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Projecting Growth for the Fort Worth PD

The City of Fort Worth sought to develop a long-term staffing strategy for its police department to address growing service demands and ensure public safety resources kept pace with population growth. City leadership recognized the need for a proactive, data-driven approach to workforce planning.

Challenge

The Fort Worth Police Department faced increasing calls for service, rising officer workload, and expanding community expectations. However, staffing decisions had historically been made on an incremental basis rather than through a structured forecasting model. Without clear projections, the city risked reactive staffing decisions that could lead to service gaps or inefficiencies.

Solution

Matrix Consulting Group conducted a workload-based staffing assessment, incorporating key factors such as:

  • Call volume trends and response time performance to align staffing with peak demand periods.
  • Proactive policing targets and community engagement efforts to ensure officers have the capacity for non-emergency initiatives.
  • Shift scheduling and geographic deployment models to optimize coverage and operational efficiency.

The study produced a 10-year staffing projection, outlining strategic personnel increases for both sworn and civilian roles to maintain service levels. It also emphasized the importance of integrating non-sworn staff into administrative and support functions to maximize officer availability for core policing duties.

To assist city leaders in long-term planning, Matrix developed an interactive forecasting tool, enabling decision-makers to test different staffing scenarios and adjust projections in response to budgetary or policy changes.

Outcome

With this framework, Fort Worth gained a flexible, data-driven approach to police staffing, ensuring sustainable resource allocation, informed decision-making, and transparent communication with stakeholders.