Overtime Pay Skyrockets for Special Police Force in O.C.

Overtime pay for a small, state-run police force has soared in recent years, according to a California Watch investigation.

Last year, the Office of Protective Services paid roughly $2 million in overtime to 80 of its officers, who patrol five centers for the developmentally disabled, including Orange County's Fairview Developmental Center in Costa Mesa.

"An unusually high number of [OPS] officers ... have doubled their salaries with overtime, enabling some to earn more than $150,000 a year," California Watch reported, noting that the number of officers collecting overtime "far exceeds" other agencies.

At Fairview, patrolman Daniel Butler "regularly collected more money from overtime than from his base pay" and "netted at least $60,000 a year in overtime from 2007 until his retirement in March 2011," CalWatch said.

A lobbyist for the union representing OPS police blamed the payouts on understaffing, telling CalWatch: “The budgeted positions aren’t sufficient to do the job adequately without getting an incredible amount of overtime.” Fairview, for example, is staffed with just four officers.

To read the full story, click here.