Deputies’ overtime to be audited; Supervisor cites six-figure earnings as reason to use correctional officers in jails.
By NORBERTO SANTANA JR. and NATALYA SHULYAKOVSKAYA
The Orange County Register
ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. — County supervisors said Monday that they will order their performance auditor to conduct an in-depth study of the Sheriff’s Department’s overtime spending, which has soared beyond the $41million mark in recent years.
The Board of Supervisors was reacting to an Orange County Register investigation that revealed mismanagement of the department’s overtime budget. Overtime increased the pay of more than 100 sworn officers to more than $150,000.
“This continues the evidence of mismanagement of (former sheriff) Mike Carona,” Supervisor Bill Campbell said. “Just as we found out from the grand jury report on the jails, I don’t think he and his most senior people were paying attention to running the organization.”
Campbell said the increasing costs of overtime at the Sheriff’s Department reinforced his interest in exploring cheaper jail workers, such as correctional officers.
“This just gives us one more reason,” Campbell said of the overtime payouts. “It cries out for using correctional officers.”
Board Chairman John Moorlach said he discussed the issue with Vice Chairman Pat Bates over the weekend, and the pair agreed to have the county’s performance auditor investigate whether overtime and the “3-12" workweek is being abused.
“In fairness to the department, it would be nice to have our performance auditor to do some analysis and see if it’s the best route to take and whether it needs any improvement,” Moorlach said. “We don’t have bad people. We have bad systems. And the systems need to be fixed.”
“We need to drill down on this,” Bates agreed.
A new department report obtained by the Register contains more details of the department’s use of overtime, based on the most recent pay period for 28 officers who exceeded the department’s limit on overtime hours.
Despite assertions by sheriff’s officials that a lot of overtime comes from officers finishing up arrests, investigating hot cases or testifying in court, those reasons are responsible for about 13 percent of overtime, the report shows.
Nearly 40 percent of overtime was generated by deputies covering vacancies. Fifteen percent came from covering shifts for officers in training, and 10 percent was related to vacations. Special events were the fourth-largest generator of overtime at 7 percent.
One-fifth of all overtime hours were generated working shifts away from the officers’ primary department.
Sheriff-designee Sandra Hutchens issued a statement Monday, through a department spokesman, saying she wants to analyze the use of vacant positions; ensure overtime is being properly tracked; and establish a policy that provides accountability and transparency.
Acting Sheriff Jack Anderson and officials from the deputies’ union could not be reached for comment Monday because they were participating in their annual golf tournament at the Coto de Caza Golf Club. The 2008 Memorial Golf Tournament was promoted as “honoring our fallen heroes.”
Copyright 2008 The Orange County Register