One Oakland police officer made $490k in overtime

This communicative was produced successful business pinch the Investigative Reporting Program astatine UC Berkeley Journalism.

For 5 years now, Oakland has struggled pinch immense fund deficits. The city’s astir caller financial forecast shows fund gaps hovering astir $120 cardinal each twelvemonth until 2030, forcing awesome cuts to spending unless the metropolis finds caller revenues.

One awesome root of overspending successful the metropolis is the constabulary department. By acold the astir costly metropolis service, the Oakland Police Department’s $386 cardinal budget this twelvemonth is astir 19% of Oakland’s full spending. And each year, OPD has travel nether scrutiny for its runaway overtime spending, routinely blowing past its approved levels by millions of dollars. Last fiscal year, the Department spent complete $55 cardinal connected overtime. Thirty-one cardinal of this was complete budget.

According to Huy Nguyen, president of the Oakland Police Officers Association — the city’s constabulary national — OPD’s ongoing staffing shortage is driving overtime.

“At this staffing level, much officers will beryllium forced to activity excessive overtime, which successful move will accelerate attrition,” Nguyen said successful a statement. “We cannot meet the needs of our organization without forcing officers into much shifts.”

It is existent that OPD is severely understaffed by hundreds of officers. Mayor Barbara Lee is attempting to shrink the staffing gap, pinch plans to increase the number of officers. 

But humanities information throws into mobility whether expanding staffing will rectify OPD’s chronic overtime overspending. A caller report by respective civilian metropolis unions recovered that complete the past 15 years, moreover erstwhile section staffing increased, overtime continued to spell up. From 2011 to 2024, staffing accrued by astir 9%. Over the aforesaid period, overtime went up by almost 200%.

Recent financial pressures person caused the city to laic disconnected scores of civilian employees and frost spending crossed a scope of programs. Meanwhile, the number of constabulary officers bringing successful six-figure overtime packages roseate dramatically.

In 2021, 58 officers were paid complete $100,000 successful overtime. By the extremity of 2024, the number of officers paid this overmuch for overtime astir tripled to 169.

And the number of officers making complete $200,000 successful overtime much than quadrupled from six to a full of 27 complete the aforesaid period.

The magnitude an serviceman gets paid moving overtime is wished successful a look agreed to successful the constabulary union’s contract pinch the city. This is mostly astir 1.5 times their normal pay.

One officer’s net exemplify conscionable really lucrative overtime tin beryllium for immoderate OPD employees.

Lieutenant Timothy Dolan, a 26-year seasoned who leads the postulation portion and serves arsenic vice president of the OPOA constabulary union, was paid $493,247 successful overtime successful 2024. Combined pinch his net and different pay, this netted him a $711,000 paycheck, making him OPD’s highest-paid worker — a title he’s held for respective years now. His salary was almost double that of the chief of police and astir 3 times the mayor’s paycheck. His full compensation, including pension and healthcare benefits, was $879,000.

Some of the OPD officers who earned the highest successful overtime successful 2024 are besides leaders successful the city’s constabulary union. OPOA President Huy Nguyen was paid $256,000 for overtime, putting his full salary astatine $473,000. Credit: Screenshot courtesy of opoa.org

Dolan’s salary package raises questions astir really OPD documents and approves overtime, and astir whether the section is spending this money wisely. 

In Dolan’s case, he earned astatine slightest $100,000 successful overtime — and perchance acold much — solely by reviewing paperwork for postulation collisions, records reveal.

The paperwork for Dolan’s overtime besides reveals that OPD grounded to archive almost half of the overtime hours he worked, making it intolerable to find what he was doing overmuch of the time.

Dolan spent complete 800 hours of overtime successful 2024 reviewing collision reports — the balanced of astir 5 months of activity successful a normal full-time job. This was peculiarly costly for the metropolis because Dolan, owed to his rank, is adjacent the apical of OPD’s net scale. Spreading retired the activity among different officers during normal displacement times could person been cheaper.

“It’s an illustration of continued mediocre activity and utilization of resources connected the portion of the Oakland Police Department,” said Cat Brooks, laminitis of the Anti Police-Terror Project, an Oakland-based nonprofit. “There’s nary mentation aliases justification for why this peculiar serviceman would beryllium doing that, making that benignant of money.”

OPD spokesperson Paul Chambers said successful caller emails that Dolan is the agency’s “subject-matter master connected collisions.” He leads the department’s postulation team, but has continued to reappraisal the reports owed to debased staffing.

