PHOENIX — After an ABC15 report revealed dozens of officers received huge overtime payouts in a single month, Phoenix police officials sent out a memo alerting the department to changes in their policy for approving extra work.
A second supervisor is now required to sign off on overtime requests, adding an extra layer to the approval process, according to the memo.
It also stated that all overtime requests must be approved within the work week.
RELATED: ABC15 investigates huge overtime payouts to Phoenix officers
The memo was dated on April 26, 2024.
That’s two weeks after ABC15 released a news report showing at least two dozen officers received overtime payments exceeding $10,000 in January. The top officer was paid more than $39,000 for 550 overtime hours.
When asked if the memo was sent in response to ABC15’s report, a spokesperson wrote: “This notification was the result of recommendations from a work group convened last September by Interim Chief Michael Sullivan who asked that the group explore and make recommendations on how to effectively manage overtime costs given the current staffing numbers.”
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Phoenix police previously said that the huge overtime payout for the top officer covered “several months” worth of overtime slips and all were “deemed credible.”
Overtime is common inside the Phoenix Police Department as the city has several hundred vacant officer positions.
Through a public records request, ABC15 has requested overtime documents and information to look into how well the city is managing and tracking overtime payments.
Contact ABC15 Chief Investigator Dave Biscobing at Dave@ABC15.com.
