| Key Issue |
Current PSA System (effective through May 1, 2004) |
New PSA Plan (effective May 2, 2004) |
| PSAs and Neighborhoods |
- PSAs don’t match DC’s natural neighborhood boundaries
- A single neighborhood can be divided among several PSAs
- Residents are often unsure about which PSA they live in
|
- PSAs honor neighborhood boundaries
- PSAs largely mirror existing neighborhood "clusters" (as defined by the Office of Planning)
- Some PSAs have the flexibility to divide into smaller neighborhood “beats”
|
| Police-Community Partnerships |
- Residents don’t always have a sense of connection to their PSA, and community involvement varies from PSA to PSA
- Because of overlapping boundaries, PSAs don’t always coordinate with existing neighborhood organizations
|
- Because PSAs more closely match neighborhoods, more residents are likely to get involved
- PSAs are able to coordinate more easily with existing neighborhood organizations
|
| Coordination with other City Services |
- PSAs don’t match boundaries for either neighborhood services (by ward) or neighborhood planning (by “cluster”)
- Individual PSAs have to work with multiple, overlapping “city service” teams
|
- PSAs are more closely aligned with Strategic Neighborhood Action Plans (SNAPs)
- PSAs continue to work with Ward neighborhood services teams
|
| PSA Staffing |
- Each PSA is assigned roughly the same number of officers
- There is little flexibility in assigning officers to best meet demands for service
- Some PSAs go understaffed on certain shifts
|
- A minimum staffing (21 officers) is set for each PSA
- More officers are assigned to PSAs with higher demands
- Having more officers in each PSA means greater flexibility in staffing
|
| PSA Leadership |
- With 83 PSAs, leadership (PSA lieutenant) is inconsistent from PSA to PSA
- Some PSAs have strong leaders, others do not
|
- Fewer PSAs mean stronger, more consistent leadership in every PSA
- Larger PSAs may have multiple lieutenants—even a captain—to provide supervision and leadership
|
| PSA Integrity |
- Because of limited staffing flexibility, PSA officers are frequently assigned to answer calls for service on other PSAs
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- Increased staffing flexibility helps to keep officers on their assigned PSAs
|
