THE STORY on everybody’s lips this week has been what happened Monday in Boston. That news will be with us for a long time to come. And should be. We have just begun to grieve-and just begun to seek and do justice. In full. And we shall, sohelp us God.
But in the midst of our sorrow and renewed determination, other news-local news-does happen. And those other news stories demand attention.
Especially this one. Even if it got pushed back to the inside pages after the bulletins from Boston this week. It turns out a veteran officer working for Little Rock’s police department was fired last week. After working-and getting paid for-6,500 hours of overtime in the last two years.
What?!
You’d be forgiven if you thought that was a misprint. But it isn’t. Sixty-five hundred hours. Of overtime. Over a two-year period. Didn’t this person ever sleep? This officer was making a bundle. A couple of bundles. Maybe a bundle of bundles. As a public servant, she seems to have served herself best of all.
Who is she? The department identified her as Natasha Sims, a traffic officer. And she was let go, finally, on April 10th. After compiling a remarkable record. Remarkable for all the money she collected from the public she was supposed to serve and protect.
In just 2011, the happily former Officer Sims gathered up 3,759.5 hours of overtime. That is, hours worked after her normal work week. In one year.
If faulty math skills serve, and there are still 52 weeks in a year, then she was working more than 72 hours of overtime a week in 2011. In 2012, she took it easy. She racked up only 2,799.83 hours of overtime. Which averages out to 53-plus hours of overtime each and every week that year. Which is still 13 hours more than the normal work week for most folks.
Goodness. If you feel lighter in the wallet, Mr. and Mrs. Local Taxpayer, no wonder. The money paid our public employees doesn’t come out of the thin air. But sometimes you have to say that out loud, because some folks seem to forget it. (“Hey, it’s free money!”) MOST people understand that when a business gets in a tight, overtime pay may be unavoidable. No doubt there are some welders and pipe fixers, not to mention PR types, working near Mayflower, Ark., who are getting some overtime pay just now from a corporation named Exxon. And they’re worth every penny.
But thousands of hours for a traffic cop in Little Rock, Ark.? And this went on for years? Didn’t the overtime have to be approved? If so, by whom? If not, why not? Why did thousands of hours of overtime-and those paychecks-not raise red flags in accounting? If they did, why did they continue?
What’s missing here?
Answer: Accountability.
Where is simple accountability? An inquiring public-a taxpaying public-wants to know. The answer is still to come. And is eagerly awaited.
Editorial, Pages 18 on 04/20/2013