Number
221236
Version
ORIGINAL
Reference
191447, 190001, 220001
Sponsor
ALD. COGGS AND SPIKER
Title
Resolution relating to annual reporting of Police overtime to the Common Council.
Analysis
This resolution directs the Executive Director of the Fire and Police Commission to work with the Police Department to annually analyze and report to the Common Council use of Police overtime and to research best practices for making adjustments to policies, procedures, and practices to lessen the use of Police overtime.
Body
Whereas, The 2023 Adopted Budget includes a Common Council-added footnote (Amendment 17) urging the Fire and Police Commission to work with the Police Department to develop initiatives to annually analyze and report to the Common Council use of Police overtime and to research best practices for making adjustments to policies, procedures, and practices to lessen the use of Police overtime; and
Whereas, Police overtime expenditures arise from extensions of duty, availability for court appearances, straight overtime, and civilian overtime; and
Whereas, Police Department overtime expenditures have increased significantly in recent years, with $17 million spent in overtime in 2021; and
Whereas, The Police Department regularly exceeds its overtime budget by several million dollars, including $2.9 million in 2020 and more than $6.4 million in 2016; and
Whereas, The City of Milwaukee is facing increasingly lean budgets, stemming in part from limited revenue sources and ballooning pension costs; and
Whereas, It is essential to the City’s fiscal health that the Police Department seek alternatives to overtime expenditures; and
Whereas, Controlling Police overtime expenditures, and in particular limiting overtime expenditures to the amount included in the Department’s annual budget as adopted by the Common Council, may require innovative thinking, structural changes, and changes to Department operations and policies; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, By the Common Council of the City of Milwaukee, that the Executive Director of the Fire and Police Commission is directed to work with the Police Department to annually analyze and report to the Common Council use of Police overtime and to research best practices for making adjustments to policies, procedures, and practices to lessen the use of Police overtime; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Fire and Police Commission and the Police Department shall jointly report their progress to the Common Council within 120 days of adoption of this resolution.
Requestor
Drafter
LRB 177765-1
Tea B. Norfolk
11/29/2022