Civilianization (Details)

Name of province/ territory:

Quebec

City/ Region:

Saint-Eustache

Description of Initiative:

Identify some positions held by police officers and assess the possibility of replacing them with civilian staff.

The following positions have been converted to civilian positions:

  • Police Service Reception Clerk (desk, release of seized vehicles, information to citizens, payment of various fees);
  • Administration Services Manager: previously held by a police officer; a civilian resource was hired to handle the administrative functions in support of police operations; and
  • Evidence Room Clerk: work previously performed by police; a civilian is responsible for storing, labelling and managing seized and found objects. The police officer is only involved in the first part of the process.

Initiative Key Objectives:

Reduced costs, efficiency

Section Responsible for Implementation:

Management

Key Contact:

Thierry Vallières
tvallieres@ville.saint-eustache.qc.ca

Groups/ Agencies/ Key Partners Involved:

  • N/A

Level of Involvement (consultative - information sharing) and/or cooperative - direct involvement):

N/A

Amount of Time Initiative has been in Place:

3 years for the reception clerk, 8 years for the civilian manager, 5 years for the evidence room clerk

Reason for Undertaking the Initiative:

This initiative relates to an analysis regarding the sound management of public assets. We are currently analyzing the feasibility of adding a civilian resource to work in crime prevention and criminal information analysis.

Resources Required to Implement this Initiative:

Creation of new positions following a needs analysis.

We did not have any implementation costs. The thought behind this “civilianization” of certain positions was to focus police resources on activities requiring police expertise.

Method of Implementation:

N/A

Key Outcomes of the Initiative:

The initiative has enabled us to dedicate more police resources to activities that relate to their duties: patrol or investigations.

Evidence room clerk:

A lot of police time was spent managing evidence, without us being satisfied with the results. Our project was therefore to assign a part-time civilian resource to manage the evidence.

The savings achieved are difficult to measure. However, the comparison for this “civilianization” is as follows: first-class constable: $872; evidence room clerk: $4.

Reception clerk:

The Saint-Eustache Police Service reception desk is set up in a secure manner, with a welcome area, protective glass, cameras, exit door. We designated a civilian resource for reception. She can respond to approximately 80% of citizen needs (payment of fees, towing fees, requests for information). As soon as police expertise is required, she calls dispatch, who assigns a police officer. Plus, this civilian can perform more duties relating to support, computer work, access to information, clerical, etc.

Evaluation of the civilianization is as follows: first-class constable: $81,172 / reception clerk: $34,129.

Availability of a Communication Strategy:

No

Key Messages used to Publicize the Initiative:

N/A

Forms of Evaluation by which the Initiative will be Assessed:

  • qualitative
  • quantitative

Evaluation Completed or Community Feedback Received:

Yes

Summary of the Outcomes:

The initiative has enabled the dedication of more police resources to activities that relate to their duties: patrol or investigations.

Summary of the Performance Measure Data Collected:

N/A

Economics of Policing Pillars:

Further Details:

N/A

Additional Comments or Suggestions:

N/A

Record Entry Date:

2013-08-01

Date modified: