In an interesting turn of events, a San Francisco police sergeant saw his salary skyrocket due to extensive overtime hours.
Sergeant Dennis Lai’s earnings last year were quite remarkable, surpassing $450,000 in overtime alone.
This figure significantly enhanced his base salary of $180,000, as highlighted by the San Francisco Chronicle.
The data from the San Francisco Controller’s Office paints a clear picture: the city’s police department is grappling with severe staffing shortages, leading to a dramatic rise in overtime pay.
The number of officers earning over $100,000 in overtime has surged from 131 during the July 2021-June 2022 fiscal year to a staggering 493 in the July 2023-June 2024 fiscal year.
The Staffing Crisis
Tracy McCray, president of the San Francisco Police Officers Association, expressed concerns about the city’s approach.
She stated, “If we want to avoid a major reduction in police services, San Francisco must either address the staffing crisis or continue relying on overtime.”
She added that most officers would prefer to spend their time off with family rather than working extra hours.
Overtime Limits and Exemptions
Interestingly, while there’s a city law limiting full-time city employees to 520 overtime hours, the police department has an exemption allowing up to 2,000 hours due to the ‘critical staffing shortage.’
Sergeant Lai managed to clock nearly 3,500 overtime hours—equivalent to working 21-hour days if spread evenly across five days a week for the entire year.
The Ongoing Challenges
The Controller’s Office reported that 64 officers exceeded the 2,000-hour cap, with over 85 percent surpassing the 520-hour limit that applies to other city workers.
Evan Sernoffsky, a spokesperson for the police department, admitted that while increasing overtime is a temporary fix, the department is working hard to recruit and train new officers to rebuild its ranks.
Recruitment Efforts and Funding Cuts
To address the shortage, the San Francisco Police Department has turned to recruiting officers from Texas.
They’ve been visiting universities there as part of an aggressive recruitment campaign.
This move comes in response to recent funding cuts, which have pushed the department into relying heavily on overtime amidst the city’s broader challenges with homelessness and drug use.
Budget Cuts and City Challenges
The police department’s financial woes are tied to broader budget cuts following nationwide calls for reform after George Floyd’s death.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed was vocal about defunding the police and, in October, instructed city departments to propose $206 million in budget cuts in an effort to stabilize the city’s struggling economy.
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