UBCM 2008 COMMUNITY EXCELLENCE AWARDS
Vancouver Police Department Operational Review
The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) is a municipal police department governed by
the Vancouver Police Board under the authority of the British Columbia Police Act. The
Department is divided into four divisions (Operations, Operations Support, Investigation,
and Support Services) commanded by a Deputy Chief Constable reporting to the Chief
Constable.
In 2005, it became clear that the VPD was struggling to achieve its vision of becoming
“Canada’s leader in policing – providing safety for all”. The shortcomings were caused
primarily by a lack of business intelligence and resource gaps amplified by a growing
population and increasingly complex police work.
In January 2006, the VPD and City of Vancouver (COV) staff initiated a joint Operational
Review of the VPD. The VPD Operational Review was an ambitious long-term project
launched primarily to optimize the use of VPD resources, identify best law enforcement
practices and industry standards, and identify and quantify the resource requirements of
the VPD.
The Operational Review took more than two years to complete and encompassed four
major endeavours.

A Civilianization Study was conducted to assess each sworn position with the
objective of identifying opportunities for civilianization. As part of the analysis, an
innovative questionnaire was developed and administered for each position in
place at the VPD. The primary objective of the study was to assess every
position (other than patrol officer positions and clerical support positions) and
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determine using best practice criteria whether the position needed to be occupied
by a sworn officer or could be occupied by a specially-trained civilian. At the time
it was conducted, the Civilianization Study was believed to be the most
comprehensive civilianization study ever conducted in North America. Ultimately,
the Civilianization Study resulted in the conversion of 19 sworn positions into
civilian positions.

An Overtime Review was conducted to identify the main causes of overtime,
overtime drivers, and overtime triggers. The analysis included a review of the
literature on police overtime, a review of overtime usage reports from other police
agencies, and a detailed examination of the overtime data. Ultimately, the Project
Team was able to isolate the main overtime trends at the VPD, identify best
practices regarding overtime management and controls, and recommend
changes to enhance overtime management.

A Patrol Deployment Study was conducted to identify and correct inefficiencies in
the VPD patrol deployment model. The goal of the VPD Patrol Deployment Study
was to increase patrol performance, improve customer service, improve public
safety and reduce street disorder in the City of Vancouver. The VPD Patrol
Deployment Study consisted in an analysis of patrol deployment at the VPD and
provided a number of key recommendations designed to increase the
effectiveness and efficiency of patrol operations. Using historical patrol data,
cutting-edge theoretical models, information on best practices and relevant
qualitative information from the literature on policing, the VPD Patrol Deployment
Study showed how many patrol resources were deployed by geographic area,
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time of day and day of the week, what demands for service these patrol
resources were facing, and how patrol officers divide their time between calls for
service and proactive policing activities. Ultimately, the VPD Patrol Deployment
Study recommended a modification of the shifting and scheduling pattern of
patrol officers, a reallocation of existing police resources, the implementation of
innovative deployment ideas informed by best practices, and the hiring of
additional patrol officers. The VPD Patrol Deployment Study is believed to be one
of the most exhaustive studies of its kind and positioned the VPD at the leading
edge of police research in this area because:
o It considered many quantitative and qualitative, operational and
managerial issues that are rarely considered by other patrol studies.
o It relied on reliable empirical data that was compiled and analyzed
carefully before it was used to empirically assess patrol deployment.
o It combined proven quantitative models from the academic literature on
queuing theory, operations research and statistics.
o It incorporated valuable crime data that is rarely used by other models.
o It built upon recognized best practices from the field of law enforcement.
o It introduced an approach flexible enough to allow analysts to design
experiments, test theories, consider “what if” scenarios and study most
aspects of patrol operations.
o It introduced an approach to study patrol deployment that is more
systematic, scalable and flexible than the other commercial solutions
available on the market today.
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
An Investigation and Administrative Deployment Review was conducted to
document and examine the work conducted by all non-patrol units, including
investigative
units
and
administrative
units.
The
analysis
included
a
comprehensive review of the policing literature, face-to-face interviews with each
relevant stakeholder, a review of the individual business plans prepared by each
VPD organizational unit, an assessment of each unit’s mandate, and a detailed
examination of the available workload data. Ultimately, the Project Team was
able to document the work done by non-patrol units, link each unit’s mandate to
the VPD Strategic Plan, identify potential efficiency gains, determine major
equipment
needs,
establish
fleet
requirements,
and
identify
staffing
requirements. Among others, the Investigation and Administrative Deployment
Review recommended a partial reorganization of existing resources, changes to
the scheduling patterns of several investigative units, a detailed examination of
community policing activities, and an assessment of VPD secondments.
These studies were exhaustive examinations of all operational and administrative
processes within the VPD. For example, the Patrol Deployment Study, and the
Investigation and Administrative Deployment Review resulted in reports containing
1,300 and 1,000 pages respectively.
From its official launch in August 2005 to its conclusion in September 2007, the
Operational Review was the highest priority project underway in the Department, with
important operational and financial implications. The VPD’s commitment towards the
project was demonstrated early by the fact that three out of four Deputy Chief
Constables were sitting on the Operational Review Steering Committee and the
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Operational Review Working Group was comprised of a total of at least 10 VPD
members (an Inspector, the Director in charge of the VPD Financial Services Section,
the Organizational Planning Unit Sergeant, the Planning & Policy Advisor, and six highly
trained civilian analysts).
Under the framework of the Operational Review, the Project Team developed numerous
cutting-edge theoretical models, including many unique methods that had never been
seen in the field of organizational planning. The analysis was enhanced by extensive
historical patrol data, information on best practices from the field of law enforcement,
and relevant qualitative information from the literature on policing.
Among others, the Operational Review allowed the VPD to:

Identify potential efficiency gains.

Consolidate its strategic planning process.

Improve its performance monitoring system.

Implement best overtime management practices.

Identify staffing requirements based on observed workload data, overtime use,
service gaps, and established best practices.
Overall, the Operational Review contributed directly to the creation of 194 new sworn
positions and 95 new civilian positions. The VPD Patrol Deployment Study and the VPD
Investigative and Administrative Deployment Review alone led to an increase of 96 new
sworn positions and 22 new civilian positions. In addition, the performance monitoring
templates, best practices, and analytical methods developed by the Project Team have
generated, and will likely continue to generate, substantial efficiency gains across the
entire Department.
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