Sheriff Baca: last call for costly overtime

Outlaws beware: Los Angeles County’s top cop could soon be slapping the cuffs on you—personally. And why not?

“I’m in perfect physical health. I run 8 miles a day,” said Lee Baca, a former Marine, now in his third term as sheriff.

Because of the county’s fiscal crunch, Baca said in an interview Wednesday that he’ll be sliding back into a black-and-white—even though it’s been “dozens of years”—as part of an unprecedented assault on the Sheriff Department’s huge overtime budget.

Under an initiative called “Save Our Jobs,” Baca is returning virtually everyone—from the department’s top tier to its desk-bound sworn employees—to the field for 8 hours a week to backfill vacancies and to staff needs traditionally funded by overtime.

Baca insisted that the department’s brass is on board with the overtime plan that would get them out of their suits and ties. He said “they’re proud of what we do and are not afraid or unwilling to do it.” As for the rank-and-file, Baca said, they too understand the need to be “part of the solution” to avoid layoffs. “We’re trying to save jobs, and it’s their jobs we’re trying to save,” he said.

The proposed overtime reductions, which could amount to $58 million during the next 16 months, are part of a broader cost-savings effort that is being imposed on all county agencies because of severe revenue losses. These agencies have been asked by the CEO’s office to shave 9% from their budgets–$128 million in the case of the Sheriff’s Department. Baca said that although the Board of Supervisors has wisely been squirreling away reserves for a rainy day, “that rainy day has now come.”

“As an elected official,” Baca said, “I believe it’s important to further pinpoint what the Sheriff’s Department can do to help the county with its budget shortfall.”

To that end, the sheriff said he also hopes to save an estimated $28 million by transferring inmates and staff from the 1,900-bed North Facility of Peter Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic, integrating them elsewhere in the county’s immense jail system. He emphasized that the Pitchess facility will not be entirely closed because it would cost too much to reopen when the economy eventually improves.

Baca’s overtime plan, meanwhile, is well timed for another reason. The overtime expenditures, which for years have annually soared beyond $100 million, have recently come under scrutiny.

In a December report, Los Angeles County auditors said hundreds of Sheriff’s Department employees were racking up such significant amounts of overtime that they could be jeopardizing their effectiveness on the job because of fatigue.

Separately, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky’s office found that, in 2008, at least 10 deputies more than doubled their salaries with overtime. One deputy with a base pay of $105,561, for example, collected an additional $130,214 in overtime, bringing his annual pay to $235,775. He was one of at least 15 deputies and sergeants who earned more than $200,000 because of overtime, according to county records.

Sheriff’s officials, responding to the findings, noted that overtime for fiscal year 2008-2009 was dramatically reduced as department vacancies were filled, meaning fewer overtime hours were needed to backfill by existing personnel.

Following the audit, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a motion by Yaroslavsky and Supervisor Gloria Molina directing the CEO to create a plan that would, among other things, increase oversight of overtime.

Those recommendations will soon be presented to the Board of Supervisors. They will include a plan for the Auditor-Controller’s office to review—and issue quarterly reports—on the rationale and costs for a selected sample of deputies who have increased their base pay by more than 50% in overtime.

Posted 3/3/10