http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-nor.overtime2jan07,0,1367351.story?coll=stam-news-local-headlines
By John Nickerson
Staff Writer
January 7, 2007
NORWALK - Higher-than-budgeted police overtime, fueled by a spike in crime and staff shortages, will force Chief Harry Rilling to request a special appropriation to maintain current levels of police service through June 30, Finance Director Thomas Hamilton said last week.
Even though the fiscal year is only a week beyond the half-way mark, police had spent $1.284 million on overtime - or about 88 percent of its entire overtime budget of $1.462 million - as of Friday, Hamilton said.
This year, the department's overtime spending is expected to cost the city $2.483 million, or $1.020 million more than was budgeted last spring, Hamilton said. The overrun will likely force the chief to seek additional funding from the Board of Estimate and Taxation in February.
"I'm concerned when any department runs over its own budget projections by that amount of money," Hamilton said last week.
During the 2005-06 fiscal year, the police department outspent its overtime budget by $1.3 million, ending the year with a charge of $2.514 million in overtime hours.
To reduce the amount needed from the city, Rilling said he is working to transfer about $100,000 in forfeiture funds from criminals' assets to the overtime account.
In addition, Hamilton said the department may be able to use $100,000 to $200,000 in its regular wage account to soften the blow.
The Norwalk Fire Department's overtime budget was set last spring at $2.833 million. A portion of that budget is being spent to hold open nine firefighter positions, which the city and department have determined to be less expensive to fill by overtime than by additional hiring, Hamilton said.
Hamilton said last year's overtime budget request by the police department was not amended or reduced by the Board of Estimate and Taxation.
"The budget they are working under is the one they submitted," he said.
But Rilling said the overtime budget was based on the presumption that three new positions would be funded, upping the police department's paid staff from 176 sworn officers to 179.
Currently, the police department is funded for 176 officers, six fewer than the 182 authorized by the Board of Police Commissioners and Common Council, Rilling said.
Several officers have retired or resigned, and one was terminated, resulting in 171 sworn officers on the force, Rilling said. Several more retirements are coming in the next few months.
Further, with three officers on long-term disability, another assigned to light duty and two on administrative leave, the police department is left with 165 officers.
"When you have an effective staffing level of 165 from 182, that is 17 officers below authorized strength, there will be an increase in overtime based on that fact alone," Rilling said.
Because of an increase in violent criminal activity, four officers have been taken out of the Patrol Division and reassigned to the Special Services Division, which investigates drug and vice crimes.
From January to November 2006, Special Services opened 677 cases, which resulted in 670 arrests, and generated 6,022 hours of overtime, Rilling wrote in a Dec. 20 memo to Hamilton.
During the same time period, 538 new cases were opened by the Detective Bureau, which led to 2,676 hours of overtime in that department. One recent homicide resulted in a Detective Bureau overtime expenditure of $4,000, Rilling said.
From the beginning of the fiscal year on July 1 through Dec. 20, the Patrol Division charged $786,000 in overtime bills, Rilling said.
Additionally, surpluses in the department's regular salary account, which in years past has been used to make up for overtime charges, has been depleted by Deferred Retirement Option Plan participants, who have received severance payouts from that account.
DROP allows police officers 48 or older with at least 20 years of service to accrue pension payments in a tax-free account while they continue to work and collect their regular salaries.
Training, which can't be accomplished during regular working hours, also costs the city $300,000 to $400,000 annually, Rilling said.
Hamilton said the police administration could look into a number of factors, including a shift by shift examination, to find ways to reduce overtime.
Rilling, who said he closely monitors overtime expenditures every week, said cuts could sacrifice public safety.
"My No. 1 priority is to insure I have an adequate number of officers on the street at any given time to protect the public and provide for my officers' safety," the chief said.
Rilling said the fastest way to reduce the overtime is to get its full contingent of officers healthy and on the street.
Five new officers need to be hired, and to help that happen, Rilling said he is creating a process in which the department is continually administering entrance level exams, so there is a ready pool of recruits.
Copyright © 2007, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.