Auditors to Apply Business Analysis to Police Department : Law enforcement: Surveys and meetings will help inspectors develop a plan for running the force<i> .</i>

The Long Beach Police Department wants to try a new approach to law enforcement: run the agency as a business and treat those it serves as customers.

To do that, the department, which has been rocked in recent years by allegations of racism, sexual harassment and slow response time, is about to put itself through intense analysis.

With the aid of a four-person team from the city auditor’s office, the department has set out to answer some probing questions: Do 911 dispatchers calmly take calls or are they more likely to reach for the hold button? Are officers polite? Do investigators follow up promptly? Do people have confidence in the department?

At the request of Chief William C. Ellis, the auditors will develop a strategic plan for the Police Department. It will examine how the often-controversial agency should be run.

“You have to look inwardly and ask a lot of questions--of your own people as well as your customers,” City Auditor Gary Burroughs said. The department should end up with a better understanding of what its goals are and who it serves. And it will have an action plan and a way to measure performance, he said.

Councilman Ray Grabinski, who once owned a deli, said the audit may show the police things that businesses learn quickly. It’s like cold pizza, he said. If a pizza delivery is going to be late, it is better to call a customer.

“It didn’t make the pizza get there any faster, but it helped the customer to know it would be late and why.”

To help the Police Department run more like a business, auditors Scott P. Bryant, Scott Ota, Mike Killebrew and Curtis Tani have begun interviewing police officers, riding along in patrol cars and poring over crime records.

The auditors will examine such issues as where officers are assigned, the number of street cops compared to desk workers, whether police training is adequate and whether the department is adapting to the city’s changing ethnic distribution.

They plan to conduct surveys of residents and employees, and will have more than a dozen community meetings. The first meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Gas Department, 2400 E. Spring St.

“We’re looking to hear what the community’s expectations are and what employees at all levels feel are the best strategies for the department,” Ellis said. “We need to look at where we’re going as an organization.”

City and police officials said the study was prompted, in part, by the recent proposal to abolish the Long Beach Police Department in favor of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Although Long Beach decided to keep its own force, questions lingered about the department’s effectiveness, and Robert Fronke, who recently retired as city auditor, suggested they develop a strategic plan.

Auditors hope to unveil the plan by February or March and make follow-up reports for several years.

Using an outside department to review law enforcement adds credibility to the plan, officials said.

“I’m pleased to hear that it’s happening,” said Councilman Doug Drummond, who retired from the Police Department after 29 years. “We had strongly encouraged the department to come up with a plan for the future.”

Councilman Alan Lowenthal, who endorses community-based policing, said the idea is refreshing. “Attitudes have to be changed, and different ways of relating to the community need to be developed. It’s great that they will go through a self-examination. That’s healthy.”

Lowenthal said such introspection is new to Long Beach police because, until now, the department has been too busy defending itself.

“It was always in turmoil,” he said. “It never had time to look within itself.”

Councilman Les Robbins, a sergeant in the Sheriff’s Department, was skeptical.

“I think this is all fluff. This is about putting forth the image that we’re doing everything different and everything will change,” said Robbins, one of the city’s staunchest supporters of the defunct proposal to switch to the Sheriff’s Department.

Robbins, whose eastside district will be patrolled by sheriff’s deputies until next summer, said the city has yet to adopt all the recommendations listed in a consultant’s report issued three years ago. The study by Ralph Andersen & Associates of Sacramento criticized the department’s staffing policies, including scheduling officers for four 10-hour days a week. The city and the police union have since agreed to change the schedules of any new officers to five eight-hour days a week.

Paul Chastain, president of the Police Officers Assn., said he knew little about the strategic plan but welcomed the review.

“I think they’ll do a fair and accurate study,” he said.

Burroughs, the city auditor, said that by developing a strategic plan, the city will leave little to chance. By the time the plan is completed, Burroughs said, he will be able to tell Chief Ellis: “Here’s what your customers are saying. Here’s what your employees are saying. Here is what your numbers are saying. And here is what our impressions are.”