‘Over 11K hours of OT requested by DPS in one pay period in Dec.’

The transition team assigned to the Department of Public Safety found that in one pay period in December, the department requested approval for over 11,000 hours in overtime, roughly one year and a half’s’ worth of regular work hours.

The transition team assigned to DPS under the leadership of Rep. Ed Propst (D-Saipan) submitted their report on the department last Jan. 3, and the report is now being reviewed by governor-elect Arnold Palacios and lt. governor-elect David M. Apatang.

One of the main items noted in the transition report was the whopping 11,127.25 hours in overtime the department requested approval for from Dec. 4, 2022, to Dec. 17, 2022.

“Upon reviewing timesheets and OT requests from January 2022 to present day, DPS has been paying out excessive OT accruals for the same group of officers (some higher-ranking officers and certain lower ranking ones as well—specific to certain sections). For pay period 26 (12/04/22 to 12/17/22), DPS requested approval to pay out 11,127.25 hours (about one and a half years’ worth of regular hours worked) of OT for 174 officers out of 192,” said the report.

The transition team also found that. of the over 11,000 hours in overtime, about 4,000 OT hours were requested for 40 officers who are allegedly part of former DPS commissioner Robert Guerrero’s ‘inner circle.”

“Additionally, about 40 officers (both high ranking and low ranking) alone accrued an estimated total of 4,000 hours (about 5 and a half months of regular hours worked) of OT,” the report stated.

Upon reviewing these timesheets, the transition team believes possible fraud and theft of government time was committed.

“There is evidence of possible fraud/theft of government time in terms of excessive OT within the same group of officers every pay period. OT per officer would run anywhere from 50 hours to 145 hours. First responders that are lower ranking officers are only allowed 30-40 hours OT maximum, whereas higher ranking officers were allowed to accrue OT past 40 hours, usually amounting to 60 or more each pay period, with one officer clocking in over 200 hours of overtime in one single pay period,” the transition team reported.

Because of this, the transition team has recommended that a request be forwarded to the Office of the Public Auditor to audit the overtime at DPS for potential fraud.

Overall, the team recommends that the incoming commissioner restrict high ranking officers from accruing excessive overtime hours.

“The incoming DPS commissioner should restrict higher ranking officers from accruing OT, and only allow the lower ranking officers who are legally eligible to accrue OT,” it said.

Also, the team recommended that biometric access be limited and manual input of hours should be approved first by the director of Police.

“Biometric access should be limited to one individual and manual input should require approval by director of Police (for police) and director of Administration (for civilians) before biometric print out is altered/corrected,” the report said.

Lastly, the team recommended that the payroll section within DPS be made to update its standard operating procedures.

“The payroll section must create/update standard operating procedures and document requirements in regard to OT allowance/approval, administrative duty for officers, leave forms, etc. The payroll section should also hire one additional staff member to assist in the payroll section.