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OPTIMAL MULTISHIFT PROPORTIONAL ROTATING SCHEDULES

NCJ Number
43609
Author(s)
W W STENZEL
Date Published
1976
Length
522 pages
Annotation
TWO COMPUTER PROGRAMS WERE DEVELOPED TO SYSTEMATICALLY FORM POLICE PATROL UNITS WHICH RESULT IN ACCEPTABLY LONG RECREATION PERIODS AND MATCH MANPOWER WITH NEEDS.
Abstract
AFTER THE PROBLEMS OF THE COMPUTERIZED PR SCHEDULE DESIGN WERE WORKED OUT, THE PROCEDURES WERE USED FOR THE EVIDENCE TECHNICIAN UNIT AND THE RADAR-VASCAR UNIT OF THE ST. LOUIS METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT. PREVIOUSLY, SHIFT ASSIGNMENTS HAD BEEN COMPUTED MANUALLY. THE COMPUTERIZED PROGRAM MATCHED MANPOWER TO WORKLOAD BY SHIFT AND DAY OF THE WEEK, BASED ON PREVIOUS RECORD SHEETS. THE EVIDENCE TECHNICIAN UNIT OPERATES A 19-MAN DIVISION WITH THREE EVIDENCE COLLECTION VANS, ONE IN EACH OF THE CITY'S THREE OPERATIONS AREAS, ON A 24-HOUR-A-DAY SCHEDULE. SINCE 1970, THE UNIT HAS USED A THREE-SHIFT PR SCHEDULE. WITH COMPUTERIZATION, THE NUMBER OF WEEKEND RECREATIONAL PERIODS HAS BEEN INCREASED FOR EACH MAN. THE DISTRIBUTION OF SHIFTS IS SHOWN IN A SERIES OF TABLES. WEEKEND RECREATION PERIODS ARE DISTRIBUTED SO THAT NO TOUR CONTAINS MORE THAN ONE, AND THE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF WORKING WEEKENDS IS FOUR. ALL SHIFT-CHANGE RECREATION PERIODS ARE 2, 3, OR 4 DAYS LONG WITH MOST OF THE 3- AND 4-DAY PERIODS INCLUDING A WEEKEND. THE TRAFFIC DEPARTMENT SCHEDULES WERE REDESIGNED WITH OFFICER PREFERENCE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT. A COMPARISON OF THE COMPUTER SCHEDULE WITH THE MANUALLY DESIGNED SCHEDULES USED IN 1972 AND 1973 SHOWS MORE WEEKEND RECREATION PERIODS, A LOWER NUMBER OF CONSECUTIVE WORKING WEEKENDS, A LOWER MAXIMUM NUMBER OF DAYS WORKED WITHOUT TIME OFF, FEWER 1-DAY RECREATION PERIODS, AND FEWER SHIFT CHANGEOVER POINTS WITHOUT A CHANGEOVER RECREATION PERIOD. PROCEDURES USED TO DEVELOP THE COMPUTERIZED PR SCHEDULING ARE GIVEN. THE THEORY BEHIND THE DESIGN OF OPTIMAL ONE-SHIFT AND MULTISHIFT PR SCHEDULES IS GIVEN, THE PROBLEM OF DEFINING ACCEPTABLE RECREATION PERIODS IS DISCUSSED, AND THE BASIC CONCEPTS OF THE PARTITIONING ALGORITHM AND THE CYCLIC GRAPH ENUMERATION ALGORITHM USED IN THE TWO PROGRAMS DEVELOPED ARE DETAILED. CHARTS, GRAPHS, AND AN EXTENSIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY ARE INCLUDED.