H ow is it that every year the Baltimore City police commissioner budgets much less for overtime than the department needs?
It?s so ridiculous as to be a farce.
So far this year the department has spent $21 million on overtime ? or more than $12 million more than budgeted for the entire fiscal year, which ends June 30. Last year at this time the police had spent $16 million on overtime ? or about $9 million more than budgeted for the year.
Since the department has yet to offer detailed reports about how the money is spent, it amounts to a slush fund for police coffers ? and certain officers, if an Internal Affairs investigation of six suspended officers finds they committed overtime fraud.
One of the main problems is that former Mayor Martin O?Malley and City Council members never held the department accountable for fiscal malfeasance. The commissioner knows he can return to City Council each year and get extra money with only a slap on the wrist. What self-aggrandizing City Council member ? who hopes to be re-elected ? would vote against funding “law enforcement” in the murder capital of the eastern seaboard?
It may be true that the police department needs more officers and can?t find them. But it is no excuse to repeatedly underestimate how much the department needs to patrol the city. And the absence of hireable police officers absolutely is no justification for ripping off taxpayers.
City Councilman Kenneth Harris plans to introduce a resolution Monday requiring the department to submit detailed quarterly reports about how overtime is spent. It deserves the support of every member of the City Council. And it?s such a painfully obvious first step that it?s migraine-producing that it hasn?t happened before now. The police department must be held accountable for how it spends taxpayer dollars on overtime. It can start by making a more accurate forecast of its overtime needs for 2008 during the upcoming budget process and by listing the top 100 biggest recipients of overtime during that period, a breakdown of which districts use the most and the specific purposes of it ? as in administrative tasks or patrolling ? in reports submitted to the City Council. Why a resolution is necessary to force it to do what it is required to do is weird.
We the People can encourage Edward Ambrose, chief of the police department?s administrative division, to follow through on his budget responsibilities by contacting him at 410-396-2080 or [email protected].
If anything, such reports would serve as a useful guide for the department to help Commissioner Leonard Hamm and other commanders better direct resources. Why former Mayor Martin O?Malley did not push for such accountability is a mystery, given his strong support for statistics-backed accountability.
But Mayor Sheila Dixon has said getting police overtime under control is a top priority of her administration. That?s great news. She should use her influence to support Harris? measure. We the People must know how the police department uses ? or abuses ? our hard-earned money.
