During 2020, the Division conducted several reviews, including a comprehensive review of Troop A’s federally funded highway overtime shifts during calendar year 2016. Troop A is the MSP troop responsible for patrolling the northeastern part of Massachusetts.
Overview of OIG Investigation and Findings
These federally funded, four-hour overtime shifts are similar, but not identical, to the Accident Injury Reduction Effort (AIRE) shifts that were at the center of a criminal investigation into overtime abuses by members of Troop E. (Troop E was the MSP troop responsible for patrolling the Massachusetts Turnpike and the Boston tunnels until it was disbanded in 2018.) The review of Troop A overtime shifts was part of the Division’s ongoing effort to examine whether comparable overtime abuses exist in other troops. As a result of this review, the Division identified controls and safeguards that the MSP should put in place to prevent overtime abuse in the future.
Records from the radios installed in all MSP cruisers indicate that many troopers in Troop A did not work their full overtime shifts during 2016. However, the Division did not find a comparable scale of overtime abuse as was the case in Troop E. The individual troopers in Troop E who were convicted in state and federal court failed to work anywhere from approximately 90 to 400 hours of overtime. In Troop A, the Division reviewed 207 overtime shifts and found 93 instances in which police radio records indicated that the trooper was absent for at least 15 minutes of the overtime shift. Overall, the Division found that only 10 of the 43 troopers assigned federally funded highway overtime shifts in 2016 always worked their full shift. The remaining 33 troopers did not work a combined total of 79.2 hours across 93 shifts. One trooper was absent for more than three hours of an overtime shift. The Division did not find any trooper who was absent for a full four-hour overtime shift.
The Division also found that troopers often treated their commuting time as part of the four-hour overtime shift. However, MSP policy does not permit troopers to use commute time in this way. That is, MSP policy is clear that any commute time is not included in a trooper’s hours of work for an overtime shift.
The Division’s finding that a trooper was absent for a portion of an overtime shift is not necessarily a specific finding of wrongdoing. Further investigation would be needed to make that specific determination.
Based on these findings, the Division recommended that the MSP clarify through policy and training that highway overtime shifts do not begin until the trooper is present at the assigned shift location, and that the shift continues at the assigned location for four hours thereafter, with the trooper performing their assigned overtime duties. The Division also recommended that the MSP should stress through policy and training that commute time is not part of the overtime shift.
Additional Resources
Contact for OIG Bulletin, June 2021: Investigation of State Police Troop A Highway Overtime Shifts
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| Date published: | June 9, 2021 |
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