THE Department of Public Safety used to pay $4 million a year in overtime, an amount that is enough to hire 125 new police officers and 124 more firefighters and corrections officers.
This was the assessment of DPS Commissioner Edward Camacho with respect to the overtime expenses previously incurred by the department.
Camacho said of the $4 million, half went to police operations; the remaining half went to firefighters and corrections officers.
Camacho said that by dividing $2 million by $16,000 that is paid to a new recruit, DPS can actually have 125 more police officers on the streets “preventing and solving crimes.”
“It is telling me that I need more people. It is telling me that I can go up to 125 people within the police force alone,” Camacho told reporters.
For the remaining $2 million, Camacho said by dividing the amount again by the same amount for a new recruit’s salary, DPS can actually have 62 more firefighters throughout the CNMI and 62 other corrections officers for the jail facilities on Saipan.
“Now, when people talk about overtime, overtime, me personally I just don’t like the fact that I’m going to put someone to work overtime because I drain up this individual’s energy by making him or her work overtime. His or her performance (may) go down,” the commissioner said.
“We have all types of demands. I need to set up all kinds of checkpoints—DUI (driving under the influence) checkpoints, other kinds of crime prevention measures throughout CNMI. I cannot do that with the current personnel manpower that we have,” he emphasized.
Camacho said he has to either get more personnel or put the “folks” back on overtime status.
He said he has to limit the overtime expenses because DPS has no money to pay such expenses “as it is right now.”
The commissioner said that if the community keeps demanding from DPS to provide more crime prevention measures, solving unsolved crimes, and other things, the department has to have enough personnel.
DPS, he said, is looking at the School Resource Officers program.
Under the SOS program, Camacho said, these new officers are going to be fielded near the schools to help, among other things, students in crossing the roads.
With SOS officers, he said, the traffic personnel who are assigned at schools, could perform other activities.
The commissioner mentioned that police officers are also mandated to assist the community for the “unfunded activities” such as sports events, carnival, and funerals.
“Those kinds of activities we just have to do that because that’s what the community asks us to do. And if I have to pay overtime to do that to make that happen, we will continue to do that,” he said.
