One issue you speak of is forced overtime, and I was not aware that (apparently from your description) there is a system in place to identify and schedule officers to fill in vacancies on other shifts. I suppose that would qualify as sound management if it is used only in emergency situations. If it is a common practice, my opinion is that it indicates poor decision-making at the top — by the chief of police and whoever is in charge of the patrol division these days. In fact (again -- just my opinion), establishing forced overtime as a standard practice (excluding emergencies and unforeseen events) may be a violation of federal and state law. I would think the FOP might have agreed to it during contract negotiations. I can't imagine the county government simply establishing it by executive mandate.
It is my experience that excessive overtime in a uniformed patrol force almost always is the result of a deliberate decision by the parent government not to fill vacant positions. Historically, different county administrations did not permit us to fill newly vacant positions -- we were usually required to wait until July 1, the start of the next fiscal year, to fill them. The county budget office reallocated the unpaid salaries and fringe benefits of retired officers for other uses, at their discretion. The term the budget people use to refer to that money is "turnover." Sometimes, turnover money was made available to the police department in cases where we went way over budget for some reason. But most of the time, turnover was used to balance the year-end budgets of other county agencies, even though the county council originally allocated the money for law enforcement.
So, if the forced overtime procedure happens more frequently in April, May, and June, one of the causes possibly could be the reallocation of funds by the county budget office. But if it is a routine occurrence throughout the year, then it is, most likely, because the chief of police is unwilling or unable to hire enough police officers to staff the patrol division adequately.
I hope that isn't confusing, but it's the best I can do from the perspective of being retired for so long. I will say that your final sentence is absolutely true — local governments are notorious penny-pinchers and the one thing their leaders hate to do is add new positions to the government payroll. That isn't just limited to Anne Arundel County, it includes every city and county government in the country.
DR
Responses