A New Service Strategy

Police services are among the largest expenditures for governments, particularly at the local level. Nearly all local government spending on police goes toward operational costs, largely salaries and benefits. As a result, police staffing expenses comprise a substantial share of local government budgets. This makes police workforce planning—including determining how many officers a police agency needs and how to deploy them at the right times and places—critical for fiscal management. 

Yet, there is little evidence-based guidance on how police agencies can build, maintain, and optimize their workforces—guidance that’s needed as we confront a “new normal” in staffing levels, changes in recruitment and retention, and evolving community expectations. Absent evidence-based, data-informed approaches, police agencies may struggle to assess their staffing needs and rely on unproven “rules of thumb” or historical levels set under conditions that no longer apply. 

Police staffing studies can provide common ground for understanding the services a police agency must provide, how to deliver them most efficiently and effectively, the expectations of elected and appointed leaders, and how to align service levels with available resources. This article outlines what a best-practice workload-based staffing study entails, the data it requires, and how law enforcement agencies and government finance professionals can use its results.