A performance audit released today by Houston City Controller Annise Parker concludes the Houston Police Department lacks adequate controls to manage the amount of overtime and extra job hours worked by its classified officers. Auditors found no correlation between overtime worked for HPD and on the job injuries, accidents or disciplinary actions. However, they were unable to reach any conclusions regarding the impact of extra employment on job performance because the data was not available.

“The department must have a handle on who is working, where they are working and how much they are working,” said Controller Parker. “This is especially important at a time of understaffing. Imagine working 80 hours week after week. Commonsense indicates it will take a toll. If it is not affecting officers on the job, it is affecting them at home.”

HPD policy limits officers to no more than 16 hours on the job per 24-hour period and/or a total of 80 hours per workweek. According to the performance audit, the department lacks a process for identifying, tracking and reporting regular hours, overtime hours and extra job hours worked by officers. Officers are not routinely required to report hours worked on second jobs. As a result, there is no way to ensure compliance with the work hour limit. In fact, auditors noted that one officer included in the test group averaged pay for over 79 hours per week for the entire period covered by the audit without including extra employment, which he also worked.

The audit recommends HPD develop an internal program for scheduling and tracking overtime and extra employment hours worked by officers. “If anything, this is a matter of utilizing available computer technology to help HPD more effectively meet the very important demands of protecting Houstonians. HPD should know where every uniformed officer is working throughout the city. A manual system should be utilized until the new computer system kicks in. Other departments around the country are already doing this. ” Parker points out.

The audit was done at the request of Police Chief Harold Hurtt. In his official response to the findings, Hurtt agrees that HPD internal controls for managing overtime and extra employment of officers are inadequate. He indicates steps will be taken to correct the problem.

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