Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutSubmittal-Memo-Police Dept. Staffing Levels 03-12-13CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA, INTER -OFFICE MEMORANDUM. TO Johnny Martinez, P.E. March 12, 2013 City Manager Man 1 Orosa FROM : Chief of Police DATE : FILE : Miami Police Department, Staffing Levels SUBJECT : REFERENCES: ENCLOSURES: During the February 28, 2013. City Commission meeting Chairman Marc. D. Sarnoff requested that my Office build upon our existing research and inform the Commission about the Miami Police Department's staffing level in terms of our sworn officers per 1,000 inhabitants and visitors. Chairman Samoff alsorequested that we provide a recommendation as .to how many swom members the Miami Police Department: should employ: I present the following report for your review. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY With a. residential population of 406,385, the City of Miami is the 44t'-largest municipality in the United States. In comparing the City of Miami with cities of residential populations between 300,000 and 750,000 (the 62nd and 18th largest cities in the United States, respectively), the City of Miami's Police. Department is understaffed in several respects: its ratio of sworn officers per 1,000 inhabitants; its ratio of sworn officers per 1,000 inhabitants, workers, and visitors; and its staffing level with regards to its violent crime (murder, rape,robbery, and aggravated assault) rate. It is my recommendation that as a short-term goal, the City of Miami Police Department's sworn budgeted strength ,grow to 1,244 (i.e., 100 swom members above our current budgeted strength) in order to better address violent crime in the City. As an intermediate- to long-term goal, I recommend that the Miami Police. Department's sworri.budgeted strength grow to 1,360.. ANALYSIS OF MIAMI POLICE DEPARTMENT STAFFINGLEVEIS The Miami Police Department currently employs 1,067 swornofficers, a rate equal to 2.6 sworn. Officers per 1,000 inhabitants: You may recall that using the methodology in the RAND Corporation's study, .Hidden in Plain Sight: What Cost -of -Crime Research Can Tell Us About Investing in Police (2010), we could reasonably forecast a 2.8 percent Part I Crime decline in Miami if we were to increase the Police Department's sworn strength by 100 officers (from 1,144 to 1,244). When deciding how to adequately staff a police department, ratios of sworn personnel per 1,000 inhabitants only tell ;a partial story. In The Effect of Police onCrime: New Evidence from US. Cities, 1960-2010 (2011), University of California — Berkeley researchers Aaron Chalfin and Justin McCrary point out that American police departments with populations over 100;000 typically employ 1 sworn officer for every 4 violent crimes taking place annually within the city. c.. %bin l -Memo- b� - Pol f : Sfa` ii• 3-QO5Z +jai e �o s �Pl i3 9 �, EL,•1 �_ D5.2- L. 03 -26 -15 Johnny Martinez; P.E. Page City Manager 2 Chalfin and McCrary also point out thaCthe abovementioned police departments typically employ 1 sworn officer for every 24 property Crimes taking place annually within the. city. As it pertains -to our ability to handle property crimes, the Miami Police Department is adequately staffed, but we are significantly understaffed in terms of our ability to properly address violent crime (See "Findings" and "Recommendation" for more information.). According to Chalfin and McCrary's methodology, violentcrime: is reduced by.4 percent, -and property -chine, by 2 percent for-eVery10 percent increase (and vice versa) in a police deparbrient's sworn force. The City of Miami is the 44th-largest City in the. United States, in terms of residential population. Daytime population, a„figure which only takes into consideration the number of persons who live and work within the city limits, does not take into consideration visitors and tourists. According to Forbes.com,1 Miami is the fifth most -visited metropolitan area in the United States, attracting.38.-1 Million visitors per year. Aside from our year-round attractions, professional sporting events, and nightlife, the city:of Miami attracts massive crowds for events such as the Calle Ocho Festival and the Ultra Music Festival, which draw close to a million persons and 170,000 persons, respectively. While such events and attractions are staffed by "off -duty" police officers, the officers only work the event itself; leaving the Miami Police Departrnent's on -duty resources to provide police services to. those who visit our City as they cominute to and from the: event, stay in hotels within our City limits, and enjoyother attractions within the City lirnits. Taking the abovementioned data into consideration, I now' proVide the following as a resp�nseto Chairman Samoff.s inquiry as to the -number of sworn officers per 1,000 residents, workers, and visitors in the 'city of Mianu and .a recommendation asto the number of sworn officers I believe the city of Miami should employ METHODOLOGY In order to compare the. City ofMiami Police Department's staffing needs with that of its peers, i.e., police departments serving large Americancities with residential populations between 300,000 and 750,000 (the 62nd and 18" largest cities in the United States, respectively), we analyzed the following: • Daytime popplation•(resi denti al population, minus residents, workingoutSi de The Ci pluS.noncity residents workingWithin the dityliinits)„ • Violent crimes reported -in 2011., • Staffing•ratios pf.sworn.personnel.per-1,,000 inhabitants, • Staffing ratios of swompersonnel per 1,000 ;in terms of daytime population, • Staffing ratios of sworn personnel per 1,000 in terms of daytime population, plus 15 percept. and plus 30 percent. (in order -to account for major events and the. visitors those .events attract), '• The percent difference between -the cities' residential and daytime populations, and •Sworn officers employed 'by each agency the :variance between the actual number of officers employed and "adequate" sworn strength, as: defined by. the. 1 'officer for 'every 4 Violent crimes. Submitted into the public record in connecti9n wth itemsD5,2on Ot 3 Todd B. Hannon City Clerk ;JohnnyMartinez, P.E. Page [ 3 