LAPD to eliminate overtime pay

Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa recently signed a $6.9 billion city service-cutting budget in order to avoid layoffs. As part of the budget, overtime will be eliminated for members of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Additionally, the department must negotiate a further $41 million in cuts by working with the Los Angeles Police Protective League union.

The department's current overtime policy allows officers to accrue up to 400 hours of compensatory time off in lieu of collecting overtime pay in cash. The time and attendance policy is set to decrease back to 96 hours as of next month, prompting concerns about staffing shortages if an extension is not obtained.

"If I am forced to give time off at a less than 96 hour threshold, it will mean having far fewer officers available to respond to emergency calls for help," said LAPD Chief Charlie Beck in a statement.

Another way to deal with the change would be to send officers home after they bank 30 hours of overtime pay.

The budget also dealt a steep blow to the city's firefighters. Approximately one-quarter of the city's 106 fire stations will have to put trucks or ambulances out of service, the Los Angeles Times reports.