Police is absurd.
The phenomenon was publicized because of the unusually large overtime settlement given to Benjamin H. Miller, a civilian employee of the state police who retired in January. Mr. Miller collected for 3,720 hours of overtime upon retirement, under a policy allowing time to be accumulated. The agency made an exception for him, though, letting him exceed the 480 overtime hours allowed troopers. An unwritten rule already allows state police double the 240 hours of overtime to which other state employees are limited, to conform to federal labor laws. Mr. Miller, who had a supervisory job, got a waiver while involved in critical implementation of a computerized radio system.