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Palo Alto committee forwards auditor's report citing chronic understaffing and $7.5M in public-safety overtime
Summary
The Policy & Services Committee voted May 12 to send a city auditor's report to full council after the audit found police and fire rely heavily on overtime (about $7.5 million in FY2024), police staffing remains below pre-pandemic levels and recommended staffing analyses, recruitment efforts and improved overtime tracking.
The Palo Alto Policy & Services Committee voted unanimously May 12 to forward a city auditor's report finding chronic understaffing and heavy reliance on overtime in the city's police and fire departments.
"The objective of this audit was to determine if the fire and police departments are effectively and efficiently staffed, including the use of overtime," City Auditor Kate Murdoch told the committee as she opened a presentation of the findings. Murdoch said the departments together recorded about $7,500,000 in overtime in FY2024 and both significantly exceeded overtime budgets.
The audit identified four findings for the Police Department and one for Fire. Among the police findings, Murdoch said the department remains about eight sworn officers short of pre-pandemic staffing and "had 20 officers that were not deployable due to training, injuries, and…
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