LAPD BLOWS OT BUDGET COPS' SHORTER WORKWEEK AMONG MAJOR CULPRITS.

Byline: Jason Kandel Staff Writer

With two months remaining in the fiscal year, the LAPD has already blown its overtime budget by $8 million - mostly due to healthy salary increases, the federal consent decree and the three-day workweek, a Daily News analysis of overtime records shows.

The Los Angeles Police Department spent $62.8 million through April 30, although it had budgeted $54.7 million for 1.2 million overtime hours for the fiscal year that ends June 30, documents show.

By June 30, the overtime total likely will come close to the whopping $76.5 million spent last fiscal year when $51.4 million was budgeted.

Those figures are more than 50 percent higher than in fiscal 2000-01, when the department paid $46.2 million for 1.4 million hours of overtime.

Court-related activity is the biggest chunk of the LAPD's overtime expense, accounting for $14.1 million - 22 percent - of the total paid through April, data show. Only the $12 million spent providing security at Los Angeles International Airport came close.

``Law enforcement operations are enormous in the city,'' said LAPD Lt. George Bush, who has been tasked with trying to rein in court-related overtime. ``A lot of arrests are done, so you're going to have subpoenas. You're going to have overtime spent. It is important. It's vital.''

Included in court-related expenses is on-call overtime - nearly $9 million paid out last year to officers just waiting to be summoned to testify in felony or misdemeanor cases. With the LAPD scrimping for every dollar to hire more cops, officials say they need to find more efficient use of the overtime money.

City Councilman Bernard Parks, who chairs the council's Budget and Finance Committee, blames the flexible work schedule - which allows officers to work three- or four-day workweeks - for pumping up OT costs.

Parks, who was a strident critic of the flexible schedule when he was LAPD chief, said overtime is bound to spike when the court system works five days a week and officers don't.

``It only stands to reason,'' Parks said of the schedule implemented citywide in March 2002, over his objections, by Mayor James Hahn.

``You might have a reduction in end-of-shift overtime, because they've already worked a 12-hour shift. Officers work a three-day workweek. That doesn't stop the rest of the justice system. Officers are going to be called to testify in cases.''

Police and prosecutors are working to trim court OT, but say it's a tough balancing act because of frequent delays of court hearings and the chaotic schedules of officers.

``It's expensive. Officers have to be available to testify,'' said Deputy Chief Michel Moore, who heads the LAPD's West Bureau.

``We pay officers to be available as a demonstration that we are ready to go to trial.''

Officer Harvey Freeman, a collision investigator at Valley Traffic Division, got paid overtime for 2 1/2 hours last Wednesday for being on-call in a drunk-driving case in which the defendant ultimately pleaded guilty, and Freeman didn't have to testify.

He gets about 20 hours of court-related overtime a month, he said, supplementing his $78,000-a-year salary.

``You don't just say, 'Oh gee, it's a cakewalk here today,''' Freeman said. ``It's not like that. It's police work. You have to be available.''

``There's been times when I've been placed on-call and then called into court and then by the time I get down to court, they cop a plea.''

Sgt. Scott Slinkard oversees a team of officers at the Van Nuys courthouse to coordinate schedules, file misdemeanor and felony cases and work an on-call unit to make sure cops are served with subpoenas. The officers also track cases and make sure officers respond to court within an hour of being summoned.

``You're at home, you're getting 2 1/2 hours of OT at time and a half,'' he said. ``But you have to be available.''

He said some officers spend their on-call time exercising at an LAPD gym, visiting relatives or even working part-time jobs close to the courthouse.

LAPD Assistant Chief George Gascon, who heads department operations, said court-related overtime is expensive, and that the department is committed to reducing it. He said not only is it detrimental to the taxpayers of the city, but that frequent delays can also discourage witnesses.

``We're trying to strike an understanding amongst the other partners in the criminal justice system about how expensive this is,'' he said.

Janet Moore, the director of Central Operations for the Los Angeles County District Attorney, has been assigned to work with the LAPD to reduce court overtime. ``It's a complicated issue because there's a lot that is involved.''

She blamed prosecutors for calling on long lists of cops to testify - even if they are not needed - and she blames a handful of officers for ``engineering overtime.''

``There's room for improvement on both sides,'' said Janet Moore, who is not related to Deputy Chief Michel Moore. ``Officers know that they can make a lot of money off of overtime.''

Lots of money can be had working overtime at the LAPD. The average amount is $58 an hour.

``If we can even save them an hour per each officer it could be a great savings,'' Janet Moore said. ``I'm very optimistic.''

Frank Mateljan, a spokesman for the City Attorney's Office, said his office is also working to create a more efficient on-call system. Currently, he said, just 2 percent of the officers who are on-call actually testify in a case.

``We have heard that there was some frustration,'' Mateljan said. ``We certainly realize that the LAPD has limited resources and we want to maximize their time out in the field.''

Jason Kandel, [phone]

jason.kandel(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 boxes

Box:

(1) TOTAL LAPD OVERTIME PAID

(2) LAPD OFFICERS' OVERTIME EXCEEDS BUDGET

SOURCE: Los Angeles Police Department and staff research by Jason Kandel

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