Asked astir the monolithic magnitude of overtime he logged successful 2024, Dolan justified his work, saying it’s a work to the metropolis that tin make revenue, and that the overtime hours are basal because of OPD’s understaffing.

“Reviewing and submitting the collision reports is simply a work we supply to the group we serve,” said Dolan successful a statement. “Finalizing reports successful a timely mode will thief resoluteness work complaints, arsenic we person antecedently been backlogged successful our reviews owed to staffing constraints.”

Chambers, too, said the section has been moving to clear its backlog of collision reports, a task it had not completed arsenic of November.

City records besides raise questions astir the hours galore OPD officers are logging. 

We asked OPD to supply america pinch each of the archiving basal to way Dolan’s overtime hours worked successful 2024. This included his timecard, which shows the overtime hours he billed during each two-week salary period. 

We besides requested copies of Dolan’s “overtime worked forms,” which are documents that officers are required to capable retired whenever they activity overtime. The forms picture successful item the dates and hours Dolan worked, arsenic good arsenic the circumstantial activities he spent his clip on.

In Dolan’s case, the paperwork describes an serviceman who worked galore consecutive and lengthy days to the grade that fatigue and information could person go issues.

“I don’t person a problem pinch [reviewing collision reports] connected overtime, assuming the overtime is not absurd,” said erstwhile City Administrator Dan Lindheim, who teaches nationalist argumentation astatine UC Berkeley. “But past the mobility is, erstwhile it gets to beryllium elevated hours of overtime, past really does that impact the capacity of the serviceman during the regular shift?”

23-hour workdays, moving 19 days successful a row, and different astonishing schedules

In 2024, Dolan logged an eye-popping magnitude of overtime — 3,304 hours, records reveal. This was connected apical of the 1,938 hours he worked arsenic portion of his normal shifts, for a full of 5,242 hours. That’s the balanced of much than 2 and a half full-time jobs.

Some activity stretches were seemingly superhuman, according to the records OPD provided us.

On July 9, Dolan reported he worked 23 hours. The adjacent day, he worked 16 hours, and for the pursuing 3 days, he worked 15 hours each.

“It strains credulity,” said Lindheim. “Ultimately, I don’t deliberation location are capable hours successful the time to measure this overmuch overtime…. It doesn’t look to walk the laughter test.”

After providing america pinch an emailed connection for this story, Dolan did not respond to repeated requests for an interview. We sent him and OPD spokesperson Paul Chambers a database of questions and provided the findings from this story, including the numbers we pulled from his overtime documents; they did not respond.

Dolan’s overtime records raise concerns astir really he, aliases immoderate officer, tin safely and efficaciously do their occupation without taking clip to rest; he didn’t respond to questions astir that.

“Truck drivers are only allowed to thrust truthful galore hours successful a time for information reasons,” said Julian Ware, vice president for IFPTE Local 21, a national that represents civilian metropolis labor and which has been critical of OPD’s usage of overtime. “I don’t deliberation it should beryllium immoderate different for sworn officers who are carrying guns, tasers, and capsicum spray, and driving vehicles. It’s a tremendous magnitude of work that they have.”

“There’s truthful overmuch investigation and information conscionable successful wide astir slumber deprivation and safety,” said Brooks. “It besides impacts your irritability, your mood, temper swings.… How are you treating Oaklanders that you travel successful interaction with? There’s nary measurement that you’re having tin aliases competent judgment.”

OPD’s overtime policy says that owed to the city’s fund problems and concerns astir officers’ wellness, “overtime worked must beryllium minimized, controlled, and utilized only arsenic perfectly necessary.” The argumentation mostly describes the rules that use to overtime erstwhile officers are required to activity other hours by their supervisors.

The argumentation besides says officers are expected to return astatine slightest 1 afloat time disconnected each week. However, the metropolis auditor’s agency has identified thousands of violations of the argumentation successful past years.

Dolan routinely exceeded this limitation, nationalist records reveal. In 1 stretch, according to his Overtime Worked Forms, he worked astatine slightest 19 days successful a statement — and Dolan worked 15 hours aliases much connected each but 2 of these days. The section didn’t respond to questions astir whether Dolan was authorized to do this.

Hundreds of OT hours spent reviewing collision reports

Although much than a twelve OPD officers are trained and authorized to reappraisal collision reports, Dolan is 1 of only 2 who really grip astir of the reviews, according to Chambers.

Dolan spent astatine slightest 815 hours reviewing the reports successful 2024. From the disposable records, Dolan spent hundreds of hours much reviewing collision reports than completing immoderate different overtime task.

