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Breaking The Bank: Boston City Officials Begin Investigating Police Overtime System

Boston city leaders are starting to worry that their current overtime system for police officers could be “breaking the bank,” CBS Boston reports.

For instance, in 2011, 128 officers made more than both the Mayor and the Police Commissioner who are paid approximately $175,000, the report adds. In fact, 41 officers made more than $200,000 last year.

“I think that when they (the public) see outrageous salaries, there are questions and I think it’s really important to answer those questions,” Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis said.

“Basically the officers have figured out a way to manipulate the contract to generate substantial increased revenue for hours that aren’t worked,” Sam Tyler, a municipal watchdog, said.

Watch the Boston CBS news brief:

What are some of the ways police officers have figured out how to play the system?

“For example,” CBS Boston explains, “an officer called in for a court case gets a four hour minimum, even if he is only needed for a fraction of that. Ditto when working a paid detail. It is all perfectly legal and spelled out in the union contract.”

So if an officer works one minute over four hours, he gets paid for eight.

“When you see this type of practice and you have 2,100 police officers in Boston, that all adds up to a lot of extra dollars that the taxpayers are paying,” Tyler said.

And in regards to the system “breaking the bank,” the city of Boston paid out $32 million in overtime last year.

“The budget is full of choices and when we don’t use it in one area we could use it in another area,” Murphy said.

Boston is also starting to rethink its existing policy of buying back unused vacation and sick time.

“City Council President Murphy wants to limit the length of time someone can carry that, so the city doesn’t get stuck with a large bill when the person leaves,” CBS Boston reports.

Front page photo source Boston.com

Comments (91)

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  • bigdaddyt46
    Posted on June 2, 2012 at 6:28am

    and Scott Walker is the one getting recalled??? since he stripped the unions of collective bargining(one part was they could opt out of unions and not have dues automatically deducted) people are dropping the unions in huge numbers. latest numbers indicate that before there was a 67% union strong hold, to now an all time low of 28%. in 2 years worth of time Walker has not only paid back the money borrowed from another state(MN), has dug us out of the $3.6 billion whole left to him by dem gov. doyle. and by being able to switch health insurance companies and re-budgeting our school system without hurting the schools. we are now at a $1 biillion in savings, and a $350 million surplus, plus he’s the first gov in a decade to actually start putting money into the rainy day fund that all states have. he added 33,000 jobs in under 2 years. property taxeswent down, as did corperate taxes. again i say and he’s the one getting recalled??? I STAND WITH SCOTT WALKER.

    Report Post » bigdaddyt46  
    • poorrichard09
      Posted on June 2, 2012 at 8:37am

      Huh, corrupt UNIONIZED cops-who’d a thunk it?

      Report Post »  
    • toomuchgovt
      Posted on June 2, 2012 at 6:27pm

      Doesn’t it feel good, to actually have government work for you? In NY Cuomo cut union jobs, our taxes didn’t go down, he “cut the budget”, put a “cap” on local schools, all of course could be clawed back by local NY teachers unions (which they did), of course he did all he could. Still the low paid union worker is out of a job, they forced them to take early retirement, then hired them back part time at minimum wage, so they are now receiving a pension, unemployment, and a small salary and some receive our state golden welfare program. But I didn’t see the unions protest Cuomo when he cut all those union jobs.

      Report Post » toomuchgovt  
    • bigdaddyt46
      Posted on June 3, 2012 at 6:13am

      @toomuchgov

      yep love what Walker has done. no real surprise his friend and mentor was also the greatest Wisconsin gov of all time Tommy Thompson. for 16 years Thompson made this state more bearablr to live in, as well as prosperos. the douch bag doyle(democrat but you already know that because douchbag and democrat are synonomus) spent his first 4 months of his first term destroying everything Thompson took 16 years to build. now we have Walker stripping the damage doyle did in 8 years , and doing it from day 1, no lolligagging boom it went. now we are starting to turn the ship right around and moving forward again it’ll be bearable to live here again.

      Report Post » bigdaddyt46  
    • clareee
      Posted on June 4, 2012 at 10:12pm

      AMEN…well said.

      Report Post »  
  • EP46
    Posted on June 2, 2012 at 5:01am

    Strange….we have been talking since last Sept. when OWS started that the unions would be the winners with all the overtime. The OWS serves as a ‘handout’ to union employees. The police, the street cleaners, the trash pick up…etc

    Report Post »  
  • Westerner51
    Posted on June 2, 2012 at 2:58am

    Stealing is what it is called. To say there are some good cops there; would be like giving an accomplice, after the fact, a pass.

    Report Post »  
  • Westerner51
    Posted on June 2, 2012 at 2:51am

    Stealing is what it is called.

