Superhuman hours, fat checks and sparse records

For 5 years now, Oakland has struggled with immense price range deficits. The town’s most up-to-date financial forecast exhibits price range gaps hovering round $120 million every year till 2030, forcing main cuts to spending except town finds new revenues.

One main supply of overspending within the metropolis is the police division. By far the costliest metropolis service, the Oakland Police Division’s $386 million budget this yr is about 19% of Oakland’s complete spending. And every year, OPD has come underneath scrutiny for its runaway overtime spending, routinely blowing previous its authorized ranges by thousands and thousands of {dollars}. Final fiscal yr, the Division spent over $55 million on additional time. Thirty-one million of this was over price range.

Based on Huy Nguyen, president of the Oakland Police Officers Affiliation — town’s police union — OPD’s ongoing staffing scarcity is driving additional time.

“At this staffing stage, extra officers will probably be compelled to work extreme additional time, which in flip will speed up attrition,” Nguyen mentioned in an announcement. “We can’t meet the wants of our group with out forcing officers into extra shifts.”

It’s true that OPD is severely understaffed by a whole bunch of officers. Mayor Barbara Lee is trying to shrink the staffing hole, with plans to increase the variety of officers. 

However historic information throws into query whether or not rising staffing will rectify OPD’s continual additional time overspending. A latest report by a number of civilian metropolis unions discovered that over the previous 15 years, even when division staffing elevated, additional time continued to go up. From 2011 to 2024, staffing elevated by almost 9%. Over the identical interval, additional time went up by virtually 200%.

Latest monetary pressures have brought about town to put off scores of civilian workers and freeze spending throughout a spread of applications. In the meantime, the variety of law enforcement officials bringing in six-figure additional time packages rose dramatically.

In 2021, 58 officers have been paid over $100,000 in additional time, which is mostly about 1.5 occasions their base wage, per the police union’s contract with town. By the tip of 2024, the variety of officers paid this a lot for additional time almost tripled to 169.

And the variety of officers making over $200,000 in additional time greater than quadrupled from six to a complete of 27 over the identical interval. 

One officer’s earnings illustrate simply how profitable additional time will be for some OPD workers.

Lieutenant Timothy Dolan, a 26-year veteran who leads the visitors unit and serves as vp of the OPOA police union, was paid $493,247 in additional time in 2024. Mixed together with his wage and different pay, this netted him a $711,000 paycheck, making him OPD’s highest-paid worker — a title he’s held for a number of years now. His pay was virtually double that of the chief of police and almost thrice the mayor’s paycheck. His complete compensation, together with pension and healthcare advantages, was $879,000.

Dolan’s pay bundle raises questions on how OPD paperwork and approves additional time, and about whether or not the division is spending this cash correctly. 

In Dolan’s case, he earned not less than $100,000 in additional time — and probably way more — solely by reviewing paperwork for visitors collisions, information reveal.

The paperwork for Dolan’s additional time additionally reveals that OPD didn’t doc virtually half of the additional time hours he labored, making it not possible to find out what he was doing a lot of the time.

Dolan spent over 800 hours of additional time in 2024 reviewing collision stories — the equal of about 5 months of labor in a standard full-time job. This was notably costly for town as a result of Dolan, as a consequence of his rank, is close to the highest of OPD’s wage scale. Spreading out the work amongst different officers throughout regular shift occasions might have been cheaper.

“It’s an instance of continued poor management and utilization of assets on the a part of the Oakland Police Division,” mentioned Cat Brooks, founding father of the Anti Police-Terror Undertaking, an Oakland-based nonprofit. “There’s no rationalization or justification for why this specific officer could be doing that, making that sort of cash.”

OPD spokesperson Paul Chambers mentioned in latest emails that Dolan is the company’s “subject-matter skilled on collisions.” He leads the division’s visitors workforce, however has continued to evaluation the stories as a consequence of low staffing.

Requested concerning the huge quantity of additional time he logged in 2024, Dolan justified his work, saying it’s a service to town that may generate income, and that the additional time hours are obligatory due to OPD’s understaffing.

“Reviewing and submitting the collision stories is a service we offer to the individuals we serve,” mentioned Dolan in an announcement. “Finalizing stories in a well timed method will assist resolve service complaints, as now we have beforehand been backlogged in our opinions as a consequence of staffing constraints.”

