MPD to re-allocate 12 non-patrol positions to patrol in 2020

MADISON, Wis. — The Madison Police Department is making some staffing changes in order to increase the number of its patrol officers next year.

Madison Police Chief Mike Koval said he is eliminating 12 nonpatrol positions for 2020 in order to reallocate them to patrol.

“Staffing levels, more than anything, impact the ability of MPD to deliver services to the community,” Koval said in his blog Thursday.

These changes will result in reductions to community policing teams, the Community Outreach and Resource Education unit, the Gang unit and two neighborhood officer positions, Koval said.

These cuts also follow the elimination of seven nonpatrol positions in 2017.

The city of Madison contracted Etico Solutions Inc. to perform a patrol staffing study for the Madison

Police Department in 2007. The study is data-based and considered a “gold standard” for evaluating police staffing needs. Etico also provided the department with the means to repeat the analysis, which Koval said the department has done nearly every year since.

The most recent analysis was just completed and based on 2018 data. Here’s a list of what Koval said the analysis found:

Reactive patrol workload increased by about 11% from 2017 to 2018.
MPD patrol officers are spending more than 40 minutes each hour (on average) on reactive patrol work.
A member of the community calling for police assistance has an almost 1 in 10chance that MPD patrol personnel are only able to respond to emergency/priority incidents.
MPD’s patrol function is far short (by 31 officers) of an appropriate staffing level.

You can reach the entire report here.

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