- Overtime spending in the Chicago Police Department is rising again after a 30 percent drop in first-quarter spending driven by tighter controls aimed at holding supervisors accountable.
From January through April, Chicago police officers were paid $29.7 million in overtime, down from $42.1 million during the same period a year ago.
But the trend was short-lived, according to records released in response to a Freedom of Information request filed by the Chicago Sun-Times.
They show that police overtime for the four-month period ending in August was $50.9 million, a 71 percent increase from first-quarter spending.
In May, an additional $7.1 million was spent. That includes the 1,000 moonlighting officers assigned to keep a lid on violence over Memorial Day.
So why isn't all the hiring alleviating the manpower shortages that seem to be driving OT costs? Could it be that the new officers are merely papering over a Department that is so top-heavy and so bureaucracy-heavy with hidden spots that OT is the only way to man the cars?
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