Chambers, too, mentioned the division has been working to clear its backlog of collision stories, a activity it had not accomplished as of November.

Metropolis information additionally elevate questions concerning the hours many OPD officers are logging. 

We requested OPD to supply us with the entire documentation obligatory to trace Dolan’s additional time hours labored in 2024. This included his timecard, which exhibits the additional time hours he billed throughout every two-week pay interval. 

We additionally requested copies of Dolan’s “additional time labored types,” that are paperwork that officers are required to fill out each time they work additional time. The types describe intimately the dates and hours Dolan labored, in addition to the particular actions he spent his time on.

In Dolan’s case, the paperwork describes an officer who labored quite a few consecutive and prolonged days to the extent that fatigue and security might have turn into points.

“I don’t have an issue with [reviewing collision reports] on additional time, assuming the additional time will not be absurd,” mentioned former Metropolis Administrator Dan Lindheim, who teaches public coverage at UC Berkeley. “However then the query is, when it will get to be elevated hours of additional time, then how does that have an effect on the efficiency of the officer through the common shift?”

23-hour workdays, working 19 days in a row, and different astonishing schedules

In 2024, Dolan logged an eye-popping quantity of additional time — 3,304 hours, information reveal. This was on high of the 1,938 hours he labored as a part of his regular shifts, for a complete of 5,242 hours. That’s the equal of greater than two and a half full-time jobs.

Some work stretches have been seemingly superhuman, in response to the information OPD supplied us.

On July 9, Dolan reported he labored 23 hours. The subsequent day, he labored 16 hours, and for the next three days, he labored 15 hours every.

“It strains credulity,” mentioned Lindheim. “In the end, I don’t suppose there are sufficient hours within the day to invoice this a lot additional time…. It doesn’t appear to move the snigger take a look at.”

After offering us with an emailed assertion for this story, Dolan didn’t reply to repeated requests for an interview. We despatched him and OPD spokesperson Paul Chambers a listing of questions and supplied the findings from this story, together with the numbers we pulled from his additional time paperwork; they didn’t reply.

Dolan’s additional time information elevate issues about how he, or any officer, can safely and successfully do their job with out taking time to relaxation; he didn’t reply to questions on that.

“Truck drivers are solely allowed to drive so many hours in a day for security causes,” mentioned Julian Ware, vp for IFPTE Native 21, a union that represents civilian metropolis workers and which has been critical of OPD’s use of additional time. “I don’t suppose it ought to be any completely different for sworn officers who’re carrying weapons, tasers, and pepper spray, and driving automobiles. It’s an incredible quantity of accountability that they’ve.”

“There’s a lot analysis and information simply normally about sleep deprivation and security,” mentioned Brooks. “It additionally impacts your irritability, your temper, temper swings.… How are you treating Oaklanders that you simply are available contact with? There’s no manner that you simply’re having succesful or competent judgment.”

OPD’s overtime policy says that as a result of metropolis’s price range issues and issues about officers’ wellness, “additional time labored should be minimized, managed, and used solely as completely obligatory.” The coverage largely describes the foundations that apply to additional time when officers are required to work additional hours by their supervisors.

The coverage additionally says officers are purported to take not less than one full time without work every week. Nevertheless, town auditor’s workplace has identified hundreds of violations of the coverage in previous years.

Dolan routinely exceeded this limitation, public information reveal. In a single stretch, in response to his Time beyond regulation Labored Types, he labored not less than 19 days in a row — and Dolan labored 15 hours or extra on all however two of as of late. The division didn’t reply to questions on whether or not Dolan was approved to do that.

Tons of of OT hours spent reviewing collision stories

Though greater than a dozen OPD officers are educated and approved to evaluation collision stories, Dolan is certainly one of solely two who really deal with many of the opinions, in response to Chambers.

Dolan spent not less than 815 hours reviewing the stories in 2024. From the out there information, Dolan spent a whole bunch of hours extra reviewing collision stories than finishing another additional time activity.

Chambers didn’t reply to questions clarifying whether or not any officers apart from Dolan are approved to make use of additional time to evaluation the stories. 

