City auditor finds high overtime costs but accurate tracking; SDPD agrees to reforms to limit fatigue

The City Auditor presented a performance audit on Sept. 10 showing the San Diego Police Department spent $50.8 million on overtime in fiscal year 2023 — about 9% of the department's expenditures and well above the $40.2 million budgeted for overtime that year. The audit found most officers averaged fewer than 100 overtime hours annually but flagged 50 officers who each worked more than 1,000 overtime hours, with some individuals exceeding 2,000 overtime hours.

Auditors recommended SDPD require an eight-hour break between shifts, centralize and prioritize overtime assignments through a data-driven oversight function, and evaluate whether to set limits on individual work hours using peer-reviewed research. The audit also recommended an analysis of civilian police investigative service officer (PISO) staffing, estimating that PISOs could handle roughly 13% of calls for service that currently consume sworn-officer time — a strategy the audit said could reduce overtime need and improve response times. SDPD leadership told the council the department agrees with the recommendations, has created a centralized overtime team and will analyze the number of additional civilian positions needed; the department also said it will provide further data to council as it implements the recommendations.

Councilmembers broadly praised the audit's findings and emphasized the public safety and fatigue risks tied to excessive hours; several urged faster hiring of civilian positions and more technology to reduce administrative burden. Public commenters warned that fatigued officers pose safety risks and asked the council to act on the recommendations quickly.