The long awaited JFlagg report

In it's 32 page long report, she has outlined all the problem/solution areas for FPD's management.
You can find the synopsis here: http://framingham.wickedlocal.com/news/20181207/update-report-calls-for-changing-culture-of-framingham-police-dept

A consultant hired to evaluate the Framingham Police Department submitted her report to the City on Monday, after a couple of extensions.

Jennifer Flagg wrote that “Factually, the Department is a major city police department – one of only 38 Departments in the state that have at least 75 sworn members on staff. To some extent, the Department, like the City still operates as an informal small town. While it is undergoing an evolution to operate and more importantly see itself philosophically as a city, there is a need for continuous evaluation and improvement.”

Framingham has more than 130 sworn police officers.

“Almost universally there is agreement that staffing levels are too low to achieve the mission of the Department, specifically in patrol. Inadequate staffing will have far-reaching consequences including Officer safety, inability to conduct proactive or community policing, and poor service to the community. For example, on the evening shift, which is also the busiest, there is regularly 6 or 7 Officers on patrol in the City,” wrote Flagg.

“Officers report that the Commanding Officer will often discourage them from making arrests as it will reduce the number of Officers available to answer calls or for back up. Officers also recognize that they take staffing levels in account when making decisions about how to handle a call. An arrest essentially takes an Officer off the road for a significant amount of time and when staffing levels are low to begin with, there may be decisions made not to arrest that is not entirely appropriate. Also as an example, most calls for domestic disturbances require two Officers, which leaves the City significantly short staffed for basic 911 response during the evening shift, not even considering one additional major incident during that time period,” wrote the consultant.

“Currently, the Department works on a 5 and 3 schedule (5 days on, 3 days off) and has 3 patrol shifts: days 8:00 am – 4:00 pm, evenings 4:00 pm – 12:00 am, midnight's 12:00 am – 8:00 am. Only one other Department in Massachusetts works on this shift system, with most other Departments working a 4 and 2 schedule. There is a high likelihood that the 5/3 schedule is a significant contributing factor to staffing problems,” wrote Flagg in her 33-page report, which is expected to be published on the city’s website and released to the public today.

 “Almost universally, Supervisors and Officers report that the staffing levels in patrol are significantly low, especially during busy times of the day and week. On evenings and midnight's, there are either 6 or 7 Officers on patrol in the entire city. Concerns about safety, quality of the response and absence of proactive or community policing are potential negative consequences of inappropriate levels of staffing per shift,” wrote the consultant.

“Virtually every evening and midnight shift, Officers report that individuals are “forced,” meaning directed to work either a double or often a triple shift due to staffing needs. Junior Officers (less than 3 years) are consistently forced, working 16+ hour shifts several times a week,” wrote the consultant.

“A possible remedy, short of addressing overall staffing levels is a change to the practice of using strict seniority as the basis for forces. Officers acknowledge that
working excessive amounts of overtime is both an Officer safety issue and a risk to the quality of service delivery that Officers want to provide to the community. Officers report this issue has been persistent for years without being addressed,” wrote the consultant

“The profound implication for Officers subjected to the force is that it feels personal and it is a real-life representation of what they perceive to be a lack of regard from Leadership about their well-being. 1It feels like you’re in survival mode when you’ve been answering calls for 20 hours. It’s not fair to us and it’s not fair to the person who called 911′,” wrote the consultant.

“Officers report that historically specialty assignments such as the School Resource Officer or Drug Unit have been made based on unknown criteria and with the appearance of favoritism or reprimand, wrote the consultant. “At times there has been some type of process but Officers do not have confidence it is authentic. Officers are unsure what the criteria are for getting a specialty assignment and over the past 10 – 15 years the selection process was perceived to be based on friendships and personalities instead of qualifications. Further, there is a current division in the Department over what role seniority should play in the selection
process. Chief Trask has already taken steps to communicate with the Department about criteria and process moving forward.”

The consultant also wrote that “city officials and council members should understand that it is virtually impossible to conduct ongoing proactive or community policing assignments with inadequate staffing levels. Roles and responsibilities on the shift should be analyzed. For example, clearly define the division of responsibility and revisit the necessity to have two Lieutenants and one Sergeant on each shift. The role of the Desk Sergeant and the responsibilities assigned to
that position, along with other Supervisory roles in the Patrol division should be reviewed and revised where appropriate.”

The consultant recommended “a committee should be formed to analyze current staff levels and measure that against articulated needs. Factors for analysis could include:
• 911 call response time,
• call stacking,
• mutual aid – the number of requests for and type,
• fluctuation in amounts of calls for service based on day of week and time of day,
• non-911 patrol generated activity such as walking beats downtown,
• impact of vacation time and “time owed” on forces,
• impact of a 5/3 schedule vs. 4/2,
• need for SWAT and street crimes units, and
• the impact of existing contract language on staffing.

“The goal of a staffing level evaluation should also seek to achieve other important goals such as Officer safety, proactive policing and community relationships. Efforts should be made to educate city officials about the importance of accounting for these initiatives when considering budgeting or staffing. City officials should understand that demands made on one area have an impact somewhere else in the organization,” wrote the consultant. “The frequency, causes, impact, and consequences of forces should be investigated as part of this process. Effort should be made to include the opinion of those affected by consistent forces of overtime.
The City should take undocumented populations, traffic, residential and commercial growth into consideration when budgeting for the Police Department. While an up to date census is not currently available, the city does have tools available to make reasonable estimates of growth such as building permits for apartment buildings and commercial expansion.”