Normally, I wait until Sunday to post a Weekly Update, but I wanted to share this image as a ‘taster’ of what you can find in every article. Whether you agree with my points of view or not, I think you’ll find they contain lots of useful information.
At our last City Council Study Session, we received a presentation from our acting police chief. There were several stats indicating that crime is (slightly) increased, that we pay a large amount of overtime, and that our police is ‘fully staffed’ by our own current definition and actually about the same as pre-pandemic. However, we were cautioned that the officer to resident ratio is very low–not just in Des Moines, but throughout Washington State.
So, given that emphasis on low officer to resident ratio, I found this one stat very interesting:
Response times for most calls for service are improving–currently averaging a little over three minutes for the most serious calls.
Wow. 3:13 to get to the scene at least half of the time? Given our complex geography that 1may be as good as it can get–without a jetpack.
Since public safety is the most serious task a city undertakes, I think it’s worth focusing on that number for a moment:
If an organisation reports out a low head count and best-in-class service? That’s usually not a cause for alarm. That’s a reason for shareholders to celebrate! The organisation is providing great service using limited resources–the definition of a highly productive system. Well done.
So for me, the question comes down to sustainability. Is this performance coming at a cost we’ll end up paying for later on? Are there signs of chronic employee dissatisfaction or stress? Are there indications of customer service complaints? In my 4.5 years on the Council, we’ve heard nothing on either front. In fact, we’re told that officers feel great support at the community level and that complaints about the police are almost non-existent.
In addition to selecting a new City Manager, and waiting for the new Police Chief to take office, the Council will also be looking at a new contract with the police at the end of this year.
For those reasons, among others, I would like to see us hold off on any new funding decisions until then. That way, all stakeholders—a new city manager, a new police chief, and the city council—can discuss staffing levels that maintain this excellent level of service and do a check in on the well-being of our officers–who are obviously doing a stellar job.
1It’s so good, we may want to get some clarification as to how that number is determined.