Title
Police Department Overtime Use and Management Overview
Description
This item provides the Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee with a report on the Phoenix Police Department's overtime usage and management.
THIS ITEM IS FOR INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION.
Report
Summary
A challenge facing many law enforcement agencies across the county is filling vacant sworn positions, achieving hiring targets, and overtime management. The Phoenix Police Department (PPD) has been actively working to address hiring challenges and the use, management, and control of sworn overtime, recognizing its critical impact on the budget, operational efficiency, and employee wellness. Overtime within the department is divided into mandatory and discretionary categories. Mandatory overtime arises from unavoidable circumstances such as staffing shortages, special events like the Super Bowl, dignitary visits, court appearances, and investigative responses. This type of overtime constitutes approximately 80 percent of the department's total overtime, primarily driven by the need to meet minimum staffing requirements. On the other hand, discretionary overtime is associated with activities that can be scheduled in advance, such as training, investigative case management, and crime suppressions activities.
To manage and control overtime effectively, the PPD has implemented several strategic measures. A leadership committee was established in 2023 to conduct a comprehensive review of overtime usage and develop strategies aimed at improving the management of overtime usage. This committee and subsequent working group has focused on revising policies to enhance employee wellness and introducing tools to monitor and control overtime more effectively. Additionally, the department has incorporated training for supervisors and staff to ensure they are well-versed in the policies and best practices related to overtime management. Since the committee's inception and subsequent efforts, the following revisions have been made to departmental policy.
- Limits the number of hours an employee can work in a 24-hour period and in a work week.
- Prohibits the submission of overlapping overtime requests.
- Requires at least one day off per week that must coincide with a scheduled day off.
- Requires supervisory review of all overtime prior to approval.
- Requires timely submission of overtime requests for approval to their assigned supervisor.
- Requires executive level approvals for exceptions to policy.
The PPD has also engaged with the City Auditor's office to review compliance with existing policies and identify opportunities for improvement. Recent audits have also highlighted the financial implications of overtime within the PPD. This collaboration underscores the department's commitment to managing overtime in a financially responsible manner. However, the PPD faces two significant challenges in controlling overtime. The first challenge is the limitation of the current Overtime Tracking System (LOTS), which is a time management system that is highly reactive, overly manual, and post-event oriented. These limiting factors impact the system's effectiveness in real-time management. The second challenge is ensuring supervisory accountability for the authorization and management of overtime.
Additionally, overtime is a significant cost burden to the General Fund and the voter approved Public Safety Specialty Funds (PSSFs). Attachment A provides Police overtime costs from FY2014-15 to FY2024-25, the filled sworn count, and the total Police budget for each fiscal year for reference. Overtime costs have increased primarily due to a combination of increased hours worked and City Council approved pay increases from the Class & Comp study and labor negotiated increases. Fringe benefits including pension also exacerbate the cost of overtime. These pressures have coincided with staffing shortages and although staffing levels have started to improve, the usage of overtime has remained elevated. The budgeted sworn hiring count for the PPD is 3,125 positions. As of August 2025, the filled count with recruits is 2,636 resulting in a vacant sworn budgeted count of 489 positions. Sworn vacant positions provide an offset to overtime costs; however, overtime is more costly than straight pay, because it is paid out at 1.5 times the normal hourly rate, plus the cost of fringe benefits. Vacancy savings have also been used to cover the cost of City Council approved PPD supplemental budget requests from FY2021-22 to FY2023-24 (Attachment B). Additionally, sworn vacancy savings have been used to subsidize the PSSFs to ensure fund sustainability as the cost of each sworn position assigned to the fund exceeds the dedicated sales tax revenue allocated.
The Budget & Research Department and PPD fiscal staff analyzes sworn position costs, overtime, and vacancy savings each fiscal year during the projection review and technical budget review processes and includes an inflationary adjustment to overtime to account for merit increases. Police fiscal staff is also working to identify the amount of overtime needed to adequately respond to calls for service in a reasonable amount of time based on schedules, deployment methods, and staffing levels. It is important to note that limited resources exist to provide programs and services to residents and any increase in overtime must be balanced with other needs in the PPD as well as other City departments. Attachment C provides details on the PPD General Fund budget, the amount of overtime and vacancy savings budgeted and the use of vacancy savings in the Police budget.
While we are now seeing improvements in hiring, staffing shortages have been a persistent issue for the PPD, driven by factors such as retirements, fewer applicants, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and negative perceptions of law enforcement as a profession. As mentioned above, the department is budgeted for 3,125 officers but currently has 2,636 positions filled. Efforts to address these shortages include new marketing strategies and increased pay for recruits, leading to a recent surge in applications and additional academy classes. Notably, PPD is a market leader for officer pay in Arizona, reflecting the City Council's commitment to police and community safety. This commitment and support have been crucial in attracting new recruits and retaining experienced officers, ensuring effective community service and public safety.
When compared to other police departments, the PPD's challenges and strategies are not unique. A national study by the Police Executive Research Forum found that many local police departments face similar issues with staffing shortages, recruiting challenges, and the use of overtime to meet service demands. And, the use and management of overtime in law enforcement agencies has been of significant community interest in major cities across the United States. Other major city police departments have scrutinized their overtime practices, utilizing audits and policy revisions to make improvements. These departments, like the PPD, have implemented measures such as enhanced record-keeping, management oversight, and training to better control overtime usage.
The PPD remains dedicated to refining its approach to overtime management. The City is also underway with procuring a new Time and Labor system which is expected to significantly improve the PPD's ability to track, monitor, and report overtime. The ongoing efforts to address system limitations and enhance supervisory review are critical steps toward achieving a more efficient and wellness-focused overtime management system.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Assistant City Manager Lori Bays and the Police Department.