OAKLAND -- An Alameda County grand jury has begun investigating alleged abuses of overtime by the Oakland Police Department.
In a jury foreman letter made public by the Oakland Tribune, the paper reported that the grand jury had requested among other documents the memorandum of understanding between the city and the Oakland Police Officers Association on overtime. Also requested were the names and ranks of the 100 officers who worked the most overtime in 2003, 2004 and 2005.
The grand jury was paying particular attention to overtime incurred by officers assigned to police events at McAfee Coliseum and the Oakland Arena. Those abuses were first brought to public light in a KTVU investigation.
According to the paper, the city has until Tuesday to produce the requested information.
City Auditor Roland Smith had called for the grand jury investigation of what he described as "excessive overtime" in the cash-strapped city's police department.
Speaking at a June news conference at Oakland City Hall, Smith said the powerful OPOA, the union representing the city's officers, had opposed a consultant's recommendations to reduce the city's overtime costs, which are among the highest in the state.
Smith said that when Oakland voters passed the anti-crime Measure Y last year, they provided funding to hire more officers but "it was not their intention to fund excessive police overtime."
He said excessive overtime drains city funds for "quality of life benefits" such as parks, libraries, museums, zoos, social services and road services.
Smith submitted 11 questions for the grand jury to address, including whether overtime has become "a de facto entitlement for well-connected OPD officers," whether overtime allocation to officers is based on union influence and favoritism, and whether there are flaws in the city budget process in budgeting overtime.
Smith's news conference drew wide attention at city hall and was attended by police Chief Wayne Tucker and representatives of Mayor Jerry Brown, City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente and City Attorney John Russo.
Afterward, Tucker said he was "a little surprised" that Smith held the news conference because Smith has never talked to him about overtime costs except for a short talk about the costs of policing "sideshows," reckless car-driving rallies on weekends.
Tucker admitted that Oakland's police overtime costs are higher than in most cities but said that's due to three factors: policing professional sports events at the coliseum complex, a large number of officers out on disabilities and a shortage of officers.
He said the city hasn't hired any new officers for two years.
Tucker said he believes the process through which officers are hired for overtime and given assignments is fair, saying no grievances have been filed over those issues.
"I've seen no evidence of abuse in either the assignment or scheduling of overtime," Tucker told the Oakland Tribune.
Copyright 2006 by KTVU.com and Bay City News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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