Logging an extra 1,245 hours, correctional officer Sgt. James Brunson boosted his salary nearly 90 percent last year. Brunson, Baltimore County?s top overtime earner in 2006, averaged 64 hours a week.
But jail officials said long days are indicative of a depleting stock of qualified workers in the region?s public safety sector ? a trend they said is taking a toll on job performance and employees? personal lives.
“We don?t want each person working an extra eight hours, but we kept plugging away,” jail administrator James O?Neill said. “They like to be able to supplement their income, but it gets to be too much.”
Three county safety agencies ? the correctional center, 911 call center and fire department ? spent about 25 percent more on overtime in 2006 than was budgeted for in the fiscal year, which ends June 30. Staffing shortages partly blamed on a retirement surge added at least $10,000 to 113 safety sector employees? salaries last year, according to data supplied by the county.
The Examiner is reviewing salary and overtime records of public agencies throughout the region. The newspaper received the county’s salary and overtime record as part of a Freedom of Information Act request for the release of public records. (Click here to view the file for the correctional center.)
Recent retirees left 48 vacancies in the fire department, according to Chief John Hohman, forcing employees like Frank Pollack Sr. and paramedic Christian Griffin to put in about $25,000 each in callback hours last year.
“For a fire department of our size, you are almost always running about 30 people low,” said Ellen Kobler, a county spokeswoman. “Of course, with retirement and people moving on, it takes time to train new people.”
Unique circumstances also can force overtime, officials said. Five months ago, O?Neill said, a sharp spike in inmates required him to unexpectedly open ? and staff ? three new prison housing units.
But the underlying labor market is not producing enough workers who meet the safety sector?s stringent qualifications, said Anirban Basu, chairman of the county?s economic advisory committee.
“You can?t find enough good people, so you work the people you do have long and hard,” Basu said. “I don?t see this changing anytime soon, irrespective of what happens with county tax revenue or crime.”
TOP 2006 OVERTIME EARNERS
Fire Department (click here to view entire file):
» Frank Pollock Sr., firefighter, EMT: $25,249
» Christian Griffin, paramedic: $24,911
» Jeffrey Robertson, driver: $22,219
Department of Corrections:
» James Brunson, sergeant: $43,823
» William Pridgen, officer: $38,373
» Dene Williams-Hatcher, sergeant: $36,410
911 Call Center (click here to view entire file):
» Charles Cuddy, technician II: $23,970
» John Stanko, technician II: $19,734
» Steven Goss, technician I: $17,023
Source: Baltimore County Government
