LAPD to Cut Overtime Pay, Special Patrols

Seeking to cut spending on overtime, the Los Angeles Police Department has ended its special problem-solving teams that target crimes such as drug dealing, prostitution and thefts when they plague neighborhoods.

The department also plans to discontinue a long-standing practice of paying officers overtime to supplement weekend patrols at Venice Beach and on Hollywood Boulevard. The department, which spent more than $800,000 for those beefed-up patrols last year, now plans to assign officers on regular shifts from police stations citywide.

The cost of new hiring and rising wages has prompted the city to slash the LAPD’s overtime budget from $52.6 million last year to $27.6 million for the fiscal year that started July 1.

Under the new overtime policy, the use of Problem-Focused Special Uniformed Details ended this month. The teams conducted undercover drug and prostitution stings and increased patrols in areas heavily hit by bank robberies, traffic accidents or car thefts.

The cutbacks were lamented by police supervisors and community leaders, who worried about the impact on crime-fighting.

“Clearly this is going to hurt,” said William Moran, commanding officer for the LAPD’s Fiscal Support Bureau. “We don’t print money, so we have to live with what we’re given. We’re going to have to run like a business.”

Capt. Richard Wahler, who oversees the North Hollywood police station, said: “Cash overtime has been our best way of getting extra officers on the streets. We just won’t have as many out there anymore.”

Some community activists said the city should find other places to save money.

“If public safety is the number one issue in the city, then let’s fund it,” said Harry Coleman, president of the North Hills Community Coordinating Council, who has worked closely with the LAPD’s Devonshire police station to curb street-corner drug dealing. “Give us back the overtime. Is it worth it to sacrifice public safety?”

LAPD officials said rapid hiring will put more police on the streets, but they acknowledge that the overtime policy could result in officers taking record amounts of compensatory time off.

Under the new policy, about half of the overtime budget will be paid to officers in cash, while the rest will be used for compensatory time. LAPD officials said police captains will require officers to use their comp time when they reach a certain limit of accrued hours.

“We’re going to be balancing a very narrow path,” said Capt. Val Paniccia, who oversees the West Valley police station. “We’re going to reach a point where all the officers will need to take time off. . . . We won’t have the same flexibility.”

Some City Council members acknowledged that the police stations are stretched thin, but said hiring goals and pay raises make it an exceptionally tight budget year.

“In a sense, we are robbing Peter to pay Paul,” said City Council member Laura Chick, who chairs the Public Safety Committee. “We need and want to pay our officers decently. We need and want to hire more officers. We need and want to pay our officers overtime. . . . When you add all these things up, it’s a big, big ticket item.”

The council decided last month to cut the overtime budget, but the lawmakers also placed about $12 million in a discretionary fund.

Noelia Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for Mayor Richard Riordan, said the LAPD would have to compete with other city departments to tap that money.

The change has upset police supervisors and rank-and-file officers, who often volunteer for overtime shifts to boost their pay.

Capt. Bruce Hagerty, who oversees the Hollenbeck police station, said the new policies will affect his East Los Angeles division’s ability to crack down on afternoon and evening crime. His station used overtime cash to supplement existing patrols, he noted.

In Van Nuys, Capt. Bruce Merritt said overtime money helped reduce emergency response times. Several officers were designated for special teams used solely for crime-in-progress calls.

“Let’s face it, people in any occupation like overtime,” Merritt said. “The officers are not real pleased with it. No way.”

LAPD officials said the cutbacks will not affect the department’s participation in multi-agency task forces such as the federal-local effort to combat violent crime, in which personnel from the LAPD, Sheriff’s Department and FBI work together in a number of operations, including gang member apprehension and fugitive tracking.