Operations of NPD to be analyzed by consulting firm

Four to five months after a council-hired consultant has finished monitoring the Newton Police Department’s operations and staffing levels, the city will know if the station is meeting the community’s needs.

The city council voted 6-0 May 6, to approve a $20,000 consulting agreement with BerryDunn, LLC. Studies like this is something the station has been trying to kickstart for years, Police Chief Rob Burdess said.

University organizations have partnered with the police station in the past to identify and analyze efficiency levels, but the department hasn’t been able to get the results it wanted. Burdess said those past studies acted more like “side jobs.”

Appointing an outside consulting firm will provide a more focused review.

City documents say BerryDunn, LLC, of Portland, Maine, provided a proposal that meets the needs of Newton and can provide data to help guide council’s decisions on staffing and resources for years to come.

“This study is, really, for the benefit of the council, the city administration and the police department ... in assessing our operations and finding efficiencies, making sure we are doing what we are supposed to be doing,” he said.

BerryDunn, LLC will analyze the workload of patrol and investigations, non-sworn staffing review, response times and efficiency, patrol zone layouts, personnel allocation, diversity, hiring, recruiting, training, clearance rates, technology use and an examination of the patrol work schedule.

Burdess said most progressive departments undergo this type of study “about every decade to ensure they’re in line with what they should be doing.” Feedback may help the police station save some money.

Since law enforcement agencies are so complex, the data to come out of this study can be “pretty huge,” particularly when it comes to maintaining industry standards. Up-to-date procedures in the department need to be met.

If the consulting firm discovers the police department is not meeting standards, recommendations can be provided to the chief and city administrators with liability protection coverages in place.

However, the Newton Police Department has reportedly made a number of changes to staffing and operations for the past five years to improve overall service to the community, including restructuring supervisory staff.

Non-sworn positions in the department have also been repurposed. Although Newton police has seen a “significant drop” in crime rate over the past 20 years, calls for service have increased by 37 percent during that same time period.

Overtime hours have steadily increased over 10 years due to heavier workloads and more community events, putting a strain on place operations and costing the city about $90,000 to $100,000 every year.

Officers will be heavily engaged in the analysis process. The city estimates the work will be completed within four to five months. Status reports will be distributed every month.

City documents say current staffing of the Newton Police Department “no longer meets the needs of a progressive and modern law enforcement organization.”

Councilman Randy Ervin took issue with that statement, especially after the city council approved the hiring of two additional police officer positions and the replacement of a civilian employee with an officer position for the FY21 budget.

"It seems to me like we're doing this kind of after the fact, rather than doing this and seeing what your need is and then putting two or three officers … on board," Ervin said. "Why would we do this now when we've already made those moves?"

Burdess said the information received from past consultants indicated the police department needs “to get back up to a certain level just to keep our head above water.” Those approved positions for FY21 meet those past recommendations.

This study, Burdess added, will allow staff to get over its current hump and determine where the department needs to be in five years and 10 years. It will also confirm what council did what it needed to do this budget year, he said.

“Where do we need to go from here?” Burdess asked. “Is there some scheduling tweaks? Is there some restructuring, more restructuring that needs to be done? Is there more capacity that we can do more things within the city that we’re not doing right now?”

Presently, Burdess said the department is unable to follow through with some requests from citizens because of staffing shortages. Community engagement is a prime example, which the police chief described as a “side gig.”

Building strong, trusting relationships with the community is “one of the pillars of policing,” Burdess said. Unfortunately, the Newton Police Department lacks staffing capacity to be anything other than reactive and call-driven.

The consulting firm’s analysis could point to a possible solution.

Since the budget accounted for the hiring a new IT tech position, councilwoman Evelyn George asked if the timing of that position would adversely affect the consulting firm’s data. Burdess believes it won’t, and is likely a positive thing.

“We’ll have somebody in-house that may be able to implement some of the technological needs in-house versus having us bring somebody in to do that, so there may be some cost savings just in doing that,” Burdess said.

The Newton Police Department is in a position where it is functional, the police chief added, but there are “definitely some technological needs that are holding us back to get to where we want to be big picture.” This could mean easy fixes.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com