U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services Image of United States Department of Justice seal Community Oriented Policing Services logo www.cops.usdoj.gov Fact Sheet Tips for Calculating and Tracking COPS MORE Redeployment Introduction This fact sheet is meant to provide COPS MORE grantees with an overview and some examples on how to calculate and track redeployment experienced through MORE grants. These tips were developed based on prior experience in grant advising and monitoring, and in response to feedback from auditors looking at local-level implementation of the MORE program. They are meant to serve only as a guide in fulfilling the redeployment tracking responsibilities as part of a MORE grant. The time saved through MORE-funded equipment, technology, overtime, and civilians must result in an increase in community policing. Requirements MORE grantees are required to calculate and track redeployment realized from the equipment, technology, overtime (MORE 95 only), and/or civilians awarded. This information is collected by the COPS Office periodically, through officer count (COPS Count) phone calls and MORE grant progress reports. Calculating and Tracking Redeployment Calculating and tracking redeployment can take several forms. For example, a common method for calculating and tracking redeployment is to follow the same mechanism for calculating the estimated amount of time savings as projected in your COPS MORE application, under the Demonstration of Time Savings section. Using this method, determining the actual number of hours saved per officer per shift as a result of the equipment, technology, overtime, and/or civilians awarded could be determined through the same process used in the application for determining the estimated redeployment, only replacing the estimated assumptions with actual time-saving totals. Tracking redeployment as a result of a civilian award means demonstrating how much time the civilian frees up for officers who no longer do the work that the civilian does for them. Tracking redeployment as a result of equipment/technology means demonstrating how much time the equipment/technology frees up for the officers using the equipment/technology. One thing to keep in mind is that the COPS Office uses 1,824 hours as the standard for a full-time equivalent of a sworn officer in a year (1,824 hours = 1 FTE), and assumes an officer works 228 shifts in one year. Please use these standards when calculating redeployment, even for departments that use different standards. In tracking MORE redeployment, determine the number of actual shifts each officer worked in the time period being calculated and tracked, along with the number of hours saved per officer per shift as a result of the MORE award. The total time savings (in hours) should then be divided by 1,824 hours (COPS standard for FTE hours per year) to determine the amount of FTEs redeployed in the time period being calculated, and across all time periods. For example, assume an agency applied for and received four laptop computers to allow officers to complete paperwork in their patrol cars. In its application, it estimated that using laptops to complete incident reports would cut the time spent completing the reports in half, which previously totaled two hours per officer shift, with 10 officers now completing their paperwork with the laptops on any given day. Using this example, if that agency’s tracking period is quarterly and it tracks the redeployment for the first quarter (and the laptops were fully operational and in use for the time period tracked), its redeployment tracking could look like this: 10 officers X 1 hour saved each shift/officer = 10 hours saved each day x 91 days (quarter being tracked) = 910 hours saved in first quarter Having determined the total number of hours achieved in the first quarter through use of the laptops, one step remains. To determine the total FTEs redeployed in the first quarter, the time saved (910 hours) would be divided by 1,824 hours (number of FTE hours per year). In this case, .5 FTEs should have been redeployed by the agency in the first quarter using the laptops awarded under its MORE grant. In addition to being a requirement of the MORE program, the redeployment tracking mechanism also allows the comparison of original FTE awards to actual redeployment in order to monitor a MORE grantee’s progress towards achieving its awarded FTEs. Although the tracking requirement does not specify the time period for which redeployment should be tracked, COPS recommends a period that is manageable and allows maintenance of an accurate and current estimation of the redeployment achieved under the MORE grant. A redeployment tracking worksheet is included at the bottom of the page to serve as a guide in calculating and tracking officer time savings. One final suggestion concerning calculating and tracking redeployment is to examine possible unanticipated areas of saved time that are derived from your award. Agencies often find other efficiencies through their equipment/technology, or civilians, which can increase the redeployment experienced from the grant. Time saved can increase as personnel become more familiar and experienced with the equipment/technology, or the civilians hired take on additional duties, both of which can result in increased redeployment. Some other examples of calculating redeployment, for one full year of redeployment, or for three months of redeployment: Civilian I. REDEPLOYMENT = AMOUNT OF TIME AN OFFICER WAS ASSIGNED TO A JOB THAT IS NOW BEING DONE BY A CIVILIAN THAT REPLACED THE OFFICER. One full year: Full Time (FT) sworn officer dispatcher was replaced by a FT civilian = one to one replacement/ redeployment or one FTE. Three months: FT sworn officer dispatcher replaced by a FT civilian for three months (12 weeks) at 40 hours/week = 480 hours (divided by 1,824 hours = 1 FTE) = .3 FTEs. Technology/Equipment II. REDEPLOYMENT = (AVERAGE AMOUNT OF TIME A TASK PREVIOUSLY TOOK AN OFFICER, MINUS AVERAGE AMOUNT OF TIME THE TASK NOW TAKES AN OFFICER), MULTIPLIED BY THE NUMBER OF TIMES IN A SHIFT THE OFFICER DOES OR DID THE TASK MULTIPLIED BY THE # SHIFTS IN A YEAR THAT AN OFFICER WORKS AND MULTIPLIED BY THE NUMBER OF OFFICERS WHO DO OR DID THIS TASK. One full year: (60 minutes to drive to the station and write a report minus 20 minutes to type the report into the mobile computer) X two reports each shift X 228 shifts per year X 60 patrol officers using the thirty COPS MORE funded mobile computers to fill out reports per year = 1,094,400 min./60 minutes = 18,240 hours (divided by 1,824 hours = 1 FTE) = 10 FTEs. Three months: (60 minutes to drive to the station and write a report minus 20 minutes to type the report into the mobile computer) X two reports each shift X 57 shifts in three months X 60 patrol officers using the thirty COPS MORE funded mobile computers to fill out reports per year = 273,600 min./60 minutes = 4,560 hours (divided by 1,824 hours = 1 FTE) = 2.5 FTEs. III. REDEPLOYMENT = NUMBER OF TIMES A TASK IS DONE IN A YEAR MULTIPLIED BY THE AVERAGE AMOUNT OF TIME IT USED TO TAKE WHEN AN OFFICER DID IT, BUT NOW THE OFFICER IS REPLACED BY A CIVILIAN. One full year: 15,000 reports taken by a civilian call diversion unit funded by MORE X an average of 30 minutes it used to take an officer to respond to a call for service = 450,000 min./60 minutes = 7,500 hours (divided by 1,824 hours = 1 FTE) = 4.1 FTEs. Three months: 3,000 reports taken in first three months by a civilian call diversion unit funded by MORE X an average of 30 minutes it used to take an officer to respond to a call for service = 90,000 min./60 min. = 1,500 hours (divided by 1,824 hours = 1 FTE) = .8 FTEs. Redeployment Tracking Worksheet 1 Equipment Equipment Civilian Civilian Overtime Item #1 Item #2 #1 #2 Number of Items Awarded Number of Items Operational and in Use during Redeployment Tracking Period Number of Officers Saving Time Using Item Average Time Saved Per Officer Each Shift (Hours) X Number of Shifts Per Officer Total Time Savings (Hours) / 1,824 hours Total FTEs Saved to Date 1This table illustrates an example of collecting time tracking information. Updated: December 16, 2002 e10021764