NYPD Overtime Spending Insights
Last year, the New York Police Department racked up around $1.1 billion in overtime costs, making it the highest among city agencies. Interestingly, this figure is nearly 14% lower than the overtime paid the year before, according to findings by the Post.
A combined total of $1,087,616,025 was paid out in overtime to both police officers and non-uniformed personnel for the fiscal year ending June 30. Among those figures, an eye-opening 55 captains, lieutenants, detectives, and other staff members each took home over $100,000 in overtime, surpassing their base salaries. This information comes from an analysis of recently released payroll records.
Notably, retired Lt. John Tancredi led the pack, accumulating 1,256 hours of overtime that amounted to $163,681, resulting in a total compensation of $345,249.
Following closely was Lt. Christopher Chen, a veteran with 27 years under his belt, who earned $147,758 in overtime, equivalent to 1,122 hours, bringing his total compensation to $340,249.
Chen, stationed at the Manhattan South Police Station, often finds himself working overtime, particularly during protests. He opted not to comment through his union representative, and Tancredi was unavailable for comment.
In terms of budgeting, overtime expenditures accounted for 18% of the NYPD’s personnel costs, which amounted to about $6 billion. That figure turned out to be a staggering 59% higher than the fiscal year 2025 budget, which had been set at $601.9 million.
Nonetheless, overtime pay decreased by 13.7% from the previous year’s total of $1,259,696,367. This reduction followed new measures introduced by Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD Chief Jessica Tisch in December, aimed at addressing excessive overtime payments.
This initiative came in light of serious allegations against former General Manager Jeffrey Madrid, who reportedly coerced female subordinates into inappropriate situations in exchange for overtime pay.
Former Lt. Quatisha Epps, who retired after the scandal was uncovered, became the department’s highest-paid employee in fiscal year 2024, with earnings totaling $403,515, which included $204,453 from overtime. Following the scandal, the NYPD demanded that she reimburse $231,890.75 in overtime claims, a move she suggests was retaliation for her whistleblowing against Madrid.
Epps returned 1,425 hours of overtime, valued at $176,662, yet, according to payroll data, she received an additional $253,996 in benefits in fiscal year 2025, alongside her $85,148 base salary for half a year. Her attorney, Eric Sanders, voiced that the repayment was made without Epps’s consent and confirmed plans to pursue a court order to reclaim those funds.
It’s worth noting that all 55 NYPD employees who earned over $100,000 in overtime have either retired or have hit the minimum requirement of 20 years for pensions. Many officers tend to accumulate significant overtime in their final years, as their pension calculations include their average earnings, which factor in overtime pay.
Christopher Herman, a former crime analyst for the NYPD and now a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, suggested that a key driver of these hefty overtime payments is the lower number of active police officers due to higher retirement rates. He noted that the NYPD had 33,614 officers last fiscal year, which aligns with the past two years but is a 7.8% decrease from pre-pandemic figures.
Despite progress in reducing overtime, Abdullah Al Rafi, a data manager at the Empire Public Policy Center, argued the NYPD still has significant issues to tackle. He asserted that the ongoing overtime challenges stem more from historical budget mismanagement rather than a simple lack of personnel.
The NYPD has yet to respond to inquiries for further comment.
