By Zach Lowe
Staff Writer
March 8, 2007
STAMFORD - The city plans to hire a civilian to monitor the Police Department's finances after years of bloated overtime budgets and hundreds of unauthorized injury claims, officials said yesterday.
The management consultant, who would be a city employee, inherits a department that has struggled to curb overtime costs and often failed to meet record-keeping requirements.
"We need a person with a financial background over there to look at what they are doing on a daily basis," said Peter Privitera, director of the city's Office of Policy and Management.
Overtime ballooned to a record $4.8 million in 2005-06, up from $3 million the year before. Spending continued at the same pace through November, when Chief Brent Larrabee cut on-duty staffing and other costs to bring overtime down, records show.
At the same time, an audit found 70 percent of officer injury claims in 2005 were not backed by doctor's notes and other documents required by city workers' compensation rules.
The consultant would help officials "gain greater control of the financial and operational needs" of the department, according to Mayor Dannel Malloy's proposed budget for 2007-08.
"We continue to look for ways to save money in all departments," Malloy said yesterday. "This is a way to make substantial progress in the Police Department."
Police overtime has been a controversial issue since former Chief Dean Esserman, who led the department from 1998 to 2001, admitted giving every lieutenant 12 hours of overtime pay each week as motivation.
Overtime costs skyrocketed from about $1.1 million in 1993-94 to $2.7 million in 2000-01.
An internal audit released in 2002 found holes in the department's record-keeping, including overtime spending that was not backed by completed vouchers and other documents.
Overtime jumped to nearly $5 million last year because of gang violence, several high-profile crimes and staff shortages, Larrabee told the Board of Finance in November.
Larrabee said the department had difficulties finding 18 patrol officers to work each shift - the minimum required under the police contract.
When the department falls short of staffing requirements, officers must be paid at overtime rates to fill the empty slots, Larrabee said.
The department has about 265 active officers, but it is budgeted for more than 300.
City officials have suggested hiring as many as 50 more officers in the next decade.
"If we're spending $500,000 a month in overtime, it might make sense to have more police officers," Privitera said in November.
A study of overtime in September found that about half of overtime spending went to filling staff shortages.
Larrabee said he cut down on hiring extra patrol officers and scaled back the department's homeland security program to reduce overtime spending.
The moves have dropped overtime to close to normal levels, Privitera said.
The department spent slightly less than $350,000 on overtime in January and February, Privitera said yesterday.
The consultant would produce regular reports showing how the department spends every dollar in overtime, Privitera said.
Board of Finance member Tim Abbazia has said residents might be more supportive of police overtime if they knew more about how the money is spent.
The consultant also would monitor injury claims and compile reports on crime trends, spending and other statistics, Privitera said.
The department would benefit from more city oversight, Malloy said.
"All other city departments report to the Office of Administration," he said. "Police and fire were set up on a different model. We are changing that."
Copyright © 2007, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.