The Sheriff's Department paid out the most, $2.7 million, an increase of 13.6 percent. Transportation was second, paying out $1.1 million in overtime, a 9.4 percent increase.
In another Tribune article entitled,
See who received overtime from Hennepin County in 2011
they list all of our salaries and overtime worked for 2010 and 2011. I'm not sure of the motive. I suspect it's the usual idea of making Public Employees look like thieves. But your own numbers show I made about $5,000 less in 2011 then 2010!
Sheriff Stanek responded with, "We're the third-largest department within Hennepin County, but we are one of only two 24/7 operations, 365 days a year," he said. "Our jail population is up 4 percent over last year, and we're on track to have more bookings than we've had the last couple years."
and went on to cite the fact that overtime was used on the Occupy protests, Safe Streets and the May tornado. Mark your calendars kids, I agree with Sheriff Stanek.
I'll further elaborate in an effort to educate Kevin Duchschere. The jail population fluctuates. The more inmates, the more staff needed to process them, care for them and get them either to court, released, the Workhouse or prison. Let me spell it out, if we have 800 inmates we need more staff to care for them then when there are 600. As Sheriff Stanek has pointed out our jail population is up.
Furthermore we are not a Soviet gulag. We are an ACA accredited jail that also has MANDATORY standards set by the Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC). Mr. Duchshere there are mandatory staff to inmate ratios. These are not designed to line our pockets but to keep inmates safe.
So you see, more inmates means more overtime. The overtime factor was further exasperated by the County Board's decision to cut Detention Deputy staff in the jail by 10 positions. That means those shortages had to be filled by overtime.
Let me continue your education Mr. Duchschere. Overtime in the jail is mandatory. Any empty spot on a shift must be filled according to DOC regulations. If no one volunteers, jail staff is forced to stay over or come in early. Often plans to go home, go to a kid's sporting event, attend family gatherings are thwarted by a "draft" (forced overtime). Again as Sheriff Stanek pointed out we are a 24/7 operation. We work weekends, nights and holidays. So you see, it doesn't matter if some individuals worked more overtime then others, every single hour of overtime would have been worked no matter how you slice it.
So rather then painting a picture about what fat cats we are, maybe you could thank us for the long hours we work watching the people the police take out of your neighborhood. The people you are afraid of. Some of us have even made the ultimate sacrifice this year. When your paper reports that violent crime is up by 66% and the police arrest more people; who do you think supervises those violent offenders?
I should also mention that we've had years of wage freezes. We have people working at the jail for three years still making starting pay. Some who haven't had a weekend off in years. So, you see Mr.Duchschere we are not high salaried fat cats, but hard working Public Servants working a dangerous job with long hours of mandatory overtime to protect you.
One final point Mr. Ducschere, I'd like to thank your paper for listing all of out first and last names, even though the Sheriff's Office asked you not to. Most inmates only know Detention Deputies by their last names. Most Detention Deputies pay to have their phone numbers unlisted so our clientele don't show up at our homes to visit our families as they are apt to threaten. Thanks for making our homes and families easier to track down as we try to protect yours.
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