Jan 24, 2007 7:46 pm US/Central
Dallas Sheriff Defends Overtime Spending
by Sarah Dodd
DALLAS (CBS 11 News) ―
Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez is answering some tough questions about her departments' ever increasing overtime spending.
CBS 11 News was the first to report that some 400 employees made more than $10,000 in overtime in 2006. Nine of those employees were paid an average of $50,000 on top of their regular salaries.
Sheriff Valdez is defending her department, saying the additional work is valid and justified. The sheriff calls the extra spending necessary, Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price calls it runaway overtime.
With nine employees doubling their annual salary with overtime and making tens of thousands of dollars extra, Price is questioning if it is the best use of Dallas County tax dollars.
Valdez defends the extra spending despite reports that have the department as being 10 million dollars over its overtime budget just for the first quarter.
The sheriff insists she is managing the overtime by having weekly staff meetings to analyze how the extra money is being spent. "We verify it and re-verify it to make sure that this is legitimate overtime and that it's not wasteful," she said.
When CBS 11 questioned the extra expenditures Valdez was quick to blame the extra hours on jail related expenses, but an auditor's report finds there is exorbitant overtime spending in almost every department under the sheriff.
Valdez says even though the overtime is at an all time high, she's focusing on the safety of her deputies. Currently the sheriff's department has about 100 vacancies and Valdez says that's why her employees are working so many extra hours. The sheriff insists that during her predecessors' tenure the overtime may have been lower, conditions for deputies were far worse.
"We've also had a lot more injuries. We've also had a lot more fatigue. We've also had a lot more frustration. It's almost impossible for an officer to take care of more than 50 inmates at a time; and they were doing that," Valdez said.
To make sure her employees aren't overworked, Valdez says she's now working on a new policy that would monitor the deputies working over time. If a doctor finds that they are fatigued - then they will not be able to work the extra hours.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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