‘Very excessive’: Three Independence officers each earned over $100K in overtime last year
As the city of Independence is reviewing practices that allowed one officer to receive more than $160,000 in overtime pay last year, payroll records show two more police officers each received in excess of $100,000 in extra pay during the same time frame.
The payroll records, obtained by The Star through a Sunshine request, show one police officer in the department’s tactical operations division was paid $138,420.95 for overtime alone during 2021 — for a total compensation of more than $230,000. Another tactical operations officer was paid an extra $100,735.75.
Pay within the department has drawn questions from Independence residents and city officials following initial reports last week that one officer was paid nearly $170,000 in overtime last year. A whistleblower brought that figure to the attention of the city last week as employee W2s were being handed out.
Collectively, the three police officers earned substantially more than any other police department employee — including the chief of police. The top earner received more compensation than any person in city government.
Wrongdoing has not been identified in any of the cases. But the figures alone have drawn suspicions from city officials about how the department’s finances are being handled.
In response, the city is hiring a private firm to investigate overtime practices in the department. And Acting Police Chief Ken Jarnagin — whose tenure as top cop only began in December following the retirement of Police Chief Brad Halsey — has been suspended with pay pending the outcome of the investigation.
Jarnagin’s temporary administrative leave is the only measure of discipline that has been taken thus far.
Independence City Manager Zach Walker said he would ultimately be responsible for reviewing the personnel records and the police department’s overtime policy. But he said he wanted to let the outside firm conduct its investigation first.
“Because this remains an ongoing investigation, it’s really important I remain neutral,” Walker told The Star. “So I’m still waiting to pass judgment on this until I have all the information back from the investigator. But this is something we’re going to ask them to take a look at.”
Walker said overtime opportunities are frequent in most police departments. That’s especially true now with IPD being down 38 officers.
Oftentimes, cops can earn overtime without costing the city. For instance, state and federal grants can fund speed enforcement shifts, drunk driving saturations and drug trafficking enforcement. While those are funded by outside agencies, they are reflected in the city’s records.
But, officers can also complete outside work for overtime rates. Walker said convenience stores or big box retailers frequently work with the department to hire off-duty cops for security shifts. They’re paid directly by those retailers and those hours and pay are not included in the city’s record keeping.
Council member Dan Hobart said it was evident last week that something was amiss after reports surfaced that one officer received more than $160,000 in overtime. That officer was paid for 2,800 hours of overtime in 2021 — more than 53 hours per week.
“That just seems impossible,” Hobart said.
Now, he said it’s clear that the city should examine the issue more broadly.
“My impression is we have a broken system somewhere in payroll that didn’t catch what appears to be very excessive overtime,” he said.
Hobart noted that cops have plenty of legitimate overtime opportunities. For instance, he said police officers could capitalize on grant funding and write speeding tickets along Interstate 70 just about any time they choose.
“The hours are there, the pay is there,” he said. “It’s just a matter of how many hours you want to put in.”
But he said the city should still have better safeguards so that anomalies or suspicious activities are flagged sooner. And he says work assignments should be scrutinized so that taxpayers are getting the best value for their dollar: Paying a police officer time-and-a-half the hourly wage for construction work could easily cost more than general construction labor, he said.
“Is the process secret enough or internal enough that it allows for fraud?” he said.
This story was originally published February 9, 2022 at 6:59 AM.
