Honolulu police might limit amount of overtime officers can work, in response to audit

Honolulu police are considering capping the amount of overtime hours officers may work and bringing back a three-days-a-week, 12-hours-a-day work schedule in response to a city audit that detailed HPD’s “ineffective” management of time-and-a-half policies from 2016 to 2020.

HPD already limits the amount of special-duty hours officers work, and overtime funded by government grant money is also limited, interim HPD Chief Rade Vanic told the Honolulu Police Commission last week.

“By limiting the amount of overtime, that would help to reduce the amount of overtime officers are able to accrue. That’s something that we need to look at when it comes to overtime for staffing,” said Vanic, who will serve as a deputy chief after retired Hawaii National Guard Maj. Gen. Arthur “Joe” Logan is sworn in as the city’s 12th police chief. “Of course, we still want to make sure we maintain the proper level of staffing to keep our community safe.”

City Auditor Arushi Kumar selected a sample of 1,327 overtime timecards from the eight HPD patrol districts between fiscal year 2016 and fiscal year 2020, and compared the data on the cards with the hours entered into the HPD computer system’s overtime database used for payroll.

Former Chief Susan Ballard acknowledged violations of the department’s OT policy in December 2020. She launched internal investigations and partly blamed enforcement of COVID-19 emergency orders for the cost increases.

The analysis found the department’s management of overtime payments “ineffective” during the five fiscal years reviewed by auditors. That handling led to $38 million in overtime payments in fiscal year 2019, documented by handwritten timecards, resulting in nearly $30,000 in unsubstantiated payments and 10 officers taking home more than $4 million for 76,726 hours of overtime pay over five years.

Vanic told commissioners to consider that the $38 million in fiscal year 2019 includes $7 million for holiday shifts; officers earn time and a half for working on a holiday or the first day back from a holiday, according to their contract. Regular pay raises achieved through collective bargaining agreements also helped drive overtime increases, as did the COVID-19 pandemic, which put the responsibility of enforcing the state’s emergency orders on police officers.

“Although it does hit $38 million, when you take into account the holiday overtime pay, the extra ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act of 2021) overtime pay, all of that does add up. … And also the increase in salaries … that does, over time, add up from what you see initially us expending in 2016,” said Vanic.

HPD will form an internal committee with representatives from every bureau and division in the department. They will make recommendations on how to improve overtime cost management. Those recommendations will be reviewed by HPD’s Administrative Review Board and then forwarded to Logan and his leadership team for final consideration and approval.

The resulting improvements will be worked into training modules for commanders responsible for approving the overtime hours and front-line supervisors who call officers in to work overtime to cover shift shortages.

Vanic will meet with Logan to review all special assignments in the department for their effectiveness to determine where they can shift officers back into patrol to cover beats, in response to a recommendation by the auditor. An automated, digital overtime system and cards are being designed and are expected to go live in June or July 2023.

“I think it’s been many, many years since we’ve taken a look at how we submit overtime. … Obviously, with the technology available now, it was long overdue,” said Vanic.

From April to June, HPD has used two patrol districts to pilot a return to the once-popular “3/12” work schedule.

The State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers advocated for the work schedule as a way to improve staffing of beats in Oahu’s eight patrol districts and reduce the physical and emotional strain experienced by officers forced to work overtime to maintain minimum patrol staffing levels.

The 3/12 schedule started in HPD’s busiest patrol district in 1997 as a way to improve morale.

Some officers liked the schedule because it allowed them to pursue second jobs, advance education or spend more time with family. The 3/12 schedule was extended to all eight patrol districts in 2000. Former HPD Chief Boisse P. Correa did away with it in January 2006.

Vanic said early indications from the pilot program indicate that staffing levels have increased, from the current standard of 75% to the “low 90s.” He has discussed extending the pilot program with Logan to gather more data about how it affects staffing levels.

There is a concern that the longer hours could drive up holiday pay costs.

“We haven’t really seen a tremendous increase, and it’s not something that will be negative to the point that we can’t afford it,” said Vanic.

At Wednesday’s Honolulu Police Commission meeting, Commissioner Richard Parry pointed to a portion of the audit that detailed how one officer worked 17-hour shifts for 11 straight days during the pandemic, and asked Vanic whether the department was concerned with officer health and wellness, and how supervisors permitted the grueling stretch of work.

“Why would you have let someone work all those hours if you were concerned about officer welfare?” asked Parry.

Vanic replied, “If commanders allow that to occur, I’m hoping that that is the exception and not the norm.”

Parry continued, “Would you have expected a red flag to go off with these sort of hours?”

“Yes, definitely that isn’t something that I think we should continue to condone,” Vanic said.

A metropolitan police recruit earns $65,652 a year and up to $73,556 including standard-of-conduct pay. That improves to $68,244 per year and up to $76,148 in base pay with the standard-of-conduct differential for a starting officer who graduates from HPD’s Ke Kula Makai training academy in Waipahu.

After completing the necessary years of service, police officers receive automatic step increases as outlined in the collective bargaining agreement SHOPO signed with the city, and officers’ base salary can be up to $98,268 without the standard-of-conduct differential.

The officers’ current contract allows for officers to be paid a night differential; overtime is calculated at 1.5 times the base hourly rate, and officers also receive a meal allowance for overtime work, according to HPD.

After Vanic was finished with the commissioners’ questions, Kumar presented the audit to the commission and explained how the auditor’s staff also incorporated responses to surveys returned by 19 HPD division commanders.

The responses show the divisions are distributing and interpreting overtime policies differently, she said. Some divisions distribute overtime assignments based on seniority; others grant overtime only when assignments cannot be completed.

The audit report makes six recommendations to improve HPD’s overtime policies, including standardizing and centralizing overtime policies and procedures for all patrol districts and nonpatrol divisions, and reevaluating minimum staffing percentages.

She lauded Vanic and his staff for a “collaborative” and “positive” approach to the auditors’ work.