The Challenge in Loudoun County

Loudoun County, VA is a rapidly growing community located in the suburbs of DC. Residents in the Eastern part of the county enjoy a suburban environment with larger communities, while those in the Western region live in a rural setting of small incorporated towns, some of which employ their own police forces.  Providing public safety services for such a large, geographically diverse area was a significant challenge.  The county was spending increasing amounts of money on overtime expenditures for overtime pay and needed guidance on how to most efficiently deploy their workforce without compromising service levels.  Loudoun County contacted ICMA Center for Public Safety Management to analyze their staffing needs and create a strategy to manage service levels.

Charting a Solution

ICMA Center for Public Safety Management conducted a study to review operations and analyze staffing needs based on workload and service-level expectations, as well as geographic demands.  The county wanted to create a staffing schedule that would meet the needs of the community without unnecessary expenditures for overtime pay. They asked ICMA Center for Public Safety Management to review workloads and determine when additional staffing was necessary and when providing overtime pay was the more cost-effective solution.

The Findings and Recommendations of ICMA’s Study

ICMA Center for Public Safety Management worked closely with the sheriff’s staff and the fire staff to understand what their workload really was, and create a graphic that would illustrate their workload in comparison to their current staffing and scheduling plans. In doing so, they discovered that the current deployment and staffing procedures were not done in the most effective way.  ICMA Center for Public Safety Management provided Loudoun County with alternative staffing and scheduling models that were in better alignment with their service workloads.

Loudoun County was utilizing a police schedule that had unnecessary overlaps in scheduling that resulted in more officers then necessary being on duty. At the same time, there were times when there were not enough officers on duty to manage the service calls received. By adjusting the staffing schedules, ICMA Center for Public Safety Management was able to help Loudoun County improve service to the community without increasing the number of officers on duty.  

ICMA Center for Public Safety Management also discovered, in the course of their evaluation, that the detention facilities required additional personnel to reduce their costs and operate more effectively. The detention facility was relying heavily on overtime for staff. With ICMA’s recommendation, the facility was able to demonstrate that additional personnel were necessary to reduce costs.

About ICMA Center for Public Safety Management Services

ICMA Center for Public Safety Management Services helps create excellence in local governance through the provision of consulting services in public safety.  

Contact Leonard Matarese at lmatarese@icma.org or call 716-969-1360  to schedule an appointment.