With 'Unsurprising' Overtime Audit In, City and Police Plan Ahead

Editor's note: This article was corrected on Sunday, April 8 at 2:35 p.m.

With a breakdown of overtime costs in hand that Mayor Rob Dolan and city officials said didn't reveal any surprises, the city now has tentative plans based on that report and a as the city and police unions negotiate their next contract.

In December, Dolan requested the two reports citing in part increased overtime costs, and made some comments that .

The $7,500 overtime report conducted by public accounting firm examined the percentage of each police shift paid at an overtime rate from Nov. 1, 2010 through Oct. 31, 2011; the reason for the overtime; and identified instances where details were performed while an officer was on vacation or out sick either during or directly before or after a detail shift, and how those details correlated to overtime costs.

Out of 102,833 total shift hours during that time period, there were 7,306 total overtime hours, with the major reasons for overtime being:

• 21.27 percent (1,552 hours) for sick backfill
• 17.57 percent (1,284 hours) for vacation backfill
• 14.26 percent (1,042 hours) for military backfill
• 10.55 percent (771 hours) for court

Melrose Police Operations Lt. Tim Maher, who is president of the Superior Officers Union, said that, "I think everything came back as expected. There are no surprises with these numbers," a sentiment echoed by Melrose Police Chief Mike Lyle and Dolan in separate interviews.

The report found 56 instances in which a detail was performed by an officer who was on vacation, and in eight of those instances, the officer’s shift was covered by another officer with overtime.

Police Officials Deny 'Double-Dipping' Findings

Also, the report found four instances of "double dipping," where an officer worked a detail while out on sick time—a violation of the department's policy—with one of those instances resulting in an officer's shift being covered with overtime.

Both Lyle and Maher denied that any double dipping occurred, saying that Sullivan, Rogers and Company made errors in those four instances.

Lyle said that in one case, an officer took sick time on a midnight shift and then worked a detail the following midnight, which complies with the department's policy that an officer must wait 24 hours. Another officer worked a detail during the day and then on the evening shift went home an hour early on sick time. Another officer was out sick leading to overtime coverage, and the officer then worked a detail 16 hours later, which Lyle said did constitute a violation of the department's policy but did not impact the shift.

"Not one of these incidents was someone working a detail and being paid by the city at the same time," he said. "And they spent $7,000 to find that out."

Maher also stated the same reasons for the instances as the chief, and said that one of the instances involving a superior officer was listed twice among the four instances, leading to the four total instances.

"There was nothing based on their data that showed double dipping," he said. "There was absolutely no violations. Not one instance of guys getting paid for detail and being out on sick time."

Dolan said that there were "some areas of concern," but overall he was not surprised by the report's results nor any issues with the correlation between overtime and worked details.

"Our position is that we can nitpick on four or five different instances where there were issues, but as a whole we believe that the money is being spent appropriately at the police department," he said.

Maher also said he stood by his words in December, when he told the aldermen that the department could have produced for free the data that the city was looking for.

"We probably could have provided answers," he said. "They didn’t understand why there was spike (in overtime)."

Current Department Vacancies Lead To Overtime

There are currently three vacancies in the department and one officer on military leave that are exacerbating overtime matters, Lyle and Maher said. Officer Stephen Hurley retired in mid-January, School Resource Officer Rob Mann transferred to another department closer to his home, Lyle said, and Officer John Slaney transferred last fall.

Maher said, "We tried to build shifts so we can withstand, whether it’s training, someone gets moved, or comp time ... pretty much any action is causing overtime."

Lyle said the city already had a new officer hired to replace Hurley, but that officer just returned with the 182nd Infantry Regiment and will be heading to the police academy in June. Another officer will be going to the academy in June and a third, a Melrose resident transferring to the department, would fill the final vacancy.

"We're fast tracking everything as quickly as possible," he said.

Immediate Plans

In releasing the report's results, Dolan released his plans and Lyle filed an action plan to address some of the issues raised in the management and operations study by Pomeroy Resources, Inc.

With officers citing problems with the station itself, the city plans to create a new prisoner entrance for the safety of both officers and those in custody, and build a female officers' locker area. Dolan said those tasks would likely be paid for with the city's free cash in fall. New carpeting and painting throughout the station will also be undertaken.

Officers also decried the department's $1,000 line item for training as inadequate. Dolan's proposed budget for next fiscal year would increase that line item to $25,000. Finally, the mayor's proposed budget would increase the police overtime line item by another $25,000.

Asked if the unions were satisfied with the training budget increase, Maher said, "I'm not sure. We’re certainly pleased that the mayor realized we need to increase our budget. We’ll see if that’s enough to do the training within the police department."

Lyle said the $1,000 "was buying us nothing" and used to compensate officers for lunch according to fair labor standards. The addition funds will pay for service training at a full range, complimented by the .

"I think (the mobile trailer) certainly has a quality of training, but you’re in a confined space," he said. "Obviously outdoors has its own merits as well. So we’re going to do both."

The city also must explore how to replace the department's 30-year-old radio system—like the police station itself, a long-standing and known issue—to meet a federal mandate by Jan. 1 of next year, a projected cost of approximately $350,000.

Negotiable Plans

Lyle's action plan also includes several items that the police unions and city would have to negotiate this spring. Among them are mandatory wearing of bullet resistant vests, job descriptions that identify lines of authority and accountability, and clear expectations of all first and second line supervisors.

Dolan said that the management study identified trends that the city will look to redirect during the course of negotiations.

"A combination of hiring, which we are, and what we believe to be pragmatic change in the contract that’s pro safety," he said.

For instance, Dolan would like to see officers on light duty due to injury able to work on the dispatch desk, which would have to be negotiated with the unions.

"If someone is on light duty, it means they’re in the station filing," he said. "If you ask a hundred citizens whether or not they should be able to answer the phone and put an able officer on the street, 99 of them are going to say that’s pragmatic and pro-public safety."

Maher noted that the only item in Lyle's action plan without a definitive timeline attached is providing sergeant level street supervision on all shifts. Officers raised that issue during the management study as a safety issue.

"This is a big liability issue for the city, as supervisors in charge of the shift, not having one out on the shift, to control what’s going on," he said, adding that the unions understand the fiscal realities of the budget. "That’s a certain issue that may need to be resolved during collective bargaining."

Lyle said that "if they gave me the money, it would happen tomorrow," but that budget considerations and negotiations play into increased street supervision as well.

"I don’t think the city and I discussed everything in my action plan, we may have to do it in increments," he said. "It was a well-thought out process. When you look at the timelines, they're pretty much the timelines if we started tomorrow. Obviously you have to negotiate with the unions, and those are guesstimates."

Dolan maintained, as he did when originally pitching the studies, that the department's command structure "reflects a different" era and that the department needs to maximize the use of the personnel it has, adding that Melrose Police has staffing levels to similar to comparable communities. He said if hiring an additional sergeant for $40-50,000 cuts overtime by $15,000, it wouldn't offset the cost, "but it's at least considered.

"I can’t add positions because of what I believe to be inefficiencies," he said,  "But at the same I don’t unilaterally have the authority to do it, nor do I have the unilateral authority to change the contract. It has to be agreed to by them, which is hard."

Dolan also lauded Maher, Det. Kevin Mulrenan and Sgt. Chuck Byrne of the Superior Officers Union for working with the city to try and resolve issues.

"They have been very cooperative and honestly have worked with us to try and find better efficiencies outside the contract," he said. "So I cannot complain. I think they—especially Tim—have been very good in terms of working with us."