City Police Dept. expected to exceed overtime budget
NORWICH – The City of Norwich Police Department is likely to exceed its annual overtime budget this year as occasional staffing shortages and a growing drug epidemic in the city have called for officers to work longer hours.
The police department was allocated $91,000 for overtime hours in the 2012 city budget. Of that, nearly $20,000 was reserved for the state reimbursed Stop DWI Program and the Selective Traffic Enforcement Program that also require officers to work a little extra. The remaining $71,000 is used to cover the overtime costs incurred due to sick and personal time, officer training, vacation days, quality of life issues, criminal investigations, arrests made near the end of a shift, and a number of other situations that call for extra time in uniform for the 19 officers on the payroll, explained Police Chief Joseph Angelino.
Thus far, the police department has used up more than 1,600 hours of overtime this year, leaving just over $10,000 available for overtime services for the rest of the year. In 2011, 2,500 hours of officer overtime was logged and expectations are to exceed that before the end of this year, said Angelino.
The police chief has kept the city council notified of pending overtime and the prospect of being over budget. He and the rest of the department were praised by Mayor Joseph Maiurano and the Common Council during the August City Joint Committees meeting for being proactive instead of simply reactive.
“There’s a lot of policing that needs to be done and the best way to do it is through the use of overtime,” said Angelino, noting that staffing is always just enough to cover each shift. If one officer is absent, it creates a shortage of officers on duty and another has to be called in, using overtime hours as needed. “We’re trying to maintain safety. The pay in overtime is effective and efficient because we do the work that needs to be done and it costs less than hiring more officers,” he said.
The risk of running over budget comes as little of a surprise this year, Angelino added. More than 120 hours have been used for quality of life issues and in addition to regular patrol, officers also have a presence during annual city events.
He also pointed out that several officers on the force reached a new benchmark this year, entitling them to more vacation time and resulting in a need for other officers to work overtime. Moreover, long investigations leading up to drug busts on Ross Avenue and Griffin Street in March; and more recently, an investigation that concluded in another drug bust on Pleasant Street in July required long hours for several officers.
The police department was allocated $91,000 for overtime hours in the 2012 city budget. Of that, nearly $20,000 was reserved for the state reimbursed Stop DWI Program and the Selective Traffic Enforcement Program that also require officers to work a little extra. The remaining $71,000 is used to cover the overtime costs incurred due to sick and personal time, officer training, vacation days, quality of life issues, criminal investigations, arrests made near the end of a shift, and a number of other situations that call for extra time in uniform for the 19 officers on the payroll, explained Police Chief Joseph Angelino.
Thus far, the police department has used up more than 1,600 hours of overtime this year, leaving just over $10,000 available for overtime services for the rest of the year. In 2011, 2,500 hours of officer overtime was logged and expectations are to exceed that before the end of this year, said Angelino.
The police chief has kept the city council notified of pending overtime and the prospect of being over budget. He and the rest of the department were praised by Mayor Joseph Maiurano and the Common Council during the August City Joint Committees meeting for being proactive instead of simply reactive.
“There’s a lot of policing that needs to be done and the best way to do it is through the use of overtime,” said Angelino, noting that staffing is always just enough to cover each shift. If one officer is absent, it creates a shortage of officers on duty and another has to be called in, using overtime hours as needed. “We’re trying to maintain safety. The pay in overtime is effective and efficient because we do the work that needs to be done and it costs less than hiring more officers,” he said.
The risk of running over budget comes as little of a surprise this year, Angelino added. More than 120 hours have been used for quality of life issues and in addition to regular patrol, officers also have a presence during annual city events.
He also pointed out that several officers on the force reached a new benchmark this year, entitling them to more vacation time and resulting in a need for other officers to work overtime. Moreover, long investigations leading up to drug busts on Ross Avenue and Griffin Street in March; and more recently, an investigation that concluded in another drug bust on Pleasant Street in July required long hours for several officers.
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