Long Beach auditor wins award for review of police and fire dispatcher overtime

City Auditor Laura Doud and her staff won a national award for their audit of police and fire dispatch operators in Long Beach, the city aounced Tuesday.

The local office won the 2015 Distinguished Knighton Award from the Association of Local Govement Auditors – Doud’s fourth Knighton Award.

Doud’s Police and Fire Public Safety Dispatcher Overtime Audit found dispatch workers racked up an inordinate amount of overtime in 2014, which cost the city $1.3 million in salaries and could potentially create dangerous situations of employee buout. Overtime hours accounted for 22 percent of all dispatcher work hours, the equivalent of 18 full-time positions, the audit found.

Both the departments responded with a review of staffing levels and recruitment procedures, Doud said. She emphasized that the audit found that emergency calls were answered and handled well within industry standards.

– Staff report

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