Anaheim Police Department

Anaheim Police Department

[InTime] is definitely the wave of the future and that's where police agencies need to be.

Ryan TOzzie

Detective Sergeant, Anaheim Police Department

Overview of Anaheim Police Department

The Anaheim Police Department is the largest city police department in Orange County, California. It is made up of 600 employees including 400 sworn personnel.  

The Anaheim Police Department began using InTime through the Integrated Law & Justice Agency of Orange County (ILJAOC) group, which includes all of Orange County’s police departments, in 2006. During this period, InTime was used for managing court and subpoenas and scheduling the uniformed and daily operational personnel which includes patrol, some of the traffic bureau, and the communication center.  

Beginning in 2019, with the help of Detective Sergeant and InTime coordinator, Ryan Tozzie, Anaheim PD decided to expand the use of InTime to all employees.  

The Anaheim Police Department’s Past Challenges 

Prior to using InTime, the Anaheim Police Department relied on Excel spreadsheets and Word documents to manage their scheduling, overtime, special events, and court and subpoenas. This caused some challenges including a lack of visibility into officer fatigue, and inefficiencies in their court and subpoena and event management process.  

Sgt. Tozzie explains how InTime addressed these issues, and why they decided to roll InTime out to all employees.  

LACK OF VISIBILITY INTO ALL HOURS WORKED EXPOSED ANAHEIM PD TO RISK

To monitor officer fatigue, Anaheim PD adhered to a 16-hour rule where officers can work a maximum of 16 hours a day. Using a manual tool like Excel hindered oversight into all hours worked leading to difficulties in following this rule. If unresolved, this could open Anaheim PD to a myriad of officer fatigue risks and consequences.  

“We don’t want our employees working 20 hours a day, it’s not healthy or safe in this line of work.”  – Sgt. Tozzie

COURT & SUBPOENA PROCESS WAS INEFFICIENT AND LED TO UNNECESSARY OT

Prior to InTime, Anaheim PD used a paper-based process for their court and subpoena management. Due to this manual process, there were many chances for lost or misplaced subpoenas or officers not receiving them in a timely manner. This inefficient process resulted in unnecessary OT and wasted staff’s time due to untimely communication of court call-offs.  

“Officers would come back to work after 4 days off to a stack of mail…paperwork would get lost, and it’s an inefficient process for court.”  – Sgt. Tozzie 

SCHEDULING STAFFING FOR EVENTS WASTED DAYS OF PERSONNEL RESOURCES

The City of Anaheim had multiple events occurring every day of the year. Venues such as the Anaheim Stadium and the Convention Center required significant staffing. Before InTime, Anaheim PD relied on a spreadsheet that would be manually checked when there was an event. In the case that an officer requested leave, that officer would have to send a memo and hoped that it was delivered in time before they were scheduled for an events shift. This inefficient communication and visibility led to incorrect scheduling, which wasted days of time. 

“If an officer was on vacation for a weekend and they cannot be scheduled for an event, they would have to send in a memo via email to a secretary and three other people and hope the spreadsheet was updated a timely manner.” – Sgt. Tozzie 

Present Day Improvements

After experiencing significant improvements in their scheduling and court and subpoena management since their initial use of InTime in 2006, Anaheim PD decided to roll it out to all employees. A huge catalyst for this decision was the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. During this time, it was imperative that the work schedule was accurate to reflect sick leaves, who was working and where. 

After rolling it out to all employees and making the most of InTime capabilities, Anaheim PD’s challenges above were addressed, enabling them to run their agency at its best.  

“COVID was truly the catalyst since we need to keep track of all our employees, we have to do alternative work schedules, who’s sick and how often and [InTime] did all that without a problem.”  – Sgt. Tozzie 

INTIME’S INTELLIGENT RULE-BASED SYSTEM PROTECTED ANAHEIM PD FROM RISK

Through InTime, Anaheim PD was able to set up their 16-hour fatigue rule into the system which proactively prevented the risk of officer fatigue.  

“If an officer was already working a 10-hour day in their regular shift and we wanted to schedule them for an eight-hour job, it won’t recommend them for that assignment. It will only recommend those that are within that fatigue rule and our policy.”  – Sgt. Tozzie

AUTOMATED COURT & SUBPOENA MANAGEMENT SAVED OT DOLLARS AND PERSONNEL RESOURCES

Now with InTime, staff are notified through their smartphone, web, and email when they have a subpoena. Staff are notified even on their day off. Subpoena notifications are programmed so they are delivered twice a day, ensuring that staff are notified in a timely manner. Once the subpoena notification is confirmed by the officer, the schedule automatically updates to reflect this change. And the same applies for court call-offs.  

“Now, it’s really easy to manage and track. They automatically drop into your work schedule in InTime. Officers can click into it and see what court they’re going to, what time it starts and ends, and details about the case.”  – Sgt. Tozzie 

STREAMLINED EVENT MANAGEMENT ELIMINATED SCHEDULING AND COMMUNICATION FRUSTRATIONS

With visibility into all hours worked, scheduling events is done right the first time. Officers can submit a leave request through their phone or web, have it approved in real-time, and the schedule is automatically updated. This eliminated back-and-forth communication, leading to a much more efficient event scheduling process. Officers can also see the details of the event right in the schedule ensuring thorough communication. In addition, staff have accessibility into all posted assignments and can simply sign up through the web or smartphone.  

“We saved days of work because it’s quickly and easily able to give us names qualified to work that event and with a mouse click, they’re scheduled, they receive a notification, and they show up to that event.”  – Sgt. Tozzie 

 

We're able to utilize our personnel a lot more efficiently. It's been valuable for the organization and for the community by having them out in the field rather than sitting behind a desk doing spreadsheets.

RYAN TOZZIE

Detective Sergeant, Anaheim Police Department

Curious to know how InTime
works for your agency?