I am a big supporter of the Business Process Re-Engineering concept.  The goal of BPR is to engage in continuous assessment and improvement of internal operations of govenment entities.  As I have experienced in my work with cities and counties across the country, BPRs can either be wastes of time or valuable endeavors for saving money and improving services.  

The jury is still out on San Diego's use of BPR.  "Execution is everything" is a line I have repeatedly used in change management efforts in government.  Good execution of BPRs will require City Council oversight of each department's implementation.

Because public safety functions are exempt from managed competition, we must be more vigilant in looking for internal improvements in the Police and Fire Departments.   

Which brings me to the the long-awaited Business Process Re-Engineering Reports for the Fire Department and the Police Department--which were approved by the City Council on May 19, 2008 . 

You can access the Fire Department BPR (and the IBA's review of it) here.

You can access the Police Department BPR (and the IBA's review of it)  here.

Here is the Mayor's statement on the BPRs.  

Overall a decent start conceptually.  It is now imperative that the City Council provide oversight on the implementation on the BPR reforms in the Police and Fire Departments over the next year.  That's a cause I intend to take up as a Council member.   If you have other ideas for improving performance in the Police or Fire Department, I'm all ears!

Carl DeMaio was elected June 3, 2008 to the San Diego City Council.

Last year the San Diego Police Department paid out $X.X million in overtime to police officers.  

That's a lot of taxpayer money.  Let me start by noting that it is common to have overtime in a public safety agency.  It's the nature of the work.  

Nevertheless, it is imperative that overtime expenses be properly managed.  

Excessive overtime could mean employees are gaming the system.  Or as is more often the case (and I'd suspect is the case with our own Police Department) execssive overtime is indicative of chronic staffing shortages.  

I had the opportunity to do a police "ride along" during my recent campaign.  As my shift came to an end, the Sergeant for the night shift called over the radio for volunteers for overtime.  He lacked the minimum required police officers to handle the night shift.  The police officer I was with called his real boss--his wife--and after being given the go-ahead, he volunteered to work three extra hours.  We got done at 3am, and he earned 4 hours of overtime. 

Last year the Auditor's office in the City of Houston did a pretty comprehensive "performance audit" of its police department's use of overtime.  The report is worth a close read as it asks the right questions and contains comparative information from other big city police departments.

There are a few strategies the City can use to more effectively manage overtime.  The Houston report lays some recommendations out.  

In 2004 I proposed a program for off-duty police officers to be used for special events.  Payment for special event duties would be shifted to a non-profit consortium and would not be subject to the City's overtime rules.  This model is being successfully used in cities and counties across the country.  San Diego has a healthy schedule of special events, making this model all the more important to consider in our city.  

If implemented, the program has the potential to save millions in overtime expenses and provide better take-home pay for our police officers.  Chief Landsdown has repeatedly said he wants to study this idea (as he had a similar program in San Jose when he was chief there.)  Unfortunately, now more than four years after I proposed the idea, the City has yet to complete their often-promised study of the idea.
 
In the meantime, I'm going to spend the summer considering the ideas contained in the Houston study and looking for other best practices on maximizing the impact of the monies we are already spending on overtime at the Police Department.  I'm eager to hear any ideas from rank-and-file police officers and others in the public.

Carl DeMaio was elected to the San Diego City Council on June 3rd.  He takes office in December.