Safety committee discusses ways to reduce police dept. overtime

Acting police chief Capt. McKenzie Mattingly discusses overtime issues with the Bardstown City Council safety committee at its special-called meeting Wednesday.

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Thursday, Oct. 13, 2016, 1 p.m. — The Bardstown Police Department is looking for ways to reduce its overtime costs in the wake of learning it has already used 47 percent of its overtime budget since the fiscal year began on July 1.

At Wednesday’s meeting of the city council’s safety committee, Tracy Hudson, the city’s chief financial officer, said she alerted the mayor and acting police chief Capt. McKenzie Mattingly that the police department was running ahead of its overtime budget expenses.

To date, the department has spent roughly $65,000 of the $135,000 budgeted for overtime in fiscal year 2017, she said.

Mayor John Royalty answers a question posed by Councilman Francis Lydian at Wednesday’s safety committee meeting.

Last fiscal year, Mattingly said the department overspent its overtime budget by more than $50,000. Only $15,000 was added to the fiscal year 2017 budget, which means if nothing different is done, the department will still exceed its overtime budget.

The promotion of six officers earlier this year also compounds the issue because the promotions were accompanied by pay increases, which also increases overtime costs, he said.

Department training — including the Flex Team, which requires 16 hours per month — invariably generates overtime, he explained. Flex Team call-outs also generated overtime, he said. Training improves officer skills and confidence, increases morale, and helps with officer retention, Mattingly told the committee — but training often requires officers to work overtime hours outside their regular shifts.

The department’s overtime also is affected by shootings, homicides and sexual assaults.

Mattingly noted the department is short four officers; the most recent officer left this week, citing hiring pay at an adjoining county’s sheriff’s office. Being short-staff makes it a challenge to keep three officers on the street without creating overtime, he said.

Mattingly also said he no longer gives officers who train both overtime pay and comp time, which he said was the policy of former police chief Rick McCubbin. Officers who used comp time could lead to additional overtime costs, he said.

Special events in the community also lead to overtime. Even though festivals like Buttermilk and the Kentucky Bourbon Festival provide their own security, the addition of thousands of visitors to Bardstown requires putting more officers on the street, he said.

SOLUTIONS. Mattingly said he is working to reduce overtime hours by canceling the rest of the trainings planned for the rest of the calendar year.

He’s examined the feasibility of moving from 12-hour shifts to 10-hour shifts. Reducing overtime is complicated by the need for required training and officer qualification. For example, officers must qualify twice a year at the firing range with their rifles and pistols, and Mattingly said he’s looking at how that can be accomplished without generating overtime.

“That’s a problem with a 24/7 organization,” he said. “Departmental-wide training usually involves overtime.”

He said the department is now tracking what activity is generating each overtime hour. Mattingly said he has canceled the rest of the police training scheduled for the year, and he has ordered the department’s sergeants to adjust their schedules to reduce overtime during Flex Team training.

The committee agreed that Mattingly will track overtime hours and continue to work to reduce the need for overtime hours. The committee will review the overtime situation at its December meeting.

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