THE Department of Public Safety has placed 28 officers on administrative duty for unjustified overtime hours.
According to an official statement from DPS on Thursday, it is investigating the matter as a criminal case.
“The complaints of illegal and unjustified overtime involving several police officers will be taken seriously,” said Clement R. Bermudes, acting commissioner of public safety.
“Pending the results of the investigation, these police officers will be held accountable for their actions. As sworn officers, we will always maintain the highest ethical standards, upholding the laws of our Commonwealth,” he added.
More information will be released pending an ongoing investigation, DPS said.
Fred Sato, DPS public information officer, said the 28 officers “remain on admin duty pending ongoing investigation.”
Active officers on duty can and will respond to any emergency, he added.
Variety learned that the Office of the Attorney General has not filed any charges against the 28 police officers. The illegal overtime investigation is not related to any typhoon-related compensation, Variety was told.
The DPS transition report submitted to the Palacios-Apatang administration noted payroll and OT issues within the department.
The report stated that upon reviewing timesheets and OT requests from January 2022 to date, it was learned that DPS had 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).”
According to the report, for pay period 26, from Dec. 4-17, 2022, “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.”
“Additionally,” the report stated, “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 that there “is evidence of possible fraud/theft of government time in terms of excessive OT within the same group of officers every pay period.”
“First responders that are lower ranking officers are only allowed 30–40 hrs., OT maximum, whereas higher ranking officers were allowed to accrue OT past 40 hrs., 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 report added.
It stated that the Office of the Public Auditor should audit overtime at DPS for potential fraud.