    Report Post »  
    • canadianlady
      Posted on June 2, 2012 at 9:48am

      The police are only doing what their contract allows them to. Don’t fault them for that. Fault the union leaders who negotiated it. That four hour minimum thing is usually when the employee goes home for the day or night and is called back out. Who would get up out of their bed in the middle of the night for one hour’s pay? Not very many people.

      Report Post »  
    • Starisoldat
      Posted on June 5, 2012 at 10:01am

      Canadianlady: Your response is the typically morally corrupt “Don’t hate the player, hate the game” BS! Of course they are only doing what their contract allows, but even a 5 year old would (if raised by my grandmother) know that this isn’t right. And do you really want someone so ethically corrupt that they feel it‘s ok to do something wrong just because it’s allowed protecting your children?

      What a Crock.

      Report Post »  
  • Prepare-For-War
    Posted on June 2, 2012 at 2:10am

    Don’t cry about it now people…you hired ‘em! It’s your fault that these fat bastards do what they do. If you don’t like this kind of abuse, stop hiring and empowering all of these useless turds! Yes society…YOUR FAULT!!!

    Report Post » Prepare-For-War  
    • Prepare-For-War
      Posted on July 28, 2012 at 12:45am

      What do you want to bet that VERONICALYNN123 is morbidly obese and married to a cop!!!

      Report Post » Prepare-For-War  
  • junior1971
    Posted on June 2, 2012 at 1:45am

    A man who is young, dodges bullets for a living. A man who is old and used to dodge bullets for a living is now safely in charge. He instructs the younger guys how to survive the bullets whizzing by their heads. Who should be paid 175k? What is the value of bullets flying by your head? How much do the younger guys make, anyway? Our lives are priceless. Should we take it upon ourselves to determine the value?

    Report Post » junior1971  
    • pavnvet
      Posted on June 2, 2012 at 9:13am

      That is the most inane comment of the day. First, this overtime is paid mostly for traffic duty and court appearances, not direct crime fighting. This situation is nothing more than a union who indirectly receives taxpayer money coercing others on the taxpayer’s dole to give wages and benefits that no private company in their right mind would ever think of giving. That is what this is about, not the risks of the job. Geez.

      Report Post » pavnvet  
    • Thewayiseeit
      Posted on June 2, 2012 at 6:18pm

      Who’s to say it is not the corrupt Unions creating those wizzing bullets to justify the pay?

      The same folks who bussed people in from other states to recall Scott Walker even though after passing concealed carry, violent crime has gone down? Now has surplus in budget & Union people still acting holy while criminally destroying Economy. With Obama’s blessing no less,
      No, you Union members had (past tenses) a choice, you chose the criminal side & will be judged accordingly. Hint: Unions since 1990 gave Democrat campaigns $614,000,000+ yet a large percent of Unions can’t even pay their contractual pension responsibilities?

      For some damn reason I can’t feel the least bit sympathetic with Union
      Members who allow this & even go along with it. Unions are finished!

      Report Post » Thewayiseeit  
    • Mil-Dot
      Posted on June 3, 2012 at 3:58am

      I agree Pav. This is nothing other than rewarding the body guards of criminal politcians for looking the other way. Cops are basically just a goon squad for the govt. Taxpayers are nothing but saps to them, existing and having value only in that money can be forcibly extracted from them with no recourse available.

      Report Post »  
    • rockstone
      Posted on June 4, 2012 at 11:15am

      Your reply is nothing but part of the shake down. It doesn’t matter anyway……. The cities are broke. It‘s only a matter of time before you’re going to be happy to dodge bullets for about 40k. (Really though,,,, how many times have you dodged a bullet in you career? If it’s more than once, you’re the problem! Ask anyone who knows what they’re doing out there. The objective is to do your job well enough so you don’t get shot at….or don’t you teach that?)

      But I digress…..You see, you won’t be able to work anywhere else. No one else will be hiring anyway. And if you take the other side and become part of the problem in the streets, what good were you in LE in the first place? We’ve heard of Blue Flu pal… take that route.. you aren’t worth being a cop anyway.

      Report Post » rockstone  
    • lucyloo
      Posted on June 7, 2012 at 6:51pm

      its a volunteer job …they don’t have to be cops if they thought it was such a bad harmful job…truth is, they realized they won the Lotto when they got hired and no one is going to take anything back from him….its cultural too…grand daddies and daddies and then sons…they all know the score……stick with it for 20 yrs and your a millionaire in the making….

      Report Post »  
  • Former Patriot
    Posted on June 2, 2012 at 12:43am

    Peace officers have a rough job, no one can contest that. Most are good, honest patriots, but in some areas it is obvious where there loyalties lie and it certainly isn’t the citizens. The tables seem to have turned these days. Now it appears that the most honest cops are the ones that have been much maligned for the last 30 years in southern Right to Work states. All Politics aside, would you automatically trust a cop in Boston, NYC, Chicago, or Detroit?

