We trust you with a gun, but not your timesheet?

In yet another piece of odd drama, the Dayton FOP is coming out with both guns blazing. This time, they are protesting the implementation of time clocks for the department, which will probably force the city to pay their members more. Excuse me, yes, you read that right- the head of the union is against a new policy that should guarantee more overtime for more of his members:

Police union President Randy Beane said the time clocks must be a negotiated item in the union’s contract and if implemented, will cost the city “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in overtime.

“We’re tired of taking it from the city on things like this,” Beane said. “We have a lot of dedicated officers who come in early and stay late and don’t claim that time. If the city is going to start tracking it, it is going to cost them. Big time.”

Assistant Police Chief Wanda Smith said federal law prohibits the department from not paying people for the hours they’ve worked. “If Lt. Beane has info that this policy is being violated, he needs to bring it to the chief’s office,” she said.

Smith said the department’s budget will not be impacted. “Officers don’t get to choose when they come to work and just because they show up doesn’t mean they are entitled to get paid.”

Beane said the union plans to file an unfair labor practice charge because the city didn’t negotiate the clocks with the union.

via Police union vows to fight time clocks.

If this sounds strange to you, also realize that in order for most officers to actually work, they have to check in with dispatch (punch in) and check out a cruiser, weapons, ammunition etc. It’s not like they are running around without anyone knowing where they are.

If you trust them with a gun- shouldn’t we be able to trust their time on the clock without a time clock? Or, is there something we don’t know about.

Time Card

The Time Card that started it all

Now, it just so happens, I have a long history with the issue of keeping time for city employees- and there is a certain group who has been getting paid for working 52 hours each week- when putting in less than 36- and this has been going on for years. The Dayton trash collectors have been working a “make out and quick” schedule- where they finish their route- and they are done for the day. If they come in on Saturday to work a neighborhood alley sweep (to pick up what they missed while running after the trucks all week)- they are paid time and a half for a full 8 hour day- even if they put in less than 5 hours.

It was this issue that I was railing against back in 1996- which caused the City Commission to have one of their secret illegal meetings to discuss ways to limit citizen participation. Apparently- my big time card was a little too easy for people to understand.

It’s only taken 14 years to start accounting for employee time properly in Dayton.

Here’s our conversation on the subject on the Dayton Grassroots Daily Show:

If you enjoyed reading true breaking news, instead of broken news from the major media in Dayton, make sure you subscribe to this site for an email every time I post. If you wish to support this blog and independent journalism in Dayton, consider donating. All of the effort that goes into writing posts and creating videos comes directly out of my pocket, so any amount helps! Please also subscribe to the Youtube channel for notifications of every video we launch – including the livestreams.