City.Manager We also compared the City of Miami with the police. departments of the 10 largest cities in the United States, using the: same methodology mentioned above. Also, please note the following: • The cities of Honolulu (HI), Las Vegas (NV), and Louisville (KY) were excluded from the City of Miami's peer group because the cities are policed by large metropolitan police forces, whose jurisdiction spans several cities. ®. The City of Chicago (IL) was excluded fromthe comparison with the 10 largest cities in the United States, since their violent crime reporting is not in compliance with federal standards. The City of Jacksonville (FL), the 11a`-largest .city in the United States was included in the "top ten." FIND NGS. Daytime Population and Visitors to the City Within ourpeer group of 42 cities, Miami's daytime population is 37.3 percent larger than our •residential population (557,815, versus 406,385).. Only five other cities within" the peer. ,group experience a larger increase from their residential to daytime populations (Washington, D.C., 7.1.8 percent; Atlanta, GA, 62.4 percent, Tampa, FL, 47.5 percent; Pittsburgh,. PA, 41.3 percent; and Boston; MA, 41.1 percent). Both Miami and Tampa employ 1.9 sworn officers per 1;000 persons (daytime population). The other aforementioned cities employ between 2 and 3.6 swornofficers per 1,000 persons (daytime population). Given Miami's status as a "most visited" city and the major events that we host (asmentioned earlier); it: would .not be unreasonable to assume that at any :given time, we could accommodate 83,000. to 166,000 visitors (increases beyond our daytime populations of 15 percent and 30 percent, respectively). Under such ;conditions; 'the Miami Police Department's sworn force per 1,000 inhabitants, workers; and visitors is reduced to 1.7 and 1.5, respectively. In comparing Miami to the 10 largest cities 'in. the United States, the percentage differential between Miami's residential and :daytime populations of 37.3 percent is, by far, higher than the percentage differential: for the 10 largest cities: Adequately Addressing Violent Crime As mentioned above, Chalfin and McCrary's research demonstrates that American cities with populations over 100,000 typically employ 1 sworn officer for every 4 violent.criines taking place per annum within their respectivecity limits: It is in this regard that the Miami. Police Department is significantly understaffed. With 4,849 violent crimes .reported in Miami in 2011,. the .Miami Police ;Department is understaffed by 145 sworn officers, accordingto Chalfin and `McCrary's measure: The Miami Police Department would need to employ 1,212 sworn members in order to meet the 4:1 ratio of violent crimes to sworn officers. We currently employ 1 sworn member per 4.54 violent. crimes. In relation to our peer. group, the Miami Police Department is in the bottom quartile. If it is our goal to be in the top 50th percentile of our peer group, the Miami. Police Department would haveemploy 1,360 sworn. officers. Submitted into the public record in connection imith items,2 on 0/2q13 Todd B. Hannon City Clerk Johnny Martinez, P.E. City Manager. Page 14 Among the 10 largest cities in the United States; ,each eniploys a number of swornofficers that exceeds the 4:1 ratio of violent crimes to sworn officers. The City of New York Police Department, for example, would have to employ 12,802 officers in order to meet the 4:1 ratio. Instead, they employ 34,542. Within our peer group of '42 cities, the City ofMiami's violent crime rate is the 9thh1ghest, with 1,193 violent crimes per 400,000 inhabitants, and the 17th-highest among cities with residential populations over 100,000. Among the 10 largest cities in the United States, only Philadelphia's violent crime rate per 100,000 inhabitants exceeds.Miami's. RECOMMENDATION As a short -teem goal, I recommend that the City of Miami increase the Police Department's budgeted, sworn force from 1,144 to 1;244. As I stated in my December 20, 2012 memorandum, the increase of 10Q swornmembers would come at a cost of $7.3 million in salary and fringe benefits only. An increase of 100 sworn members would make the Miami Police Department the first city in Florida with a residential populatiOn over 100,000 to staffits police department with over 3 officers per 1,000 inhabitants. It would also bring Miami's violent crime to sworn officer ratio to 3'.9:1, and according to: the RAND Corporation's methodology, lead to a, 2,8 percent decline in Part 1 Crimes. As an intermediate- tO long-term. goal, I recommend that City of Miami increase the Police Department's budgeted sworn force to 1,360, which represents an increase of 216 to our current budgeted sworn force: Such an increase would come at a cost of $15.8 million in salary and fringe benefits only. An 'increase to 1,360 sworn officers would place Miami.in the top 50th percentile in terms of violent 'crime staffing within our peer group. MO:ara pc: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Commission Submitted into the public record in connecti9n 11: h items P5.2 on 03123(13 Todd B. Hannon City Clerk Johnny Martinez, P.E. Page City Manager REFERENCES Chalfin, A. & McCrary, J. (2011). TheEffect of Police on Crime: New Evidence om U.S. Cities, 1966-20.08. Retrieved from liftp://www.escholarship.org/uchtern/9pc0r9hg Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2010. Crime.in the United States [Data file]. Retrieved from http://www.fbi.gov/abOut-uS/cjiS/Ucr/crime-in-the-u.201 1 /crime-in-the-u.s.-201 1 Forbes,corn. (2010). AMeriba's Most -Visited. eities. Retrieved from littp://www.forbes.com/ 201 0/04/2 8/tourism-new-york-lifest yl e-travel-las-vegas-dities_slide_7.html RAND Corporation. (2010). Cost of Crime Calculator [Data file]. RetrieVed from http://www.rand.org/jie/centers/quality-policin cost-of-crime.html RAND Corporation. (2010). Hidden in Plain Sight: What Cost -of -Crime Research Can Tell Us About Investing in Police: Santa Monica, CA: Heaton, Paul. United States Census Bureau. (2013). Daytime Population [Data file]. Retrieved from http://Www.census.gov/hheWconunuting/data/daytimepop,html Submitted into the public record in connection with items E)52 on Olni3 Todd B. Hannon City Clerk 5