http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-cops3oct03,0,1948851.story?coll=stam-news-local-headlines
By Louis Porter
Staff Writer
October 3, 2004
STAMFORD -- City officials are looking to change lucrative provisions in the police union's contract when negotiations begin in January.
Mayor Dannel Malloy and members of the Board of Finance and Board of Representatives are honing in on one provision that allows officers to take vacation time during their regular shift to work high-paying extra-duty jobs then return for the remainder of their shift.
The extra-duty provision allows some officers to earn thousands of dollars in extra income.
A recent audit of the police department's city-paid overtime and extra-duty work questioned the practice officers of taking vacation during their regular shift to work side jobs.
The auditing company, RSM McGladrey, suggested "that management enforce the contract provision that prevents employees from working extra duty if they are on sick leave or out of work due to an injury. A procedure should be established that prevents employees from accepting extra duty if they were not able to complete their regular workday shift."
Malloy said he recently discovered the practice and is looking to prohibit it under the new contract.
"It's legal," Malloy said, but "I think this is an atrocious practice that needs to be changed."
For years city employees of the police and other departments have been able to take vacation time in hourly blocks, and that is probably not going to change, Malloy said.
But he does not like the idea that police officers can do that and then work another job while being paid by the city.
Because extra-duty work has a four-hour minimum, officers in some cases work for one hour but receive four hours of pay. When this happens, officers may return to work for the city while receiving extra-duty pay at the same time.
Concerns over extra-duty work are not new. A 1989 internal audit done by the city at the request of then-Police Chief George Mayer found that officers were working extra duty while on regular tours of duty and worked extra duty while on sick leave or injured on duty leave.
"It's been an ongoing problem over the years," Mayer said last week.
Although extra-duty jobs are paid by companies or utilities, citizens typically end up paying for them in increased rates or costs, Mayer said.
An updated extra-duty procedure manual was issued in 1990. It prohibits extra-duty work during scheduled duty hours and other prohibitions. That manual remains in effect but aspects of it may have been superseded by negotiations with the union in the intervening years, said Assistant Police Chief Richard Priolo.
Priolo said that of the approximately 100,000 hours of extra-duty work that officers perform annually, only a few jobs are short enough for the officer to return to his shift and collect city and extra-duty pay simultaneously.
"There are not too many opportunities to do that," Priolo said.
Many of those hourlong side jobs during the workday are done by Sgt. Francis Devanney Jr., who oversees the officers working in the extra-duty assignment office.
Last year, Devanney worked about a dozen such side jobs by taking vacation hours during his shift, according to records.
Some of that time -- including one instance in which he was listed as working a side job while out sick -- may be the result of clerical errors, Devanney said.
By his own estimate, he does extra-duty jobs during his scheduled shift six times a year or less, he said.
One reason Devanney may be working more short-term side jobs is that officers willing to work for the four-hour minimum pay are difficult to find, Priolo said.
"When he can't get someone else to do it, occasionally he will do it," Priolo said.
On one of his longest work days, June 2, 2003, Devanney's regular shift was from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to records. He took time off at 10:30 a.m. to work a one-hour side job for Henkles & McCoy Construction Inc. He returned to work at 11:30 a.m. and completed his shift.
After a second side job for Connecticut Light and Power from 4 to 7 p.m., Devanney returned to the office to work for the city on overtime from 7 until 11 p.m., according to records.
Devanney has been among the top 10 highest-paid city employees for the last three years.
For those years, almost 70 percent of the city's 50 highest-paid employees are police officers, city records show. Much of those salaries come from city-paid overtime and extra-duty work.
Last year, Devanney earned a total of $133,958, including $70,751 base pay, $48,679 city-paid overtime and $14,528 in extra-duty work, according to the audit.
Eight officers earned more, including the highest paid, Capt. Richard Conklin, who earned $199,292.
Police employees made 79 percent to 135 percent of their base pay last year in overtime and extra-duty pay, on top of their salaries, according to the audit.
When most extra-duty jobs are given out, officers who are on their day off and have worked the lowest number of extra-duty hours get first shot at an assignment, Priolo said.
Some ongoing extra-duty jobs, scheduled security at some supermarkets and housing complexes for instance, are given to a police employee who then arranges with other officers to do the work together, Priolo said.
Unless an officer's absence would necessitate overtime to cover minimum manpower requirements, officers can put in for vacation hours the same day they wish to take off, Priolo said. Only patrol officers, not those working in headquarters, affect minimum manpower, he said.
Another issue the audit pointed out was that extra-duty jobs are scheduled to begin the instance an officer's shift ends, or end just as the shift begins.
The company paying for the extra-duty work is expected to pay for transit time to and from the job site, according to the police department's response to the audit.
Private companies pay officers $49 an hour for extra-duty work such as traffic control at construction sites and security at stores and clubs. Of that amount, 14 percent, or just under $7, goes to the city for administrative costs. The remainder goes to the officer.
Still, the city is expected to lose about $100,000 on administering the extra-duty program this year. Companies and individuals are required to hire police for safety or security if activities occur on city property.
"It's a hell of a way to run a police department," said Republican Board of Finance member and Audit Committee Chairman Joseph Tarzia, an outspoken critic of the practice. "It's a very small part of the entire picture but it is indicative of the cancer that exists in the police department."
The department needs to be better managed not only for taxpayers but for the rank and file, he said.
In some cases, it appears officers return to work overtime for the city after their regular shifts to make up for hours spent on side jobs.
"They should have a civilian overseeing the operation," Tarzia said.
Democrat Board of Finance Chairman Timothy Abbazia said it would be better if police officers did not take vacation time during the day to work side jobs.
"It is not an efficient way to work," Abbazia said. "I think it would be best if we could work something out where we eliminate that practice."
City Rep. Scott Mirkin, R-13, agreed the practice should be abolished.
"It defies logic. It's just crazy," Mirkin said.
He doesn't blame those who take advantage of the system, he said, he blames the city for not overseeing it properly.
"It's hard to fault people for manipulating the system," he said.
Anyone who looks at the audit objectively has to realize that a more comprehensive review of the department is needed, Mirkin said.
City Rep. Randall Skigen, D-19, chairman of the Board of Representatives' Fiscal Committee, said he agrees with the audit's suggestion that extra-duty jobs begin or end at least a half-hour before or after an officer's shift.
"We don't have Kronos swiping," Skigen said, referring to the automated time card system used in many city offices. "Therefore, we don't know if officers may be leaving early to get to extra duty or getting to extra duty late because they are finishing their shift. It's reasonable to say if you are going to work an extra-duty job, you can't do it until a half-hour after your shift is over."
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