NYC Police Overtime Spending Poised to Surge Back to Pre-Pandemic Levels

(Bloomberg) -- Overtime spending at the New York City Police Department is expected to return to pre-pandemic levels, eating into the city's budget as Mayor Eric Adams considers cost-cutting measures.  

The department set aside $354 million for overtime this fiscal year, which ends in June, but that may not be enough as large events return to the city, according to a report by New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. 

The NYPD spent $417 million on overtime in fiscal 2021, nearly double the $226.6 million it set aside at the beginning of the year. The pandemic resulted in event cancellations, meaning that figure was down from the roughly $600 million the NYPD typically spends on extra hours, according to the comptroller. 

Overtime spending has pushed the more than $5 billion department -- the nation's largest police force -- over its allotted budget every year for at least the past two decades, even as crime dropped for much of that period. 

As the city prepares to balance its $98.7 billion budget without a continued flow of federal aid money, Adams asked all city departments to cut non-personnel spending by 3%. He said he would consider excluding the NYPD and the city health departments and hospitals. 

The mayor is also reviving the NYPD's controversial plainclothes unit in the wake of several fatal shootings, including that of two police officers.

Read More: NYC Cops Exploited Overtime Pay As Violent Crime Rose

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