BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Recruits for the Idaho State Police amassed more than 4,500 hours of overtime while attending the training academy for new troopers.
The 16 recruits accrued 4,592 hours of overtime during the 16-week training period, an average of 18 hours per recruit each week. ISP attributes most of that time to commutes to and from the training academy, reported The Idaho Statesman (https://bit.ly/1PUwLVm).
There was not enough room in the dorms at the Peace Officer Standards and Training Academy, ISP spokeswoman Teresa Baker said in an email. So the state police housed recruits in barracks at Gowen Field, which Baker said required a 1.5- to two-hour commute every day.
“The time did add up,” Baker said. “This time accounts for roughly 180 hours of overtime per recruit.”
Idaho Statesman reporters emailed Baker after hours to clarify why ISP found it necessary to pay for the trainees’ commute times, but she did not reply immediately.
The distance between Gowen Field and ISP’s campus in Meridian is 11 miles and takes about 15 minutes to drive each way, according to Google Maps.
The recruits also did team-building training in the evening that required overtime, Baker said.
Recruits accrued three times as much overtime this year than the class that graduated in March 2015. Those 16 recruits only had 1,052 total hours of overtime.
“ISP training recognized the increase in overtime and is evaluating our return on the team-building exercises,” Baker said. “We anticipate a reduction in the overtime hours approved for future academy team-building exercises after classroom hours are completed.”
The State Controller’s Office provided the Statesman with the overtime data in response to a public records request.
Major Steve Richardson oversees the recruit training program and is retiring at the end of April after 32 years of service. Baker would not say whether he approved the overtime.
“Major Richardson’s retirement is not associated in any way with the increase in overtime identified during our last academy class,” she said.
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Information from: Idaho Statesman, https://www.idahostatesman.com
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