Excerpts from the ChicagoSunTimes.com:
Chicago taxpayers spent nearly $210 million on police and fire overtime last year — and another $33.7 million on lump-sum payments to departing employees, most of them police officers. One retiring officer walked out the door with $276,053 for stockpiled compensatory time and another $9,236 for unused vacation days. Records show scores of other six-figure checks and hundreds of payments that topped $20,000.
In private industry, employees are routinely required to use comp time within a defined period of time. They are not allowed to accumulate a career’s worth of comp time and cash it out when they leave. City tradespeople and members of AFSCME get cash only for overtime. Their most recent contracts do not allow for comp time. Chicago police officers are exceptions to that rule.
Five months ago, the Chicago Police Department spent $67.6 million on overtime through the first six months of 2019 despite a 10-year high in staff and an all-time high in technology.
The mayor said she was angry and frustrated and planned to hold then-Police Supt. Eddie Johnson personally accountable for reining in an abuse that Chicago taxpayers can’t afford. Johnson is gone, fired for lying to the mayor about an incident in mid-October.
The mayor’s attempt to put the police and fire departments on the hot seat about runaway overtime has not yet produced tangible results. Through Nov. 30, the city spent $131.2 million on police overtime, matching the 12-month total for the year before. The fire department spent $78.7 million through Nov. 30, a 16 percent increase from the 12-month total the year before and a more than sixfold increase from the $12.8 million spent on overtime in 2011.
A budget spokesperson said the spike was principally driven by 456 vacancies in the uniformed ranks and by minimum manning requirements in the firefighters’ contract that specifies at least five members are required on all apparatus and the number of existing companies which all must be maintained. The minimum manning requirement triggered the 1980 firefighters strike. As of 2019, the CFD has eliminated the use of mandatory overtime that was once relied on to staff the five new ambulances recently added into service.
A police department spokesman said major structural changes have now been put in place in an effort to control overtime going forward. Police personnel finally started swiping in and out of work in September. Each commander is now given an overtime budget to manage. Every two weeks, that overtime spending is“audited within the Compstat process.
#1 by Tim on January 24, 2020 - 7:14 AM
My pension is great. I’ve had 12 surgeries, my back hurts, my knees hurt, my shoulders hurt, I don’t sleep well. Still wouldn’t change a thing. Loved the fire service.
Oh yea I don’t get Social Security. Oh wait, I get a little Social Security because I’ve always had a second job. My SS benefits are minimal because of Dan Rostenkowski. I’ll get about $100/month. Did I tell you my pension is great?
#2 by Tim on January 24, 2020 - 7:06 AM
When I started in this business the ambos had these aluminum Ferno stretchers. They were rated for a 300 lb patient. Two guys could handle it even though we shouldn’t have been doing the “trauma drop”. But they were awkward getting them into the ambulance….a real back breaker.
The jump bag was maybe the size of a large back pack. Now the stretchers are rated for 750 lbs, the jump bag has more stuff in it than a goal tenders equipment bag. Two guys (or girls) only on ems runs is just not enough anymore. There’s too much equipment to handle, too many stairs and the patients are larger than ever. What people don’t understand is the more people on an EMS run (or any run) the less work comp claims there are.
#3 by max overholt on January 23, 2020 - 11:26 PM
OK to anyone complaining the pay and benefits of cops and firefighters and trying to compare them to the private sector let me just say this. If you don’t like private sector pay and benefits so much then quit your private sector job and become a police officer or firefighter. Enjoy working nights,weekends,and holidays. Enjoy working outside in all weather conditions. Enjoy coming to work everyday where the risk of crippling injury is high. But hey these are kush jobs with a Cadillac pensions right? Ha ha ha ha wrong! Ok rant over.
#4 by Rich s. on January 23, 2020 - 2:55 PM
First off 90% of our runs are not EMS, maybe more like 60/40 just like every other department in the country. Actually the disgusting and disappointing part of this article is how they portray the fire department and its members. We, the members of the Chicago Fire department do not accrue comp time. There’s no such thing as comp time and to make matters even worse this article portrays that we decide our own overtime. Overtime is decided by the city willfully deciding not to fill open positions. The Chicago Fire department is currently around 450 to 480 firefighters short of where we should be for full staffing. That’s not by our choice! The City of Chicago department of finance and the city human resources department decide when people are hired and how many. They’re not hiring enough people to fill positions that are open so this game is not new. The article is complete bunk. The city would rather pay overtime than pay for a new employee. The cost of training, cost of uniforms, the cost of benefits far outweighs the cost of overtime. And this is a game the city plays consistently year after year. They know what our staffing levels are and they would rather pay the overtime and then turn around at contract negotiation time and try and make us look like we’re thieves when they themselves are the cause of the overtime. And our staffing levels are such for a reason. We are responsible for the care and protection of over 3 million people daily. We need to have five members and every company in order to accomplish this task. We have fire companies and ambulances doing over 25 runs a day every day. So please whoever wrote the article stop comparing the private sector to public safety, it doesn’t work it never will.
#5 by Wayne on January 23, 2020 - 9:35 AM
It doesn’t matter how many fires happen, when they do happen you need the manpower. Plus cardiac arrests need a minimum of 4 people to execute properly, and even some serious medical runs need extra hands and it’s nice not tying up a bunch of extra companies every time an ambulance needs help.
If you’re a fireman Dan it’s strange that you’d be against a department having and keeping as much manpower as they can.
#6 by Mike on January 23, 2020 - 9:12 AM
Dan so what should their staffing be? Their breakdown isn’t 90% EMS. Along with not having enough ambulances for the city the ALS fire companies are doing work. Each position on the apparatus is needed and without it, when they’re on a variance, the company runs short. Currently the city can run 35 fire companies with 4 people per day. And what is your thought on FDNY running 6 man companies? Or other larger cities running 5 man companies? Let me guess, 2 people is sufficient.
#7 by B on January 23, 2020 - 8:03 AM
“In private industry, employees are routinely required to use comp time within a defined period of time. They are not allowed to accumulate a career’s worth of comp time and cash it out when they leave.”
This is so great. Criticize public sector employees for being able to cash out accrued comp time while claiming the private sector is so much better right after this happens:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/10/business/boeing-ceo-muilenburg-severance/index.html
Boeing’s CEO marketed and sold an inherently unsafe product that killed hundreds of people and got $80 million for his trouble, but sure, comp time cash outs are the problem. Give me a break.
#8 by Dan on January 23, 2020 - 1:52 AM
Sorry, but 5 people are not required on a rig when 90% or more of the calls are medical calls.