Guam Police Department reports multimillion-dollar lapses, warns of sustained overtime shortfall
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Summary
During a legislative oversight hearing, Guam Police Department officials and senators disputed lapse totals — one lawmaker cited $9.3 million — and staff warned long-term overtime and pay-adjustment gaps are driving recurring shortfalls and complicating recruitment for funded vacancies.
Guam — Officials from the Guam Police Department told lawmakers that accounting timing and pay adjustments helped create lapses in the agency's budget that have since been returned to surplus and reappropriated, while senators pressed for clarity on discrepant totals.
"And so when there was a lapse and we were not authorized to use that, then it returned back to surplus and reappropriated to a different program or a different department," a GPD finance representative said when asked about unspent carryover. Senator Barnett cited a figure of $9.3 million for lapses, while department staff said their internal tracking placed the amount lower, nearer to "8Something" million.
Lawmakers also questioned a $500,000 monument project that was not funded in GPD's FY26 budget. Department staff said roughly half of that allocation had already been spent and that the remaining amount could not be accepted under the original contract because DOA considered the funding expired; GPD said it temporarily covered the balance with general funds while pursuing alternate sources.
Committee members reviewed GPD's funded vacancies in the FY26 budget, identified in the department's request as totaling about $533,000 across six roles including an administrative officer, program coordinator, administrative assistant, chief of administration, detention facility guard and a latent examiner supervisor. Officials said roughly three of those positions have been filled via internal promotions, with the remaining roles still in recruitment.
The department warned that pay adjustments approved in FY25 were recorded to a separate account and that processing journal vouchers across 26 pay cycles contributed to the midyear lapse and constrained midyear reprogramming or procurement. "It took us 26 paydays to do the journal vouchers," the finance official said.
GPD also said overtime has grown markedly. "Based on FY24-25, our overtime expenditure went up to over $44,000,000," the finance official said. Officials attributed the increase to not having adjusted overtime funding to reflect a 25.59% pay adjustment and to minimum manpower requirements that force overtime deployments when vacancies persist.
Lawmakers asked whether operational changes — such as moving to 10-hour shifts or graduating more officers — would reduce overtime. GPD staff said additional trainees and personnel would help, but cautioned that recruits require months of supervision and on-the-job training before they can fully relieve overtime demands.
The committee concluded the exchange by asking GPD to reconcile the differing lapse figures and return with clearer accounting of carryover, overtime liabilities and the status of funded vacancies.
The hearing continues with other items on the committee's oversight agenda.
