlle addition of a
pattol officer, \vlllell \villIlelp offset tlle additional cost. Funding for tlle 2007 budget \~vill need to COlne
in a cOlnbination of \vays including savings in otller areas sucll as police departlnent o\lert:itl1e and tax
revenue grO\vtll resulting froln ne\v market v"alue.
Attachments
Action Requested
TIle COUI1Cil is asked to consider adding an additional experienced officer to tlle patrol division. If tlle
Council agrees \vitll tllls request, tlle nalne of tlle candidate and requested pay range \vill be provided at
tlle 1neeting.
Council Action
j\fotion bv
Second by _
\Tote
Follow Up
s: \ Council\Lori\200G \police addl staff.doc