5/29/2014 PortAuthorityofficials fail tocurbovertimepay 

## PortAuthority officials fail to curb overtime pay Ronald Marsico By Ronald Marsico on April 26, 2008 at 11:30 PM Embarrassed byyears ofperennially high police overtime costs, Port Authorityofficials called in an international management consultant two years ago. The agency paid KPMG $435,000 to evaluate its staffing practices and make suggestions to getthings undercontrol. Overtime had jumped 12 percentto $42.9 million overthe previous year, and KPMG found plenty ofproblems-- no cap on overtime, difficulties reassigning staffto open posts, "archaic" record keeping and lenient sick time and disciplinary policies. The results a year later? Overtime soared even higherin 2007, hitting $48.9 million --a 14 percentjump overthose already elevated 2006 numbers and the second-highestdollaramount in agency history, behind 2001. Some members ofthe department continued to work staggering hours-- a top 10 list includes several officers averaging more than 70 hours a week everyweek ofthe year. Port Authority officials saythey implemented some ofthe reforms suggested by KPMG butfound others impossible given the agency's existing contract with the police union that runs through January 2010. "The study provided us with an outside professional opinion that confirms we're contractually handcuffed," said Marc LaVorgna, a Port Authority spokesman. "Significant portions ofthe contract absolutely need to be revised when the renewal is negotiated." A KPMG spokesman declined comment, citing confidentiality issues. The ballooning overtime costs are more than a budgetconcern, police experts say, arguing officers who workso many hours can become fatigued and prone to making mistakes. Overall, the roughly 1,600-memberforce worked nearly 838,000 hours ofovertime --more than 500 hours perofficeron average. Some officers carried more ofthe load than others. PortAuthority Police Officer Morris Cofield, a 14-year veteran stationed mostly atJohn F. Kennedy InternationalAirport, logged on average a bit more than 80 hours each and every week in 2007. That workaholic pace brought a bonanza: His $82,909 base pay skyrocketed with $153,461 in overtime and http://blog.nj.com'!edgertopstories/print.html?entr:r/2008/04/port_authority_officia!s_fail.html 1135/29/2014 PortAuthorityofficials fail tocurb o-.ertime pay then extra stipends led to a grand total of

### $263,468. Cofield, 45, had lots ofcompany behind him on the overtime train --nine other Port Authority officers, for example, averaged between 

### 62 and 

### 77 hours everyweek lastyear. "That's excessive and is bound at some pointto undermine that officer's ability to perform-- out offatigue, iffor no other reason," said Wayne Fisher, directorofthe Police Institute at Rutgers University in Newark. "Overthe period ofa year, there has to be a negative effect." Police Supt. Samuel Plumeri said the overtime is critical to filling shifts in the post-9/11 WarAgainst Terrorism, particularly at the bistate agency's "terrorist-rich targets" like key airport, bridge, tunnel, rail and portfacilities. "It's not Mayberry. It's the Port Authority," said Plumeri, noting he makes no apologies about putting security first at an agency that suffered two devastating attacks on its property atthe World Trade Center. "I'm nottrying to be cavalier about money ... but I'm more concerned abouttaking care ofthose (security) issues." Since late 

### 2006, Plumeri said there have been publicized threats to agencyfacilities --like ones to blow up both the PATH tunnel between Jersey City and Lower Manhattan and the fuel farm nearJohn F. Kennedy InternationalAirport-- and others the public neverheard about that have driven up overtime. "We are an intelligence-driven police department," he said. Plumeri said the department implemented recommendations from KPMG where possible, such as improved procedures forassigning overtime, but is hamstrung bythe existing contract and ongoing need to fill shifts. Nevertheless, he said, the agency is concerned about overworked officers and takes steps to ensure they are ready for duty. Asked in particularabout OfficerCofield's hours, Plumeri defended the officerand said he met him recently atJFK. "He's as physicallyfit as you can get-- always on post," said Plumeri, who also said Cofield's commanding officer had spoken highly ofhim. "Ourexecutive officers evaluate these people before theywork

... seeing ifthey're mentally able and physically able to work," said Plumeri ofofficers who log the most overtime. "Ithink we'd acknowledge the number (ofhours) is high, but he's fulfilling a need. He's willing to work and able to work. We had identified posts that we needed to fill and we did." Critics, though, saythe physical toll is too high.

http://blog.nj.com'!edgertopstories/print.html?entry-::/2008104/porLauthority_officials_fail.html 213512912014 PortAuthorityofficials fail tocurbO\ertimepay Washington State University Criminal Justice Professor Bryan Vila, who wrote a book "Tired Cops: The Importance of Managing Police Fatigue," said too much time spent on duty results in sharp reductions in officers' vigilance, coordination and alertness. "We depend on them to use theirjudgmentjudiciously," said Vila, a former law-enforcement officer himself. "The idea of putting themon the street impaired and armed-- it's dumb

.... This is a fundamental risk management and human capital issue." Gus Danese, the department's Police BenevolentAssociation president, blamed the overtime issue on management, insisting,for example, that they failed to hire enough officers and neglected to train others to fill specialty shifts like K-9 bomb dog units. "A lot ofcops don't like to work those hours, butthey (P.A. officials)·force themto work those hours," said Danese, noting that working numerous shifts takes a health toll. 

### "It does catch up to you. I'm not going to lie to you .u Plumeri, however, said overtime is voluntary and the agency has worked hard in recent years to beefup its police force and now has an all-time high number ofofficers. Overtime pay, meanwhile, is lucrative to Port Authority police officers both in the short- and long-term. Unlike police in New Jersey, the agency's officers are able to use theirovertime to increase theirpensions, since those checks are based on the three consecutive highest-paid years underthe New York State Pension System. Cofield and other members ofthe department's 2007 list oftop overtime earners did not respond to requests for individual interviews made via e-mail to the officers and verbal requests to the PortAuthority's public information office. Andrew Scott III, former Boca Raton police chiefand presidentofa police consulting firm in Florida called AJS Consulting Inc., said localities and government agencies have one glaring reason for being concerned about such overtime numbers-- legal liability. "When you get beyond 60 hours, fatigue becomes cumulative," said Scott. "The fatigue factorthen comes into affecting reaction time, decision-making,judgment calls

... (a) lawsuitfollows." © 2014 NJ.com. All rights reserved.

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