Optimizing Patrol Operations

The IACP was commissioned to complete a feasibility study evaluating the lines of business for the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO), a full-service law enforcement agency, by the county government. The study identified a high degree of professional police service delivery and community satisfaction, despite staffing shortages. The study included a baseline workload assessment to quantify resource allocation (staffing) across all lines of business. In order to reduce the workload strain on existing staff and project future staffing needs, one of the final recommendations was for the LCSO to complete a temporal analysis of the police service delivery needs in patrol and to add geographic accountability across the patrol shifts. The LCSO adopted new technology to leverage a wealth of data, much of which it was already collecting, but had difficulty consuming in a meaning manner. The addition of an enhanced data integrator tool helped to develop a more detailed understanding of the existing workload. This refined process addresses obligated patrol time at the shift, time of day, and day of week level enabling the LCSO to more accurately forecast and adjust staffing needs.