Meet the pot and the kettle.
Taxpayers in the Big Apple paid police officers more than $1.4 million in overtime in just three months to prepare documents under the controversial “stops law,” a top New York City police official said Monday. He testified after being pursued by city council members who have consistently scrutinized overtime pay. .
“Some of my colleagues are unscrupulous people who would prioritize political appearance over public safety,” said City Councilman Bob Holden, one of the members who opposed the onerous law. .
“While they criticize the NYPD’s overtime spending, they push for legislation that would add excessive red tape, costing taxpayers nearly $1.5 million and 18,000 hours of overtime in just one quarter. ” said Holden (D-Queens).
The law, which requires New York City’s Finest to file reports of even the most fleeting contacts with the community, has proven costly, with officers forced to spend hours after their shifts. He will be detained at the precinct, he testified at a City Council hearing.
“There is an after-hours code for the number of stops,” NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Legal Affairs Michael Garber told the City Council Public Safety Committee.
“In the third quarter of 2024, police officers will spend approximately 18,000 hours on forms,” Gerber said. “That’s about $1.44 million in overtime pay. So I don’t think we’re seeing any issues with response times.”
Sources said it could take between 30 minutes and an hour for police to respond.
Mr. Gerber and Chief Jeffrey Madeley came under fire over the program, with some critics claiming that as many as 30 percent of police encounters remain undocumented.
But questions about OT cost numbers have emerged following City Council members’ constant bickering over how much it costs to keep crime-fighting officers on the streets.
In March, City Council President Adrian Adams slammed the New York Police Department amid estimates that overtime costs this fiscal year would reach $740 million, the highest in 10 years.
“I would venture to say that no other institution can get away with this administratively,” Adams said at the time. “I don’t think any other agency would be able to do something like this.”
That was before the city council voted to force police paperwork into law, and officers often had to spend hours filling out forms just to pass a resident.
“High cost, low value,” City Councilman Joe Borelli (R-Staten Island), who voted against the controversial law, told the Post on Monday. “I think it’s the right idea for the city council.”
One police source added that the majority of the City Council simply failed to do their homework.
“This is ignorance or lack of common sense on the part of the council, which does not understand the concept that time is money,” the source said.
The controversial bill, passed a year ago and vetoed by Mayor Eric Adams, was overridden by the City Council and took effect in July.
The law would require police officers to document three levels of encounters with New Yorkers, from “Level 1,” which has the least impact, to “Level 3,” which typically ends in an arrest or other police action. It is mandatory.
According to city statistics, there have been more than 562,000 reported encounters with civilians under the law, nearly all of which were Level 1 encounters.
Data shows 98% of clerks forced to submit were at Level 1, and at Monday’s hearing, Madley said he helped an exhausted-looking runner during this year’s New York City Marathon. He told the city council that it also included a question asking if people needed the help.
Garber said the NYPD has convened an “executive-level working group” to make the job easier for officers, including the use of new electronic forms and additional training for officers.
“What we’ve done as part of our policy is give police officers a choice,” Garber told lawmakers. “For Level 1 forms, you can essentially fill them out in real time, or you can fill them out at the end of the tour based on your body-worn camera, your activity log, or your memory.
“We thought that flexibility was important for a variety of reasons,” he said. “Part of it is this is new and we’re trying to figure out what works best. And part of it is obviously dependent on command and tour, and it’s very widespread. Subject to change.
“In some places, officers are running from one important call to the next,” Garber said. “I think you see a lot of police officers doing the same thing at the end of the tour.”
Despite pushing for the bill, the council’s liberal majority has questioned past police efforts such as “stop-and-frisk,” which critics say could have hurt minority residents. They claim to be targeting them.
On Monday, several lawmakers expressed similar concerns about the number of stops, and some suggested eliminating the NYPD’s gang database.
Sama Sisay, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights, said, “The NYPD’s failure to ensure adequate oversight of, and adequate documentation of enforcement and discipline against, the continuing prevalence of racial profiling means that the police are failing to comply with constitutional enforcement. “It means they are not following the court order to engage.” Council.
“In fact, we have seen an increase in unconstitutional stops by the NYPD in recent years.”
But for rank-and-file police officers, the City Council only made their jobs tougher.
“The City Council, on the other hand, will pass a bill that will force police to work massive overtime to fill out forms,” one disgruntled law enforcement official told the Post.
“And on the other hand, criticizing excessive overtime while asking, ‘How can we prevent this?'” This is not a real legislative body, the source said. “This is an episode of The Office.”
Additional reporting by Joe Marino
