San Diego County’s Sheriff’s Department spent more than $53 million in overtime pay last year.
Annual compensation data, obtained by NBC 7 Investigates, shows 12 department employees made more in overtime pay than their annual salary.
One San Diego Sheriff’s Sergeant made $152,034 last year in overtime, nearly $39,000 more than his $113,039 salary. Another deputy took home $134,413 in overtime pay. His salary: $96,214.
In all, 12 Sheriff’s deputies cleared more in overtime pay than they did in base pay. The amounts ranged from as high as $38,995 in overtime pay to $508.
To see examples of Sheriff overtime pay, look below or click here for mobile users.
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NBC 7 Investigates filed a public records request to obtain the pay records, which are reported in an annual compensation report to the State of California.
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In a statement to NBC 7, a spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Department said it is “committed to providing the highest quality public safety services to the communities that we serve. We continually evaluate our staffing, and carefully manage our responsibility to be fiscally responsible with government monies.”
The spokesperson added, “While $53 million is a large amount of money the explanation of overtime staffing is complex. Unplanned emergencies and disasters cannot be staffed for in advance. Incidents such as managing public safety during the border wall protests incur costs associated with staffing on overtime, while we manage the variety of other responsibilities that are not abandoned during those times.
But the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department is not the only public safety department in the county to pay millions in overtime.
In May, NBC 7 reported that the city of San Diego paid $72 million in overtime in 2018 to the police and fire departments, the bulk of which, $47 million, went to city firefighters.
Other cities throughout San Diego County also showed high overtime pay.
In Oceanside, as we reported, the city’s police department doled out $3.66 million in overtime. The most lucrative overtime recipient took home $160,000 in overtime pay on top of his annual $91,000 salary.
In Poway, the city’s fire department paid $1.6 million in overtime to employees. In that city, more than 50 firefighters received more than $10,000 in overtime pay last year. One fire engineer and paramedic pulled in $62,584 last year alone.
The City of El Cajon paid a total of $3.58 million last year to police and fire employees. One fire captain there made $74,603 in overtime pay.
