ST. LOUIS (KMOX/AP) - Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway released an audit of the Department of Public Safety (DPS) for the City of St. Louis that found 1,000 St. Louis police department employees have a second job, including several instances of officers who were paid for working two jobs at once. The duplicated time could be a result of time sheet errors, but one employee’s case was referred to the FBI, the audit said.
There were also several cases when employees with second jobs worked between 18 and 21 hours in one day.
The city has internal policies limiting the total number of hours worked to 16 hours a day, whether on or off duty.
The audit found eight employees doubled their salary using overtime, and an additional 99 earned at least an extra 50% of their base salary with overtime.
Galloway's report outlined opportunities for the department to improve oversight of internal processes as the city continues to face staffing shortages and works to enforce policies that ensure the safety of officers.
"We can't ignore the realities law enforcement face each day. Police officers here are under significant strain to work more overtime because of the shortage in manpower," Auditor Galloway said. "The department recognizes the path they are on is not sustainable and are working to implement solutions to address these concerns. That work must continue."
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St. Louis police spent nearly $14 million on overtime while struggling to fill 100 vacant positions, according to the audit.
State Auditor Nicole Galloway faulted police for lacking policies to monitor excessive overtime and said that the department understands that the situation is “not sustainable.” But she added that the situation will likely be helped by the repeal last week of the requirement that officers reside within city limits.
Galloway said officers assigned to the homicide division and federal task forces were among those filing for overtime at high rates, saying, “it speaks to the crisis of crime and violence the city has been facing for some time.”
The audit found opportunities for increased transparency with meetings of the Civilian Oversight Board, which conducts investigations into allegations of police misconduct. Auditors reviewed closed meeting minutes and found discussion of topics that should have been open to the public.
You can read the full audit, here.
Galloway is running for governor of Missouri in the November election.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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