A hypothetical model was created for this project based on the Chico, California Police Department, where the average population growth has increased by 4 percent for each of the last 20 years. In addition, the researchers included some aspects of the city of Redding, California and its police department. The analysis included a review of the literature and interviews with subject-matter experts. The researchers created three scenarios, each reflective of a possible future that related to the potential impact of community growth on the staffing and organizational structure of a police department. The three scenarios were labeled best, worst, and most probable. The most probable scenario was used as a way to develop a plan to take an agency from its current state to a desired future state. The most probable plan, named “Central City,” included a description of the Central City Police Department’s current situation, an analysis of the department’s internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats (SWOT analysis), an assessment of stakeholders, and an overview of specific strategies that would make the most probable scenario a reality. The hypothetical Central City has about 55,000 residents living in an urban area of approximately 95,000 people and constitutes the largest city in the county, which has a population of 202,000. An analysis of the Central City Police Department showed that the department’s strengths related primarily to its high quality of personnel and services provided, and its weaknesses pertained to the inexperience of employees in particular areas. The strategies that could make a Central City Police Department work better include the following: working smarter rather than working harder; encourage and reinforce the integration of the COPPS (community-oriented policing/problem solving) philosophy; actively cultivate community enhancement strategies, police, and community partnerships, as well as COPPS-related activities; and develop and promote the support of a departmental staffing growth plan that increases personnel based on population growth and the needs of the community. 10 endnotes