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Portfolio Project – Budget Cuts for the SFPD

This portfolio project was the capstone project of a Tableau specialization by the University of California, Davis on the Coursera platform, which consisted of five separate courses. Each module taught the students an essential aspect of visualizing in Tableau, from the fundamental design principles to their application in creating dashboards and stories in Tableau. The specialization culminated in running the students through a complete project in Tableau, from the project proposal all the way to the presentation. Interestingly but unsurprisingly, this specialization had and emphasis on storytelling. It even let the students write their own fictional narrative, which you will read below. I had completed this specialization in late 2022, which the story will reflect. Since completing this specialization, I have also become a certified Tableau Desktop Specialist.
The final product was created in Tableau Desktop, but hosted in Tableau Public to make it accessible to everyone. The visuals have supporting images have been created and/or edited using Adobe Photoshop.

Introduction 

Description of the dataset

The original data set was published on a US government data website, with the data provided directly by the San Francisco Police Department. The dataset includes incident reports that have been filed as of January 1, 2018. These reports are filed by officers or self-reported by members of the public using SFPD’s online reporting system. The reports are categorized into groups based on how the report was received, as well as the type of incident.
The dataset has also been joined with several additional datasets, published by the SFPD or the City of San Francisco, which contain geographic data as well as data on dispatch calls.

Why this dataset?

One of the biggest reasons in choosing this dataset is the fact that it was (at the time) up-to-date. The City of San Francisco publishes their data continuously, which means that at the time of writing (November 1st, 2022) the most recent entry was the day prior to it (October 31st 2022). It also means that if you were to download the dataset yourself, you would be downloading a different version, as data will have been added since this portfolio project had been created. This, combined with a personal interest in the the topic of safety and security, made for an interesting topic.

Fictitious backstory

In the wake of an economic downturn, Stan Valcheck, the police commissioner of the San Francisco Police Department is facing budget cuts. This means he will have to rethink when and where his police officers are needed most. He is tasked with giving a presentation to the mayor and the members of the city council. In this presentation, Valchek will need to present an overview on the reported incidents over the last couple of years. (From 2018 till present.) Based on this, it will be decided how SFPD’s budget will be spent with regards to when and where police intervention is needed.
Below you will read more about the backstories of the keyfigures involved.

Stan Valchek - Police Commissioner of the SFPD

Goals

• Cares about his department having a sufficient budget to do its job and ensure great numbers.

• He wants to have his police department run as efficiently as possible.

• Valcheck has political ambitions and does everything to the benefit of the police department and city hall.

Challenges and Needs

Valchek has no interest in details, but cares only for the grand view of things. He does realize that details are necessary for an effective strategy, but loses interest quickly if it becomes too specific.

Context

Valcheck is confronted with budget cuts, which means that he needs to rethink when and where his police officers are needed most. He is (t)asked to present an overview of reported incidents to the mayor and the city council, to see when and where

they’re occurring in the city. The city council consists of 11 members, each of whom is elected by one of the city’s 11 districts. This means that there will be 12 people in the audience. The presentation will be held in a medium size board room, on a big screen. There will need to be printed summary handouts.
Portfolio project - SFPD - Stan Valchek (Police Commissioner) 2
Role: Stakeholder
Age: 62
Gender: Male
Education: College

Valcheck is a highly connected police commissioner with ties to several Democratic organizations close to City Hall. He seems to be more concerned with politics than actual policing. However, he wants to make sure the San Francisco Police Department runs as efficiently as possible, so as to make it his stepping stone into the mayor’s offfice.

Clarence Royce (Mayor of San Francisco)

Goals

• Royce is near-obsessed with getting his second term as mayor of San Francisco.

• He is out to cut San Francisco Police Department’s budget to the bone, as it seems to aligns with the criticism of the public.

• He realizes that he can’t do without the SFPD, as crime would rise and the public would criticize him for it.

Challenges and Needs

Royce concerns himself mainly with how he is perceived by the voters. As the public is calling for police reform, he is out to get the SFPD. This doesn’t mean that Royce is out to abolish the police department, as he would be giving up his leverage with the public. It would also result in the  skyrocketing of crime. It does mean that he wants to let the SFPD run as effectively as possible, preferrably on a shoestring budget.

Mayor Royce is extremely critical of the San Francisco Police Department, blaming Valchek for many of  the department’s problems. It doesn’t help that the San Francisco Police Department is facing mounting criticism from the public. Mayor Royce is gunning for

a second term as mayor and is playing into the criticism by being harsh on the SFPD by cutting into their budget again and again.
Portfolio project - SFPD - Mayor Royce (Mayor of San Francisco) 2

Role: Audience

Age: 57
Gender: Male
Education: MBA

Tommy Carcetti (Member of the city council)

Goals

• Carcetti is very ambitious and is eyeing Clarence Royce’s job as mayor of San Francisco.

• Carcetti wants to collaborate with Valchek and the San Francisco Police Department for mutual gain.

• Although he wants to act in favor of Valchek and the police department, it needs to logically make sense in order to be able to sell it.

Challenges and Needs

Carcetti is great with numbers and well versed in sales tactics, but he lacks in empathy. He is always looking for an angle. His willingness to work with Valchek and rule to the benefit of the San Francisco Police department is handcuffed by trying to remain in the good graces of mayor Royce. This means that

solutions Valchek proposes need to make sense, so Carcetti can sell it to mayor Royce without raising suspicions.

Tommy Carcetti is a very ambitious member of the city council and is planning to run for mayor of San

Francisco, targetting mayor Royce’s job. Unlike Royce, Carcetti realizes it’s better to collaborate with Valchek for mutual gain. Carcetti started out as a young and idealistic politician, but he has since wavered from his path several times.
Portfolio project - SFPD - Tommy Carcetti (City Council) 2

Role: Audience

Age: 43
Gender: Male
Education: Master’s degree (Political Science)

Objective

As a data analyst employed by police commissioner Valcheck, I've been tasked to shed light on how to divide the police budget in the face of potential budget cuts.
The objective of the project is as follows:
• it should answer the question as to how to divide the police budget (given the new budget cuts);
• it should let the mayor and the members of the city council know that collaboration with the SFPD is much more beneficial to them than having a polemic relationship.

In short

What

The following datasets have been used:
• Data source: Police Department Incident Reports: 2018 to Present
• Data quality: acceptable
• Data timeliness: last data collected on October 31st 2022
• Data source: Current Police Districts
• Data quality: acceptable
• Data timeliness: last data collected on August 3rd 2022
• Data source: Law Enforcement Dispatched Calls for Service: Real-Time
• Data quality: acceptable
• Data timeliness: last data collected on October 31st 2022

Why

• Business case/other goals: Create an exploratory analysis of the Police Department Incident Reports data. Research the following:
◦ When and where are most incidents reported?
◦ Are there trends visible in the reporting of incidents?
◦ Are there opportunities for efficiently making use of our personnel?
• Intended outcome: The findings will become the basis for the mayor and city council’s decision regarding the spending of the budget for the San Francisco Police Department.

How

• Format: Tableau dashboard, presentation slides, printed handout
◦ Multi-slide story points presentation
◦ Printed handout
• Presentation vehicle: Big screen, printed handout
• Challenges: There needs to be a balance between only showing the most important facts and showing details. The audience members generally aren’t interested in the nitty-gritty details, yet the details are what will either make or break a good plan.

Final Product

The deliverable for the Tableau specialization consisted of a Tableau Story, as well as separate Tableau dashboard. Both are hosted in Tableau Public and can be seen here:
• Tableau Story
• Tableau Dashboard