Dolan’s rank makes his additional time notably costly. Dolan served as a Sergeant in 2024, giving him a base wage of about $163,000 — close to the highest of OPD’s wage scale.

He declined to supply data on who, if anybody, approved the division to make use of a lot of Dolan’s additional time to aim to clear the backlog of collision stories.

When requested whether or not spending a lot on additional time to clear the backlog of stories was one of the best use of division assets, Chambers declined to remark and instructed The Oaklandside he would now not reply to any of our questions.

Site visitors collision stories have notable makes use of past regulation enforcement. They will generate some income for town — the stories value $25 to buy. However solely stakeholders within the collision, like individuals concerned or insurance coverage suppliers, should buy them. 

As soon as accomplished, the stories can be utilized to assist engineers in roadway design. They’re additionally typically utilized by insurance coverage corporations to find out payouts. However in California, collision stories are typically not admissible as proof in courtroom — not less than when trying to find out fault for a collision.

Based on Chambers and the California Freeway Patrol, when a reviewing officer (like Dolan) first appears to be like over a collision report, they’ll sometimes flag areas in want of revision and ship the it again to the reporting officer with notes. Then the report must be reviewed once more. Revisions and corrections largely need to do with automobile codes and the CHP’s particular model, fairly than the info of the collision.

Whereas some collision stories are escalated to the standing of an investigation, that is solely in circumstances involving severe damage, dying, or suspected crimes like DUIs or hit-and-runs.

In his assertion, Dolan mentioned Oakland averages about 20 to 25 collisions every day; it’s unclear what number of of these collisions are severe sufficient to require an investigation. Chambers additionally declined to supply particulars on how lots of the stories within the backlog are severe sufficient to warrant investigation.

Antiquated, paper-based record-keeping makes monitoring officers’ additional time not possible

Though Dolan’s timecard exhibits his complete logged additional time hours, documentation of what he did throughout many of those hours stays elusive. The Division was solely capable of find additional time information explaining the work he did on these shifts for barely over half the additional time hours he was paid for in 2024. 

The restricted documentation they supplied particulars precise dates and occasions labored and duties carried out. With so many lacking information, it’s not possible to independently confirm the accuracy of the timecards.

The Division has a historical past of failing to supply additional time documentation. For instance, in 2017, when the police division’s Workplace of Inspector Basic requested information for 10 officers, the division could only produce a couple of quarter of the additional time types requested.

Dolan’s information replicate an analogous sample. His busiest pay interval — a two-week stretch when he was paid for a complete of 237 hours of labor, most of which was additional time — has no documentation in any respect past his timecard. After we requested OPD concerning the lacking information, the division instructed us they supplied us with all the things they’d. 

9 different pay intervals are additionally lacking documentation, together with Dolan’s second and third busiest intervals.

Nonetheless, the paperwork the division supplied us present that Dolan recurrently spent 5 or extra hours reviewing collision stories, each on his days off and after working a daily shift.

This yr, Chambers mentioned, Dolan was promoted to Lieutenant. This elevated his wage by over $25,000, making his additional time much more expensive. Dolan continues to evaluation collision stories as a consequence of a backlog of circumstances, Chambers mentioned. 

The division spokesperson mentioned, “The hope is to be almost caught up [on collision reports] by the tip of [2025,] which, in principle, would finish the additional time wanted to evaluation them.”

As of Nov. 20, Chambers mentioned greater than 275 stories have been accomplished however wanted to be reviewed, and one other 500 weren’t but completed.

There have been pushes to modernize the division’s additional time monitoring — final yr, the division reported to the auditor’s workplace and Metropolis Council that it might be implementing a brand new digitized scheduling system. However simply as the primary part of the brand new system was slated to be carried out, the plan was deserted as a consequence of contractual points.

Neither metropolis nor division spokespeople supplied a proof on why the plan was scrapped, and when requested, Chambers mentioned that “there are not any further particulars being launched.”

In June, the division reported once again that it plans to digitize its scheduling system — however the estimated completion date for that is almost two years away. Within the meantime, with insufficient monitoring, the division claims it can’t comply with its personal insurance policies surrounding voluntary additional time, in response to town auditor’s most recent recommendations follow-up report.