HPD Overtime Abuse Could Cost You Money

Police officers are relied upon to enforce the law, not break it. Previously, 11 News learned about HPD officers being investigated for overtime abuses.

But Chief Hurtt is now putting a stunning number of officers to that investigation.

“He used the range 30-60 as a ballpark number that IAD had identified that the DA’s office might want to look at,” HPD General Counsel Craig Ferrell said.

Meanwhile, 11 News obtained internal documents regarding time worked. Once acknowledges HPD’s outdated computers can’t document all the work performed.

In part because of that, a city audit and the internal affairs investigation, a new overtime worksheet goes into effect November 1 requiring, among other things, at least 15 minutes or adequate travel between official police work and an extra job.

That requirement was prompted by allegations of abutments – when an officer clocks out at, say, 2 p.m. and starts an extra job at 2:01 p.m.

“That was one issue, and there were also overlaps,” Ferrell said.

Overlaps are also known as double dipping – when an officer claims overtime pay for the same hours he works an extra job.

HPD says the new system should help clear up innocent mistakes as well.

“Some of these that may appear to be double dipping … may just be bad record keeping,” Ferrell said.

But none of this sits well with patrol officer who already record all their hours, but across three different and incompatible systems.

“Making us fill out more and more forms over something they already have the information on,” Mark Clark of the Houston Police Officer’s Union said.

A new system and software are in the works, but it could take more than a year to implement.

That’s why HPD wants this paperwork now. Other police departments, including Washington, D.C., are interested to see how HPD’s plan works out. D.C.’s force recently had five officers retire and 10 others indicted for double dipping.

HPD’s internal investigation should be completed by year’s end, at which point it may be clear how much the alleged activity has been costing taxpayers.