Paper Work Is Tying Up Police Unit, Study Finds

A state consultant has concluded that the Long Beach Police Department’s Crime Analysis Unit has become so overloaded with administrative tasks that it does not have enough time to provide police on the beat with workable plans to fight crime.

“The administrative tasks so overload staff that they have little time to support field operations and investigations with tactical crime analysis,” consultant Lynne Thayer, hired by the Office of Criminal Justice Planning to assess the unit, wrote in a June 27 report. “As a result,” the report continued, “the CAU has had a difficult time establishing credibility with the operational units within the department.”

David Dusenbury, Long Beach’s deputy chief of police and the unit’s project director, disputed the conclusions in the report. “That’s not true,” he said. “I think we’ve done lots of tactical crime analysis.”

Operates With State Grant

The unit began operating in Long Beach two years ago under the Career Criminal Apprehension Program with a state grant of $221,950 each year for three years. It uses computer technology to pinpoint high-crime areas, to compare methods used by suspects, to set priorities for police calls and to track career criminals.

Thayer reported that after the unit’s work for one month, she found that employees are burdened with doing too many reports for the city manager, the City Council and departmental administrators.

But Dusenbury said: “Even though these reports may appear to be administrative, they were used for tactical reasons.”

Acting Lt. Richard Wood, the unit’s project manager, said until more computer software is added and the kinks are worked out of the system, much of the work has to be done manually. About $55,000 in software is due to be added soon, he said.

The computer system “is not going to just start running a 100-yard-dash in nine seconds,” he said.

Thayer also concluded that employees sometimes are overburdened with menial tasks, such as drawing charts and graphs and coloring maps.

In responding, Dusenbury said, “Charts, maps and graphs can be very useful. It (information) stands right out. We need something that gives us the immediate picture.”

Thayer refused to elaborate on her report and Joan Chan, the chief deputy director of the state office, said that Thayer’s conclusions stand on their own.

Overall, however, the state office commended the department for getting the unit started.

‘They Met Our Needs’

“Since they met their objectives, they met our needs,” Chan said.

Chan would not compare the unit to others in the state. “Each jurisdiction is different, so there is no way to compare,” she said.

Dusenbury and Wood pointed to the good reviews Thayer gave the unit’s Crime Information Bulletins, which are distributed to patrol officers two or three times a week. The bulletins give information on crime problems, crime patterns, investigative leads and wanted persons. The unit has done 228 bulletins since it was formed, Wood said. He said that of 90 wanted suspects listed in the bulletins, 81 have been arrested.

Thayer also concluded that the staff, “though highly competent and dedicated, shows evidence of high stress and low morale.”

But Dusenbury said he does not think Thayer talked to a majority of the staff. The unit has four staff members and a secretary, and one position remains to be filled. Thayer would not comment.

“What I think we have here is some dissatisfaction by some people in the Crime Analysis Unit,” Dusenbury said.