The Los Angeles Police Department’s budget has been so depleted by the COVID-19 outbreak, and officers have been working so much due to the recent protests, that the department has run out of cash and can no longer afford to pay officers overtime, KTTV-TV reported.
Going forward, officers will be paid for overtime they work with additional paid time off, and the normal limit on the number of hours they can accrue has been lifted. But during a difficult time for the department, and with more budget cuts being pushed in the city council, morale low at the LAPD.
“It’s very disheartening,” Sgt. Jerretta Sandoz, vice president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, said. “The officers have lost trust, they were told, cancel days off, cancel vacations, and we will pay you cash overtime, then a memo comes out that they have no more cash. The officers are not happy right now, aside from taking bottles, bricks, I don’t know what else they can handle and now to be told there’s no cash, they’re at their wit’s end.”
LAPD officers have worked about $40 million in overtime, during the recent protests and riots, that the city is unable to pay. Going forward, nonessential overtime has been canceled. Metropolitan Transit Authority overtime can potentially be cashed out when the budget is replenished. – READ MORE
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