Every two weeks, State Police Superintendent Thomas Tim Hutchins gets a detailed report on use of overtime by troopers, including names, dates and an explanation of why it was used.
Hutchins said he goes over the report “individual by individual and case by case” and sometimes follows up with suggestions to his bureau chiefs for ways to reduce the overtime. The department?s overtime costs amounted to $4.7 million last year.
As part of his budget-cutting initiative, Gov. Martin O?Malley has told departments to focus on overtime use, and the state police department has the fourth-highest use in Maryland?s budget.
“There is a certain amount of overtime that is necessary,” said Hutchins, particularly as troopers are processing arrests toward the end of their shifts and responding to other kinds of incidents. “We?re trying to be as efficient as we can.”
The state police has a budget of $315 million next year, paying for a staff of almost 2,550, including 1,550 troopers. Spokesman Greg Shipley said they are budgeted for about $2 million in overtime but have been spending about $4 million for the past five years. Only officers below the rank of lieutenant are eligible for overtime.
The Examiner filed a Maryland Public Information Act request to obtain a complete accounting of salaries and overtime,but the information has yet to be releated by the state. The information will be made available when the state makes public the information.
“This is a very reactive business that we?re in,” Shipley said. “We can estimate” the use of overtime, “but it?s the reactive side that?s difficult.” When incidents happen, “at the end of the shift, they cannot just walk away.”
“Their workload is often hard to predict,” said Jody Sprinkle, a budget analyst for the Legislature. Lawmakers have not put any particular focus on state police overtime this year. A change in the budget did recognize the $7 million in overtime costs the police are reimbursed by others to work at sports events and highway construction sites, among other special duties.
The biweekly reports are expected to help cut the use. “Any time you have to write a report, it makes you think twice,” Shipley said.
