A Shift in Thinking on LAPD Workweek

A city consultant on Friday proposed an alternative to Mayor James K. Hahn’s compressed work schedule for police, and said any change in deployment will cost the city more money and require more officers than are now on the streets.

George Sullivan, hired by the City Council to study Hahn’s proposal, recommended eliminating the eight-hour shift that most officers would work under the mayor’s plan. He proposed that all officers work either three 12-hour days or four 10-hour days.

Hahn’s plan called for a slight majority of officers at some stations to continue working eight-hour days alongside officers on longer shifts. But Sullivan concluded that it would be more difficult to cover all shifts with many officers working just eight hours.

Hahn said he supports Sullivan’s plan and the Police Commission on Friday gave it tentative approval. Before the proposal can become final, the department must develop an implementation plan and the city must negotiate changes with the union. City Council approval also is required.

The mayor noted that the Police Department does not have enough officers to meet the LAPD standard of responding to emergency calls in an average of seven minutes, while also allowing officers to spend 40% of their time on proactive patrolling and problem solving.

The citywide average response time is about eight minutes. LAPD Cmdr. Dan Koenig said the department needs another 250 officers to meet the standards under the current work schedule.

By having officers work fewer days, the compressed work schedule exacerbates the staffing shortage so that yet another 62 officers, for a total of 312 more, would be needed to meet the department’s standards, the consultant found.

Ron Deaton, the City Council’s top analyst, estimated that those 62 officers would cost the city $6.2 million more annually.

Hahn said he believes a compressed work schedule eventually will solve the department’s staffing problems because it will improve morale and reduce attrition. The schedule will also make it easier to hire the officers needed to meet LAPD standards.

“They are not meeting the 7-40 guidelines now,” Hahn said. “That’s why I want to put in a flexible work schedule so we can end that attrition.”

Commission President Rick Caruso said the plan as presented by Sullivan is 95% complete and he is confident the department will be able to work out details in time for it to be implemented in two divisions by Nov. 20. The work schedule will be phased in at two of the 18 divisions each month.

“There needs to be some final tweaking done to this plan,” Caruso said.

But, he added, “I do feel very confident that public safety in the city is going to be enhanced by the implementation of this program.”

Hahn was pleased by the commission’s action.

“We are very open to suggestions from the Police Department and the consultant to see what we can do to create the kind of schedule that will enable us to be competitive with other departments,” Hahn said.

The LAPD had been losing about 50 officers a month to attrition and is more than 1,100 officers below its peak authorized strength.

Sullivan said the best schedule for meeting the workload with the least resources is for all officers to stay on eight-hour shifts. The next best schedule has officers working only 12- and 10-hour shifts, he said.

City officials said the shortfall in officers can be met in the short term by having officers work overtime and by shifting some officers from other duties.

The added costs could complicate getting the plan approved by the City Council, where Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas and others are skeptical about the need to change work schedules.

“It certainly raises additional questions,” Ridley-Thomas said of the consultant’s report.

However, a spokeswoman for Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski said the increased costs can be partially reduced if the city negotiates concessions from the police union on other issues.

Council President Alex Padilla said the goal of the council would be to keep cost increases to a minimum, but he added, “There very well may be support for a plan with additional costs if it is going to lead to a safer city and more effective Police Department.”

Other council members have voiced concern that officers working 12-hour shifts will suffer fatigue that will hurt their performance. That issue is going to be addressed in a study Sullivan will deliver to the council next month.