Police to get extra compensation as two suits are officially settled

By Bruce Lieberman
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

November 8, 2008

Oceanside police officers who work with dogs will get a boost in pay, while more than two dozen beat cops will receive extra paid leave, according to settlements of two lawsuits this week.
The settlements avoided extending costly legal wrangling, but they came at a price.

To settle the first case, Bruce v. The City of Oceanside, the city agreed to begin paying six K-9 officers overtime instead of regular pay for four hours each week that they work at home caring for their police dog partners. The city also agreed to pay the six officers a total of $48,000 - the amount of extra pay they would have received over the past two years if they had been paid overtime.

To settle the second case, Alvis v. The City of Oceanside, the city agreed to give 26 officers 6,000 hours in paid leave to compensate them for work-related activities before and after their shifts - such as putting on and taking off their uniforms, checking their weapons, prepping their patrol vehicles and other tasks. The settlement over paid leave is expected to cost the city up to $210,000 over the next 10 years, Councilman Jack Feller said.

The city also will pay the 26 officers $120,000 to cover attorneys fees.

For the past year, the Oceanside Police Department has started briefings 10 minutes after shifts begin and assigned officers specific vehicles rather than randomly assigning them every day, City Attorney John Mullen said. Both steps have helped make the city compliant with the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, Mullen said.

The paid leave the officers will receive because of the Alvis settlement comes with conditions, Mullen said. Officers can take up to 10 percent of their portion of paid leave annually. But they can't go on paid leave if doing so would force the city to pay their colleagues overtime or otherwise leave the police department short-staffed, Mullen said.

Meanwhile, the 2006 lawsuit filed by the K-9 officers is one of several similar cases filed around the state in recent years. A year ago, four National City police officers assigned to K-9 duty sued in federal court seeking at least $10,000 each in overtime pay. That case is still in litigation.

Representatives with the Oceanside Police Officers Association could not be reached yesterday.

The Oceanside City Council voted 4-1 for the settlements about two months ago, and the council received word this week that a federal court judge had approved them, Feller said. Councilman Rocky Chavez voted against the settlements. He could not be reached yesterday.

Feller said he agreed to settle both cases to save the city from spending more money in court. But he added that he wasn't comfortable with the Alvis settlement in particular.

"Police and fire (employees) do a job that not everybody can do or wants to do, but where does it stop?" Feller said. "Do you love the job, or is it just how to squeeze a dime out of the city?"

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Bruce Lieberman: (760) 476-8205; bruce.lieberman@uniontrib.com