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Justice Research Consultants

Justice Research Consultants brings over 20 years of experience in conducting staffing, allocation, and deployment studies for law enforcement agencies across the United States and internationally.

Police Staffing Studies

About

Eric J. Fritsch, Ph.D. is the owner, operator, and principal researcher of Justice Research Consultants, LLC.  He holds a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice along with a M.A. in Criminal Justice and Criminology and a B.S. in Law Enforcement and Police Science.   Dr. Fritsch has extensive experience working with law enforcement agencies across the United States and internationally.  With over 20 years of expertise in police staffing, allocation, and deployment studies, he has completed more than 50 staffing assessments for U.S. police departments.  His international work includes police allocation and deployment studies for the  Norwegian National Police, Regina Saskatchewan Canada Police Service and Riyadh Saudi Arabia.  Additionally, he has trained Turkish Gendarmerie commanders in Istanbul on police patrol allocation and deployment modeling. Recognized as a leading authority on police staffing assessments, Dr. Fritsch has provided specialized training on conducting such assessments for the International Association of Law Enforcement Planners.  He is a national expert on police staffing, allocation and deployment strategies.  He also developed the Model for the Allocation of Patrol Personnel (MAPP)-one of the few modern police patrol allocation and deployment models, and the only model that has been stringently validated. Furthermore, he authored Police Patrol Allocation and Deployment (Prentice-Hall, 2009), the only in-depth study of police staffing published as a primary book nationwide.   For the past 28 years, Dr. Fritsch has served as a professor of criminal justice at one of Texas’s largest state universities.  He has taught graduate level research methods each fall and has authored Applied Research Methods in Criminal Justice and Criminology (McGraw-Hill, 2014; University of North Texas Press, 2025) illustrating his research expertise.

Our Approach

Our staffing studies evaluate agency workloads, personnel distribution, and operational efficiency, offering customized recommendations to enhance public safety and resource management. Each study includes a five-year strategic staffing plan tailored to the agency’s needs and level of police service desired in the community. 

 

A strategic staffing study will equip your department with a data-driven roadmap to optimize resource allocation, enhance operational efficiency, and meet future policing demands effectively.

Methodology

JRC employs a multi-faceted methodology to conduct staffing studies including:

  • Interviews & Focus Groups: Engaging with department administrators and supervisors.

  • Comprehensive Data Analysis: Assessing statistical data, reports, and departmental policies related to workload, staffing, deployment, and overtime demands.

  • Best Practices Integration: Incorporating nationally recognized best practices with a local focus.

  • Statistical Modeling: Determining staffing needs using validated statistical models.

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Our Process

JRC executes a proven process refined through extensive experience conducting staffing studies. Key activities:

Assessment of Current & Future Demand

Evaluating factors affecting current service demand and the department’s ability to meet workload requirements

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Workload Analysis

Assessing the workload of specialized units including investigations, communications, detention, traffic, records, property & evidence, and others, as applicable to department.

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Advanced Validated Patrol Modeling:

Optimizing patrol staffing through a proprietary and
advanced allocation model. Analyzing workload measures such as calls for service, self-initiated activities, administrative tasks, and leave rate in addition to patrol performance objectives of response times, visibility, and immediate availability. Predictive modeling to address identified improvement domains and future workload demands.

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Organizational Structure Analysis

Examining division and unit structures, including span of control and command hierarchy.

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Shift Scheduling & Deployment Review

Analyzing employee schedules and resource distribution alignment with workload demands. Identifying overtime demand causation factors and recommending strategies to optimize officer workload and resource allocation.

Workload Redistribution:

Identifying tasks that can be reassigned from sworn officers to professional personnel.

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Experience

Justice Research Consultants (JRC) has conducted more than 50 staffing studies for municipal and special district police departments, as well as county sheriff’s offices. For a list of agencies that have partnered with us for staffing studies, along with the year of completion, please click below.

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Municipal Police Departments

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County Sheriff Offices

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Special District Police Departments  

Pricing

The cost of a staffing study is determined by the total number of budgeted or authorized personnel within the law enforcement agency, including both sworn and non-sworn employees.

 

Below is the approximate cost for a comprehensive staffing study, which assesses every position on the organizational chart and includes a five-year strategic staffing plan.

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0 - 20 total personnel - $4,500

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21-34 personnel - $6,300

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35-49 personnel - $7,800

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50-59 personnel - $9,200

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60-74 personnel - $12,300

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75-99 personnel - $14,200

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100-149 personnel - $18,700

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150-199 personnel - $23,200

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200-249 personnel - $34,700

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250-399 personnel - $46,200

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400+ personnel – contact for cost

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