The Seattle Police Department mapped out new patrol beats for Ballard and the rest of the city along with plans to beef-up the number of police officers on duty Friday and Saturday nights and during summer, when criminal activity is higher.

Ballard is part of the North Precinct, the largest precinct in the city. It covers every thing from the Ship Canal and Lake Union north to the city limits. That's 32 square miles and more than 236,000 people.

Redrawing the boundaries of assigned patrol beats and adding officers as needed at the busiest times in the busiest patrol areas will provide more flexibility for police and a more equalized workload, said Chief Gil Kerlikowske during a briefing in the mayor's office last week.

Under the existing system, the city is divided into 64 patrol beats. A group of beats forms a sector, and sectors make a precinct.

Each beat has one police officer on duty at any given time. The officers work in shifts to provide 24-hour coverage in each beat. When serious emergencies occur in one beat, officers from nearby beats leave their areas to assist with more pressing calls.

Of course crime can and does happen 24 hours a day, seven days a week. But its frequency varies according to time, day and season.

Officers who work from about 8 a.m. to midnight generally are busier than officers on duty in the middle of the night. Similarly, Tuesday and Wednesday nights are much quieter than Friday and Saturday nights. There are also more emergency calls during summer than in winter.

"The workload is out of whack," said Chief Gil Kerlikowske.

Rather than have the same number of police officers on duty at all times and seasons, the new plan is to beef up the ranks during traditionally busy times and reduce them when it's comparatively quiet.

The new plan is to redraw the boundary lines citywide to form a total of 51 patrol beats. The new beats will be larger than the old beats but more than one officer will be assigned to work areas with comparatively more crime.

Next in size to the sprawling North Precinct is the Southwest Precinct, which spreads across 19 square miles and about 104,000 residents. It takes in all of West Seattle and South Park.

Since 1997, officers have been working nine-hour shifts four days a week. They take two days off and go back to work for another four days before getting two more days off. That schedule continues on a rotating basis.

The Police Department is considering changing officers' work schedule to four 10-hour days, Kerlikowske said. Most other police departments have already made a similar change, he added.

Redrawing beat maps all over the city also is intended to free officers' time so they can stay within their assigned beats during most of their shifts. They can then get to know more people and better understand the neighborhoods they patrol and serve.

The Seattle Police Department used to operate in a top-down management style. Important decisions about what crimes to prioritize and how to combat them were made at department headquarters downtown. That also leads to the development of different specialized units that also were based at headquarters. It was a system dating back to the 1970s.

That philosophy changed. Now far more authority and resources have been given to the captains who command each of Seattle's five precincts. Precinct commanders are closer to the action and have a better understanding of crime in their own assigned areas.

Much of the law-enforcement expertise developed in formerly centralized units can now be found at the precinct level. However some specialized units, homicide for example, continue to be based downtown because they rely on highly technical scientific equipment and uncommon training.

The department also fosters a sense of "ownership of territory," Kerlikowske said.

"We have a saying," said the chief. "If it happens in your precinct, you own it."

Putting the new plan into effect will require the city to hire more police. In the past two years, 49 additional officers have been hired. Mayor Nickels and Chief Kerlikowske want to hire 105 more officers between 2008 and 2012.

A neighborhood policing and public safety forum to further explain the changes for the North Precinct is scheduled for 6 to 7:30 p.m. April 25 at the Woodland Park Zoo, ARC Building, 5500 Phinney Ave. N. Or call 615-0048.

Tim St. Clair can be contacted at timstc@robinsonnews.com or 932-0300.