LA County supervisor voices concern about eliminating sheriff's overtime pay

March 16, 2010 | By KPCC Wire Services | KPCC

A Los Angeles County supervisor worried today that public safety might be compromised by temporarily eliminating overtime pay for deputies.

The Sheriff's Department eliminated overtime pay March 1, expecting to save $58 million over the next 16 months. Even Sheriff Lee Baca plans to spend his Fridays on patrol to help reduce costs.

Concerned about the effects on areas policed by sheriff's deputies, Supervisor Michael Antonovich quizzed sheriff's administrator Victor Rampulla during today's board session.

"We've come a long way in our partnership with the department ... in reducing response time and implementing a policy that has divided vacancies equally between the unincorporated communities and cities,'' Antonovich said.

"So I hope that there were no plans that the sheriff would undo this policy that would diminish the timeliness of services to our unincorporated communities.''

Antonovich criticized the Sheriff's Department taking unilateral action regarding overtime without consulting the board.

Baca has ordered senior deputies to cover shifts that would normally be handled by deputies receiving overtime pay. The Sheriff's Department polices unincorporated Los Angeles County areas and dozens of smaller cities within the county under contract.

Baca said the board asked the department to account for its overtime pay after county auditors found that 348 employees had worked the equivalent of an extra six months a year in overtime.

Rampulla, one of the highest ranking civilians in the sheriff's department, said the department was doing its best to save money, but suggested the cutbacks were not sustainable for long.

The board has "done so much to bring us back from where we were in 2002-2003 ... building back our jails, our unincorporated patrols,'' he said. ``We hope that we can, through the next 16 months, do some tremendous belt tightening, do some adjustments and staffing that we've never thought of before. But that's not a long-term solution.''

Rampulla said it was premature to anticipate where service might be cut.

Antonovich said the Sheriff's Department started its early release program without informing the board or the county's chief executive officer. He said the releases took place just a day after he was assured that the Sheriff's Department would be able to meet its needs.

Baca said he hoped to save $26 million from the early release of inmates convicted of misdemeanors and another $44 million by eliminating 300 positions.

To avoid future surprises, the board voted to require the Sheriff's Department to deliver a biweekly report to the supervisors, rather than to the CEO's office.

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