TABLE 9-1

to be weighted to reflect this decrease in activity so as not to overenforce unnecessarily.

All patrols are one-man, one-car, except for weekend and holiday service at the lakes with attendance over one million. It was found that the existence of the problem, as previously described, at these lakes warranted two-man, two-car patrols during the weekends and holidays. The probability of having one patrol tied up on calls for service is far greater at these lakes on weekends and holidays than at any of the other lakes. Thus, if one patrol is continually answering calls for service, the other can continue surveillance.

In addition to the summer season, the access to peace officers at the lakes should be insured on a "calls for service" basis during the off-season. It may be necessary to pay expenses during this period. Converting the total of hours of service needed by law enforcement is difficult because some agencies may work more than an eight-hour day. Additionally, it may be possible for one patrol car to patrol more than one lake. The close proximity of many of the B lakes in the New England Division makes this possible in this area of the country.

Nonetheless, it is possible to calculate that providing 306,828 hours of service at all Corps A lakes will take the equivalent of four officers for largely attended lakes, including days off and sick time, and three officers at the lesser attended lakes for the summer season. This would bring the total officers needed at A lakes to 522. The B lakes would take the equivalent of more than two officers per lake. Assuming that patrol cars "double-up" at at least 25 percent of the B lakes, this brings the total to 62 that would need patrol officers. Based on

these calculations, the Corps of Engineers would need the equivalent of 584 peace officers to patrol these lakes within the purview of the visitor protection standards.

This section has not addressed the required level of service needed to patrol the water surface. As concluded in Chapter 6, this service is

currently felt to be sufficient especially considering the minimal cost to the Corps of Engineers budget.

C.

Required Level of Corps of Engineers Rangers

The concensus of the findings is that the Corps lakes are significantly undermanned. Ranger management responsibilities will be substantially increased as recreation gains priority with the public. In addition, the amount of visitors continues to increase. An immediate increase in Corps rangers before the next season is absolutely warranted.

The difficulty lies not in assessing that a problem exists, but in deciding to what lengths one should go to solve the problem. More specifically, how many rangers are needed to effectively promote the visitor protection standards. This standard involves the protection, maintenance, and preservation of resources by expanded use of the Title 36 program. Additionally, more rangers are necessary to supervise the temporary employees; screen out and handle minor calls for service so as not to tie up the peace officers; and be available to assist recreation users at all hours of the day. Thus, additional professional rangers are needed to provide this coverage.

There are several methods of calculating the number of additional rangers needed at the lakes. First, a minimum level should be established as a base. Considering the increased recreation usage being received at the Corps lakes and the level of development at the A lakes, it is imperative that a professional, permanent ranger or equivalent be available for maximum service on a continual basis during the season. It is important to have the permanent, trained rangers who can provide supervision for the seasonal temporaries.

Alternative Y--Minimum Improvement

The following Table 9-2 displays a possible staffing allocation which receives maximum coverage from 4 permanent rangers. The important feature is the overlap of two rangers between the hours of 7 p.m.-12 p.m.

TABLE 9-2

when, as the self-report questionnaires revealed, most problems occur. The hours from 3 a.m.-7 a.m., when the fewest problems occur, can be handled by experienced seasonal temporaries.

Additional use of tempor

aries will be discussed in the discussion on training.

One of the major problems that the study team found was the poor allocation of permanent rangers across each shift. As Table 9-3 reveals, at the A lakes over 70 percent of the permanent ranger force worked the day shift, while 50 percent of the seasonal employees worked the evening and midnight shift with minimal assistance and supervision. Following the staffing plan in Table 9-2 would eliminate this problem.

This

The number of rangers needed to provide this coverage is expressed in Table 9-4. As this table reveals, 212 additional rangers are needed at a minimum at the A lakes. However, it is possible to reduce the number needed by reallocating the present ranger force. This would involve taking rangers away from lakes with more than four rangers. is not advisable since these lakes appear to need the services of every single ranger. Thus, it is not as though these lakes were "overstaffed." They are not. Additionally, the number of rangers saved by reallocation is minimal, as the table reveals.

Coverage at the B lakes presents a different picture. All B lakes are minimally developed and the average attendance at these lakes is 72 percent less than the A lakes. But even more significant is the

fact that over 69 percent of the B lakes are primarily for day use activities. Based on these facts, it is recommended as a minimum, that each B lake should have the services of permanent, trained rangers. As previously mentioned, if it is possible that 25 percent of these closely approximated lakes can receive attention from rangers doubling up their responsibilities, this would mean that 55 rangers would have to be added to the B lakes.

In conclusion, the addition of 278 permanent rangers are needed,

as a minimum, to faithfully provide the standards established in Chapter 8.