San Luis Obispo Police Department

Overview of San Luis Obispo Police Department

San Luis Obispo Police Department (SLO PD) is comprised of 61 sworn staff between two divisions: the operations bureau and the administrative services bureau. The Operations Bureau serves three services: Patrol Services, Traffic Safety Unit, and Neighborhood Outreach. The Administrative Services Bureau includes an Administrative Services Division, Investigative Division, Communications Division, Records Unit, and Department Chaplains.

San Luis Obispo Police Department Past Challenges

Prior to InTime, SLO PD was using an excel spreadsheet for scheduling. This labor-intensive process led to a myriad of issues, including lack of scheduling oversight, poor agency-wide communication, inefficient overtime management process, and difficulties in tracking agency assets.

MANAGING THE SCHEDULE WAS A LABOR-INTENSIVE PROCESS

This error prone, manual scheduling process was a resource strain to the agency. They had little to no scheduling oversight of all hours worked and it was also challenging to identify unit coverages and ensure those units were staffed with qualified personnel. This became a potential liability for the agency, as it placed officers and the community at risk.

“It would be several hours a day. Someone calls in sick or gets hurt or whatever it is, so you’re constantly trying to adjust the schedule.” – Fred Mickel, Deputy Chief

FILLING VOLUNTARY OVERTIME TOOK SEVERAL HOURS A DAY

Several phone calls were made to fill an overtime shift. They would go down the list from the most senior officer until someone agreed to take the shift. More often than not, it would take up to 50 phone calls to fill a single shift.

“Even simply filling vacancies in the schedule became a huge time suck.” – Fred Mickel, Deputy Chief

SLO PD DID NOT HAVE AN EFFECTIVE WAY TO TRACK ASSETS

Excel was also used to manage and track assets. This made it difficult to track who had what equipment. Managing expiry dates was also a challenge, adding more risk to the agency and the community.

“We had an archaic way of doing it before, it was all on this excel spreadsheet. Basically, it was junk in, junk out.” – Fred Mickel, Deputy Chief

Present Day Improvements

SLO PD decided to find a more efficient scheduling solution after struggling for many years. After reviewing multiple scheduling software options, they chose InTime in 2015. They concluded that InTime was the best at handling their unique scheduling needs. InTime’s customer service was also a key factor in choosing InTime.

Now, SLO PD’s scheduling, overtime management, and asset tracking is much more efficient.

“From the get-go, it’s been the customer service. It feels like [InTime] knows we’re all important no matter the size of our agency. And no question is too small, we always get a response.” – Fred Mickel, Deputy Chief

SCHEDULING AND AGENCY-WIDE COMMUNICATION IS MUCH MORE EFFICIENT

InTime enabled complete oversight of all hours worked, making it easier to know how much coverage each shift needed. This has helped mitigate risk, ensuring proper coverage with qualified staff in the right places.

Agency-wide communication is also improved now that officers get notified via email and text when there are scheduling changes. Officers can also view their schedule months in advance on their phone, enabling accessibility.

“I’m spending less on this product than what it would cost me to have a lieutenant manage the schedule like how they were doing it before” – Fred Mickel, Deputy Chief

TIME SPENT MANAGING VOLUNTARY OVERTIME WAS CUT BY MORE THAN 50%

With InTime, it is much easier to fill voluntary overtime shifts with qualified staff. Now, in a matter of seconds, SLO PD can post overtime assignments, have qualified staff notified, then sign-up through the web or mobile. With their agency rules already built-in, SLO PD can guarantee shifts are fair and equitable, removing bias and favoritism.  

“Now that there’s a set thing that’s controlling the rules it makes people happy…The ease of them not having to pick up the phone in the middle of the night has also helped. Overall, we get very little complaints based on how we manage everything through InTime.” – Fred Mickel, Deputy Chief

ASSET MANAGEMENT IS STREAMLINED, MITIGATING RISK AND REDUCING COST

SLO PD now has all their agency assets, from patrol vehicles to agency keys, all tracked with InTime’s asset module. With expiration dates tracked, SLO PD ensures that officers get new equipment at the right time. Lastly, officers are able to run their own reports and see which assets are assigned to them and when they expire, improving transparency and accountability.

“All this stuff equals dollar signs and if it’s lost, misplaced, or misused, it costs money. So having a place where we can properly track it and know who owns it or assigned to it that we can retrieve in five, ten, twenty years is very important.” – Fred Mickel, Deputy Chief