    Report Post »  
    • Westerner51
      Posted on June 2, 2012 at 3:02am

      “Peace officers” Went out a long time ago. Now cops are LAW ENFORCEMENT officers. This is the mindset and the effects there of.

      Report Post »  
  • TheCoffinMaker
    Posted on June 1, 2012 at 11:36pm

    Cops are becoming bigger thugs than those they apprehend.

    Report Post » TheCoffinMaker  
  • RightPolitically
    Posted on June 1, 2012 at 10:32pm

    Corrupt public unions are sinking the country. I contend that far too many police and firefighters, teachers, etc. go into their careers not to serve the public good but rather, to serve their own. They want those jobs primarily because they know that, one way or another, as unionized public workers, they can milk the teat of government largess at great expense to the taxpayer and the country. If the whole damn thing collapses they won’t give a damn as long as they get theirs. It’s all about ethics of which they have little!

    Report Post » RightPolitically  
    • docgreen
      Posted on June 1, 2012 at 11:02pm

      How much ya want to bet that the Unions require them to get 4 hours for court? Fire them all and eliminate the Union Contracts! Just like Wisconsin did! Yes Unions do help protecting people at times. But this has gotten way out of hand. These people are thugs and don’t care about this country. It sounds like someone else I know. He lives in the White House. POS, thats stinking up the White House and needs to be flushed!….. How many times has the Union master been to the White House for special meetings? Yep if the DOJ checked into these thugs instead of a Law Abiding Sherriff like Joe, we wouldn’t have to worry about POS like this ripping the country off. Between the Unions and the President I’m not sure whos the biggest crooks? Then we also have the DOJ selling guns to our enemies! What could go wrong with that? Besides everything! I think were becoming like Russia and Venezuela. When will the Unions and the black “idiot” panthers start running around with bats?

      Report Post »  
    • endthemindlessspending
      Posted on June 2, 2012 at 12:40am

      @DOCGREEN

      Yes, Unions do help protecting people at times.

      I was an employee at UPS which is a unionized company that Teamsters represents. I hated to pay union dues to protect employees that were standing around doing nothing. Their excuse was “I’m doing the best I can” while I was busting my butt to load their truck so it can leave on time. Also to make matters worse they would get peoples jobs back after mishandling and destroying peoples packages. If you show up on time, do the job you applied for and respect you managers you don’t need a union to protect your job. If you’re making yourself useful to the company they will do anything they can to keep you there.

      Report Post »  
  • Magyar
    Posted on June 1, 2012 at 10:04pm

    And these are the ones who enforce the law!

    When the sh% hits the fan, don’t look to law enforcement to protect YOU or your family. Best you be prepared to do it yourself– Get a carry permit and invest in Pb!

    Report Post »  
    • RightPolitically
      Posted on June 1, 2012 at 10:48pm

      Right you are. My guess is that one third of police are corrupt and that the other two thirds won’t do anything about it so as not to rock the boat! It’s a tough job at times and a dangerous one, but still, those are the numbers I believe are true. Get rid of public unions….. NOW!

      Report Post » RightPolitically  
  • PROSECUTE_PUBLIC_SERVANTS__FOR_CONSTITUTIONAL_TREASON
    Posted on June 1, 2012 at 9:51pm

    Not Really Surprised. Local police deptments are just criminal enterprises enforcement division for the local criminal gov.’s no different than any criminal gang. Belong to the gang and you are protected.

    Report Post »  
  • possom
    Posted on June 1, 2012 at 9:29pm

    Why stop at the cop‘s check out all the state worker’s especially the politician’s!

    Report Post » possom  
    • HorseCrazy
      Posted on June 2, 2012 at 12:16am

      yes they need to clean up at every level of public government. janitors and up I am so sick of these tools gaming the system and ripping all of us off. who knew none of us neeed college all we needed to do was get a public sector union job.

      Report Post »  
  • cassandra
    Posted on June 1, 2012 at 9:26pm

    you can thank the UNIONS for all the greed, I know cops that retire get a pension then get back on the work force that is taking jobs away from the young cop that is a family man these old guys are double dipping and that needs to stop, I have respect for the police but not for that crap that is going down

    Report Post »  
  • Psychosis
    Posted on June 1, 2012 at 9:21pm

    pay them for the time they work, and only the time they work

    make em punch a freakin time clock

    Report Post » Psychosis  
    • barber2
      Posted on June 1, 2012 at 9:38pm

      Funny. Maybe that is why they “ invented ” time clocks . Human nature never really changes ! You can put a man on the moon but you can’t change a man trained in Chicago !

