City Councilman Kenneth Harris said Police Department overtime has already exceeded the total amount budgeted for fiscal year 2007.
Harris said that as of Sept. 30, the department had spent $10 million on overtime, $2 million more than the $8 million slated for fiscal year 2007, which started July 1.
He said the overtime figures, which were provided to him by a source inside the department, mark a recurring budgeting problem for the department.
“I?ve been consistent on this issue at hearings on police overtime,” Harris said. “Every year, we end up in this situation. [We] need to evaluate how we?re allocating our resources and make sure the money is spent wisely.”
“I brought this up during the budget hearing and they told me they would do a better job,” he said.
Paul Blair, head of the city police union F.O.P. Lodge Number #3, said that while he supports using overtime for enforcement, he is concerned that too much money is going to pay desk officers to report statistics.
“I don?t mind … spending money to put officer[s] in patrol cars,” he said. “But there?s no reason to spend money to have officers working overtime to send stats back to headquarters.”
Blair said the department, which is understaffed, has been spending money to bolster shifts. He said he has been told the department is estimating it will spend anywhere from $30 million to $40 million on overtime this year, a figure that concerns him.
“The rate they?re spending, there?s not going to be anything left,” he said.
The entire city police budget for fiscal year 2007 is approximately $286 million.
The excess has raised alarm with Stephanie Rawlings Blake, vice president of the City Council and chairman of the budget and appropriations committee.
“We definitely have concerns,” Blake said. “It brings to light a serious problem of personnel problems in the Police Department; when you?re down you have to work your men and women that you have more.”
“It means our priorities need to be recruiting new officers,” she said.
Police Department spokesman Matt Jablow said overtime is being used effectively.
“All of the overtime money is spent on officers fighting crime,” he said.
