If your budget memo says you're "down four," you're probably down more than four. And your council is making decisions on the smaller number.

ApexOS Advisory works with airport police, fire and ARFF, and public safety agencies nationwide on pay, staffing, policy and security programs. It's led by a sitting airport police chief, and the work is built on data a city manager's office can audit.

The number behind the number

Your vacancy rate is authorized strength minus filled positions. But a filled position isn't an officer on post.

Take out recruits still in the academy or field training, officers on extended leave or light duty, hires who haven't started, and retirements you already know are coming. What's left is your deployable strength, the number that decides whether you hold people over, mandate a shift or leave a post uncovered.

When that gap grows, overtime fills it. Overtime is one of the reasons people leave. So the gap feeds itself.

Three numbers to bring to your next budget meeting

1. Deployable strength by shift. Your thinnest shift is where the risk lives.
2. Overtime hours per sworn FTE, trended over 12 months. A rising line is an early resignation signal.
3. Time to fill, from posting to working solo. That's your real recovery time after every departure.

This week in the field

Staffing · 1,500 applications isn't 70 officers on post

On October 6, Mableton, Ga., appointed the first chief of its new police department, which the city aims to have fully running by next June. Since its application portal opened October 1, the city has received more than 1,500 applications for 70 sworn and 10 civilian positions. That's a strong start, but applications aren't deployable strength. Every hire still has to clear a background check, and most will need academy or field training before working solo. Track your own pipeline the same way: applicants in, hires out, and weeks from posting to working solo. Police1 / Marietta Daily Journal

Airport security · A gate door is an access point

On the evening of October 6, a ticketed passenger at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Calif., went through a gate door onto the airfield, took an airline tug and crashed it into another vehicle near Gate 7. He then tried to take a lavatory truck before Airport Police Services took him into custody. The Gate 7 area was closed for about 10 minutes, and the airport reported no impact to operations. The people most likely to see someone on your ramp first are your badge holders. Make sure they know to challenge and report anyone without a badge, and test how fast a door alarm reaches someone who can respond. Los Angeles Times · KOMO News

Emergency management · Drones in your next exercise need FAA lead time

On October 9, the FAA reminded Part 139 airports that flying small drones in controlled airspace to support airport emergency exercises, such as the full-scale exercise required under 139.325(h), needs FAA airspace access first. Part 107 operators apply for an airspace authorization through FAADroneZone. Part 91 operators apply for a Certificate of Authorization through CAPS. Either way, the request has to go in with enough lead time to be processed. If drones are part of your next full-scale exercise, put the airspace request on the planning timeline now. FAA ARFF page

Why this, why now

Staffing problems get funded during budget season, not during a crisis. If you walk in with only a vacancy rate, you're asking for a fraction of what you need, and defending it with your weakest number.

One thing to do

Reply with two numbers: your authorized strength, and how many officers you can actually deploy on your thinnest shift. I'll tell you what I'd look at first. No pitch, just a second set of eyes.

Book a 20-minute call

Kevin Stormer
Founder & Primary Consultant, ApexOS Advisory
kevin_stormer@apexosadvisory.com | (336) 448-3690 | www.apexosadvisory.com
Public Safety, Aviation & Mission-Critical Organizational Consulting