      Report Post »  
  • mohavegreen
    Posted on June 1, 2012 at 9:14pm

    What city in California are they from?

    Report Post » mohavegreen  
  • barber2
    Posted on June 1, 2012 at 9:03pm

    Duh. Any wonder why the Lefties are pushing for police unions ? Any wonder why this is BAD for the protection of the average citizen ? Do the words Democrat Party ring a bell? How about the words Holder DOJ ? We have the unions / international Left to thank for all of this mess. May there still be enough non- public unionized ( should be illegal ) police to protect us taxpayers from these union political mobsters.

    Report Post »  
  • Constructionist
    Posted on June 1, 2012 at 9:02pm

    Unions are a civil right and a cherished American tradition handed down by the Framers. If you are against union practices in any way, you are both a racist and a Nazi. Oh damn… sorry… thought I was logged into Daily Kos.

    Report Post » Constructionist  
  • strawberry411a
    Posted on June 1, 2012 at 9:00pm

    Add your comments

    Report Post »  
  • strawberry411a
    Posted on June 1, 2012 at 8:59pm

    Whatever. As soon as every politician gives up their $150k pension for life, I might say it‘s time to start looking at the cops and firemen’s $50k pennon. Give it a rest. If anybody has earned it it’s cops. This country is out of control.

    Report Post »  
    • veronicalynn123
      Posted on June 2, 2012 at 11:34am

      Finally, someone making sense.
      I’m an old school Christian Conservative. This is 2012, the only unions that are necc. are Police and Fire. Why? Because there jobs are dangerous. Any thug that gets arrested can file a complaint against the officer who arrested them. That complaint is then invertigated and the complaint stays on that officers file forever.

      Report Post »  
    • proliance
      Posted on June 2, 2012 at 1:46pm

      I say no more government pensions, period. Its bankrupting this country. If you want a retirement program then get a 401k. If your government employer has a budget that can handle it, then match 5%. This goes for cops, firefighters, teachers and US military.

      Report Post » proliance  
    • Mil-Dot
      Posted on June 3, 2012 at 4:25am

      Veronica has been brainwashed into believing the govt lie that cops and firefighters are heros. That they deserve anything and everything. Nobody is forcing them to work those jobs. They work them because it is lucrative for them to do so and they have priveledges and power that others can only dream of. Laws have been perverted by cops to the point that EVERYTHING is illegal. You can be arrested for ANY real or imagined “infraction”. Case in point. Assault used to mean attacking someone physically with the intent to do harm. Now, just looking at somebody and yelling at them can be considered assault or just “touching” a cop on the arm can be called “assaulting a police officer”. So you see, laws are meaningless. They mean whatever they want them to mean.

      Report Post »  
  • AUsername
    Posted on June 1, 2012 at 8:56pm

    lay off and fire some pigs we don‘t need and we don’t want em.

    Report Post » AUsername  
    • strawberry411a
      Posted on June 1, 2012 at 9:05pm

      Sure. Well put. And the first time you have someone who looks at you cross-eyed, you run screaming to the popo. Grow up. it’s not 1968 anymore Abby.

      Report Post »  
    • AUsername
      Posted on June 1, 2012 at 9:16pm

      all those thugs do is write tickets.

      Report Post » AUsername  
    • barber2
      Posted on June 1, 2012 at 9:35pm

      Where did you come from ? Please go back.

      Report Post »  
    • calisun
      Posted on June 1, 2012 at 11:53pm

      Cops are good for one thing….getting into your wallet.

      Report Post » calisun  
  • BlackCrow
    Posted on June 1, 2012 at 8:55pm

    The land of Honey Fitz. Eighty years of corruption is finally catching up.

    Report Post » BlackCrow  
  • Utahcatholic
    Posted on June 1, 2012 at 8:52pm

    If it’s an eastcoast public police or firemans union, you know going in the system is being “gamed”. That’s what their call to public service is all about………filling their pockets while whining how dangerous their job is. No one forced them to take the job.

    If Boston really wants to investigate something they should investigate the number of cops and firemen retiring on carefully planned and orchestrated disability.

    Report Post »  
  • Tree_Butcher
    Posted on June 1, 2012 at 8:50pm

    snicker… government employees collecting taxpayer money for not doing anything investigating government employees collecting taxpayer money for not doing anything.
    WHERE’S A COP WHEN YOU NEED ONE? oh wait…

    Report Post » Tree_Butcher  
  • kaydeebeau
    Posted on June 1, 2012 at 8:49pm

    doesn’t this now make those 41 officers part of the evil 1%???

    Report Post » kaydeebeau  
  • NickDeringer
    Posted on June 1, 2012 at 8:44pm

    Just the tinniest tip of the iceberg.

    Report Post » NickDeringer  
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