SACRAMENTO — Sacramento’s Police Department routinely pays more than $15 million in overtime each year — totaling more than $100 million in the last decade — yet elected officials have not committed to an audit of the spending.

While public safety overtime is not new or unique to the capital region, the amount has increased substantially since the early 2010s. The department had a nearly ten-fold increase in overtime spending from 2011 to 2023, growing from $2.6 million to $23 million, according to a recent report from the Sacramento Community Police Review Commission.

Such spending has become a point of contention given that the city is dealing with a $44 million shortfall and expected to remain in a structural budget deficit. The City Council declined to approve the commission’s recommendation last month to audit the police department’s overtime spending, citing an already heavy workload for the city auditor.

“If this isn’t a priority for them and the council doesn’t have the political will to move this up in the docket so that it gets done, then what is?” said Keyan Bliss, former chair of the commission which spearheaded the report.

Under next year’s proposed spending plan, the police department’s budget would grow from roughly $247 million to $255 million while reducing less than one-fifth of its vacant positions. These vacant positions are often used to fund overtime costs and cited as necessary to a mandatory minimum staffing policy.

The city’s data found the department paid more than $36 million combined in overtime for the fiscal years 2021-2022 and 2022-2023. The annual spending blew past the department’s nearly $6 million overtime budget.

“Staffing decisions are complex and often involve long-term planning,” said Dan Wiseman, a police spokesperson in a written statement. “Maintaining some vacancies allows the department to stay flexible and responsive to the evolving needs of the community.”

Overtime to make up for understaffing

The commission’s report estimates Sacramento could have saved up to $12.6 million in the last fiscal year by reducing all the department’s vacant positions. As of January, the department had 194 vacant full-time positions — about a third of which are not budgeted.

About 26 positions — mostly community service officers — would be cut under the proposed budget. The city’s Youth, Parks and Community Enrichment department is about one-fourth of the police budget and would lose about 55 vacant positions.

“We need to really do a serious look at the cuts that we’re willing to make,” Bliss said.

Increases in law enforcement overtime have been experienced in cities across California including Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Jose. San Francisco officials approved $91 million in law enforcement overtime spending on Tuesday, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Like Sacramento, these departments often rely on overtime to make up for understaffing. The commission’s report found that 13 sworn police officers and sergeants doubled their base salaries using overtime pay for at least two years in a row.

In March, Sacramento Police Chief Kathy Lester said the department had 648 sworn officers — 156 fewer officers than in 2008. This decrease has come while the Sacramento population has grown by about 60,000, according to census data.

“To put it into perspective, for every square mile in our city, that means there are 559 more people,” Lester said during a March 18 City Council meeting.

The Sacramento Police Officers Association did not respond to a request for comment.

Largest portion of city budget

Among the department’s top overtime expenditures in the last fiscal year were complaint desk backfill, court appearance time and impact teams, which respond to 311 and other homelessness-related calls. The three categories totaled nearly $2.7 million in 10 months, according to city data.

These uses were among the “concerning trends” noted in the commission’s report. As part of its recommendations, the commission called for an audit of the department’s overtime policies, practices and expenditures.

Councilmember Mai Vang raised the possibility last month while the City Council discussed the city auditor’s work plan for the upcoming fiscal year. This came one week after the council approved the commission’s annual report from last year and the upcoming year’s plan, which included the recommendation for an audit.

Vang acknowledged the auditor’s workload and said the city could potentially partner with an external agency while charging the police department for the audit.

“They make up the largest portion of our city budget, and I believe it’s incredibly important we monitor their usage of overtime and vacancy,” Vang said at the April 22 meeting. “Since I’ve been in office, we’ve increased the Sacramento Police budget by close to $100 million.”

Vang faced pushback from some council members who said they wished to complete the current audits in progress before committing to another one. The city has six audits in progress and another dozen planned, according to a presentation from City Auditor Farishta Ahrary last month.

“What we’re trying to do is make a realistic work plan so we can actually get through the items we have,” Councilmember Eric Guerra said.

Interim City Manager Leyne also noted during the meeting that the city had produced an “in-depth analysis” of the overtime spending in the last few fiscal years. She said the police department will create another report for the most recent year.

Last year’s analysis, included in supplemental budget information, focuses mostly on the department’s overtime policies and top 10 overtime uses.

Former Councilmember Katie Valenzuela questioned if the analysis is sufficient to address the current concerns. She said the information took years to receive and the city must specifically investigate whether overtime spending is being misused.

Such an investigation is more crucial this year because the city has proposed layoffs for the first time since 2013, Valenzuela added. Twelve people would lose their positions under Milstein’s budget plan for next fiscal year which begins in July.

“To even suggest that this budget should proceed without investigating this question is at best, financially irresponsible and at worst, very willful ignorance about the ongoing potential misuse of millions of city resources in a budget crisis,” Valenzuela said.

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