Police brass can no longer bar officers accused of misconduct from earning overtime, the Daily News has learned.
An arbitration board has reversed the NYPD’s order that cops who have been stripped of their guns and shields and assigned to desk duty as they face internal disciplinary action are not eligible for overtime unless no one else is available to do their assignment.
The NYPD moved to curtail overtime for officers on modified duty in late 2016, after The News revealed that notorious cops – including Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who put Staten Island man Eric Garner in a fatal chokehold in July 2014 – were making tens of thousands of dollars in extra pay while on desk duty.
Pantaleo made more than $17,100 in overtime in fiscal year 2015 and more than $23,200 in fiscal year 2016. Factoring in other unspecified pay, he made nearly $120,000 in 2016 – far above his $78,000 base salary.
In October 2016, the department ruled that officers on modified assignment could only get overtime “when all other alternatives for filling the assignment have been exhausted or, due to the nature of the incident, time does not allow for a thorough review of options.”
The Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association objected, and this past October, the city Board of Collective Bargaining sided with the union.
The board ruled that the NYPD made a “unilateral change,” ignoring the requirement to go through collective bargaining.
“We are not persuaded by the city’s argument that the restriction on overtime assignment effectuated by (the order) is ‘inextricably intertwined with the Commissioner’s authority to oversee discipline,’” the board ruled.
NYPD spokesman Phillip Walzak disagreed.
“The NYPD initiated the policy change because it corrected a past deficiency. The change should remain in place,” he said in an email to the Daily News.
PBA president Patrick J. Lynch noted police officers facing misconduct allegations are entitled to due process.
“They and their families should not suffer a financial penalty before there has been any finding of misconduct, or even before the issue has been fully investigated,” he said in a statement. “This purely political policy was a clear violation of police officers' collectively bargained rights, and we're glad that Board of Collective Bargaining is enforcing those rights."
Garner’s mother Gwen Carr called the ruling a slap in the face to families who have lost people in police encounters.
“NYPD officer Pantaleo and others who killed my son should have been fired years ago,” she said.
“Instead, the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association has helped Pantaleo and other officers who commit misconduct and murder earn overtime and pad their paychecks while they stay on the police force. It's disgusting and wrong. Pat Lynch should be ashamed of himself for pushing to secure this reckless and dangerous ruling that makes all New Yorkers less safe,” Carr said.