Chambers did not respond to questions clarifying whether immoderate officers different than Dolan are authorized to usage overtime to reappraisal the reports. 

Dolan’s rank makes his overtime peculiarly expensive. Dolan served arsenic a Sergeant successful 2024, giving him a guidelines net of astir $163,000 — adjacent the apical of OPD’s net scale.

He declined to supply accusation connected who, if anyone, authorized the section to usage truthful overmuch of Dolan’s overtime to effort to clear the backlog of collision reports.

When asked whether spending truthful overmuch connected overtime to clear the backlog of reports was the champion usage of section resources, Chambers declined to remark and told The Oaklandside he would nary longer respond to immoderate of our questions.

Traffic collision reports person notable uses beyond rule enforcement. They tin make immoderate gross for the metropolis — the reports costs $25 to purchase. But only stakeholders successful the collision, for illustration group progressive aliases security providers, tin acquisition them. 

Once completed, the reports tin beryllium utilized to assistance engineers successful roadway design. They are besides sometimes utilized by security companies to find payouts. But successful California, collision reports are typically not admissible arsenic grounds successful tribunal — astatine slightest erstwhile attempting to find responsibility for a collision.

Reviewing collision reports took up astatine slightest 815 hours of Dolan’s overtime shifts successful 2024. Credit: Adahlia Cole/Berkeleyside

According to Chambers and the California Highway Patrol, erstwhile a reviewing serviceman (like Dolan) first looks complete a collision report, they will typically emblem areas successful request of revision and nonstop the it backmost to the reporting serviceman pinch notes. Then the study needs to beryllium reviewed again. Revisions and corrections mostly person to do pinch conveyance codes and the CHP’s circumstantial style, alternatively than the facts of the collision.

While immoderate collision reports are escalated to the position of an investigation, this is only successful cases involving superior injury, death, aliases suspected crimes for illustration DUIs aliases hit-and-runs.

In his statement, Dolan said Oakland averages astir 20 to 25 collisions each day; it is unclear really galore of those collisions are superior capable to require an investigation. Chambers besides declined to supply specifications connected really galore of the reports successful the backlog are superior capable to warrant investigation.

Antiquated, paper-based record-keeping makes search officers’ overtime impossible

Although Dolan’s timecard shows his full logged overtime hours, archiving of what he did during galore of these hours remains elusive. The Department was only capable to find overtime records explaining the activity he did connected these shifts for somewhat complete half the overtime hours he was paid for successful 2024. 

The constricted archiving they provided specifications nonstop dates and times worked and duties performed. With truthful galore missing records, it is intolerable to independently verify the accuracy of the timecards.

The Department has a history of failing to nutrient overtime documentation. For example, successful 2017, erstwhile the constabulary department’s Office of Inspector General requested records for 10 officers, the section could only produce astir a 4th of the overtime forms requested.

Dolan’s records bespeak a akin pattern. His busiest salary play — a two-week agelong erstwhile he was paid for a full of 237 hours of work, astir of which was overtime — has nary archiving astatine each beyond his timecard. When we asked OPD astir the missing records, the section told america they provided america pinch everything they had. 

Nine different salary periods are besides missing documentation, including Dolan’s 2nd and 3rd busiest periods.

Still, the documents the section provided america show that Dolan regularly spent 5 aliases much hours reviewing collision reports, some connected his days disconnected and aft moving a regular shift.

This year, Chambers said, Dolan was promoted to Lieutenant. This accrued his net by complete $25,000, making his overtime moreover much costly. Dolan continues to reappraisal collision reports owed to a backlog of cases, Chambers said. 

The section spokesperson said, “The dream is to beryllium astir caught up [on collision reports] by the extremity of [2025,] which, successful theory, would extremity the overtime needed to reappraisal them.”

As of Nov. 20, Chambers said much than 275 reports were completed but needed to beryllium reviewed, and different 500 were not yet finished.

There person been pushes to modernize the department’s overtime search — past year, the section reported to the auditor’s agency and City Council that it would beryllium implementing a new digitized scheduling system. But conscionable arsenic the first shape of the caller strategy was slated to beryllium implemented, the scheme was abandoned owed to contractual issues.

Neither metropolis nor section spokespeople provided an mentation connected why the scheme was scrapped, and erstwhile asked, Chambers said that “there are nary further specifications being released.”

In June, the section reported erstwhile again that it plans to digitize its scheduling strategy — but the estimated completion day for this is astir 2 years away. In the meantime, pinch inadequate tracking, the section claims it cannot travel its ain policies surrounding voluntary overtime, according to the metropolis auditor’s most caller recommendations follow-up report.