Our Mission: To provide a safe community where people can live, work, and thrive.
This year has been very productive for the Planning & Research Section. Among the accomplishments is the completion of two projects that were recommended by a recently commissioned master plan study. This study, facilitated by Planning and Research, outlined a number of facility improvements necessary to carry the Police Department through the City’s build-out. The first project entailed improvements to the Criminal Investigations Bureau interview rooms and control room at the Main Station. The rooms were renovated and recording equipment upgraded. The interview rooms were increased in size, have new acoustical walls, furniture and recording cameras. Video monitoring screens are located outside of each room in addition to the new control room which has been doubled in size and outfitted with the latest technology. The quality of sound and video recordings has greatly increased.
The second of these master plan projects, titled the Hamilton Facility Renovation, was completed in late 2016. This project converted a former fire station into a police facility. The exterior improvements added a site wall, new gates, and on-site parking. Interior improvements included the demolition of old dorm rooms for use as a training room, offices, and locker room. The fire turnout bay area was repurposed as a gun cleaning area.
In furtherance of the master plan, the design phase of the Chandler Public Safety Training Center has been completed. This joint Police and Fire, Health, and Medical Departments project will include an auditorium, training classrooms, offices, and a defensive tactics training room.
This year, Planning & Research staff created and conducted two budget training classes for Department members. The classes were designed to develop personnel in their budgeting knowledge and skills. Both classes were very well attended and covered the areas of the budget process, building budget requests, preparing estimated expenditures, as well as budget monitoring skills.
The Crime Analysis and Research Unit successfully led a collaborative effort to develop the Real-time Electronic Area Canvassing Tool (REACT). REACT creates a map for incident command that updates in real-time as canvassing officers make contact with addresses in an assigned area and update the map using their smart devices. Existing technology was utilized at little to no cost to the City. The tool will be helpful to other City Departments as well. This tool was also presented by CARU staff at the 2016 International Association of Crime Analysts Annual Training Conference held in Louisville, Kentucky for its innovation and was well received.
This year, Planning and Research conducted a number of studies to determine staffing needs and aid with budget requests. Further, as a result of a staffing efficiency study and use of predictive staffing analysis, a significant schedule change was recommended for Patrol officers. The recommendations will be implemented in early 2017.
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