news-record.com

GREENSBORO — Police administrators have completed their initial actions on more than 200 recommendations made in a consultant’s report last year.

They say they look forward to improving the department’s efficiency more as money becomes available.

The response to recommendations made by Carroll Buracker & Associates, a Virginia consulting firm, was completed in June, three months ahead of schedule, Assistant Police Chief Anita Holder said.

Major changes included a new promotion process and reorganizing patrol schedules.

The new promotion process evaluates candidates on written tests and multipart tests conducted by an agency that specializes in law enforcement assessment.

The process eliminated preferences made by superiors in promoting candidates, a flaw cited in the report.

The new patrol schedule moved officers to four days on, followed by four days off.

Officers had long called for such a schedule. They said it has increased morale.

Previously, officers worked five days, with four days off.

The number of hours didn’t change — but the length of the shifts did.

“A majority of officers wanted more stability in their lives and that was a huge help out of the gate,” said Ryan Walton, president of the Greensboro Police Officer’s Association.

Administrators also have made internal operating changes based on the report’s recommendations.

Other recommendations have been rejected for various reasons.

Some others will be revisited in the department’s budget as more money becomes available.

At the top of that list is adding 31 new positions to the department.

That increase would attempt to raise the department’s overall effectiveness. The positions would cost the city a start-up cost of $3.6 million.

“They are key kinds of positions, but because of the economy, the city has held a tight line on financial resources and rightfully so,” said Holder, who oversees the department’s management bureau. “That’s the big thing that’s still hanging out there for us.”

The lack of money also delays the construction of a new police headquarters, a new office to house all detectives and the department’s goal of take-home patrol cars.

The City Council paid Buracker $249,000 for the top-to-bottom review of the department in early 2008.

The company interviewed police, researched statistics, analyzed the department’s structure and procedures.

Overall, the study found the department does an excellent job of combatting crime and keeping the city safe.

But it made numerous suggestions on how the department could improve.

Many City Council members said they are pleased with the department and city manager’s approach to the report. They added there is a lot of work to be done when new City Manager Rashad Young takes office in October.

“I think (the report) has helped and I think we are clearer on where we are and what we need to do. We needed it with the police department, considering all of the controversy we’ve had,” Mayor Yvonne Johnson said.

“I think now we need to share the information with the new city manager and have him do his own analysis and say these are the things we should fund, what changes need to be made and how we should move forward.”

Councilman Robbie Perkins said the report stood as validation that the department is keeping the public safe despite the many criticisms it has received in recent years.

“In my mind, the most important reason to have the report conducted was the public trust issue,” he said. “Secondary results ... (found) there are things that can be improved; it just takes money.

“I think we’ve done a good job implementing changes given budget restraints and the economic environment,” Perkins said.

Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7077 or ryan.seals@news-record.com