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HendrixChord12 t1_jcza6ng wrote

Reply to comment by pk10534 in NYPD Blows Overtime Budget by Nearly $100 Million, On Pace for Record | The New York City Police Department’s budget overage defies a pledge by Mayor Eric Adams to cut overtime spending by half in his first year in office. by bloomberg

Serious question, how much more expensive? It’s time and a half pay but how much does not paying for another persons insurance counterbalance?

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pk10534 t1_jczd4ec wrote

Well, I don’t know NYC’s exact figures, but let’s say we live in RandomCity and pay our officers $20/hour, which would be $30/hr for overtime. We have two choices: we can either hire a third officer, or ask our two officers to take 2 extra shifts a week. Let’s see the monthly costs for each:

Officer A

Base pay: $3200

Overtime: $1920,

Officer B

Base Pay: $3200

Overtime: $1920

Total monthly cost: $10,200

Total hours worked: 56 hours/week + 56 hours/week = 448

————————————

Officer A/B/C

Base Pay $3200 x 3

Total: $9600

Total hours worked: 480

Over the course of the month, by having officers take overtime rather than filling a position, we’re actually spending more money and getting fewer hours worked. Sure, there are other expenses related to personnel - health insurance, pensions, etc. But even on a tiny scale of 2-3 officers, we’re already seeing savings of almost $1000/month and an extra 40 hours of street patrols. Now multiply that to fit NYPD’s personnel numbers of over 30,000 and as you can imagine, those savings will probably grow insanely larger. Another issue is those missing hours add up - somebody has to patrol or do paperwork or respond to calls. So those officers might have to pick up 3 extra shifts a week now. And the disparity and savings grow and grow. Overall it just doesn’t make a lot of fiscal sense to keep shoveling overtime money out, because it typically results in less efficient work for more money

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oreosfly t1_jczljjb wrote

Like any other job, there’s also an unquantifiable morale cost when it comes to forced OT. If you are actively looking for OT then it must be great to get paid time and a half for all this extra time. If you don’t want to revolve your life around work so much, you may be inclined to quit, and it can cost quite a bit to hire and train new people.

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pk10534 t1_jczlwnp wrote

Excellent point. I don’t want tired, overworked people with guns on the street either. And especially if they have families or just value fee time (I know I sure do), that’s a deterrent

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MillennialNightmare t1_jczh7mp wrote

What about 20 years from now when that extra officer is collecting a pension and getting their health care paid for until death?

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pk10534 t1_jcziiwr wrote

Again, I don’t know NYPD’s specific pension numbers or how specifically they budget, but like most pensions it’s not just a bank account, it’s invested. It’s not just a flat bank deposit that never grows. And not every officer is going to stay for 20-25 years. Some may stay for 10 and then move to Long Island, for instance.

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_neutral_person t1_jcztkck wrote

This makes no sense. Are you saying the only cost of an officer is their salary?

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pk10534 t1_jcztvlw wrote

Did you read the bottom paragraph at all? I addressed that and very clearly stated those expenses had to be factored in too.

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_neutral_person t1_jczvp67 wrote

Exactly the issue. You are under estimating the cost of healthcare and pension.

Pension is paid into a fund per officer. Invested or not, it's a cost. With 20 years retirement and an excellent pension plan, it's going to be expensive. Then you have healthcare. Post covid essential services with good healthcare costs have risen almost 33 percent, once again per officer.

An officer doing OT saves the PD money. It also offers flexibility for when they don't need officers.

You can argue it's because of the shortage but the NYPD has been abusing OT for decades. This is not new.

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