New Orleans Police Department Payroll Performance Audit

TheCityofNewOrleans AR13PAU003 NOPDPayrollPerformanceAuditOfficeofInspectorGeneral Page1of16

Office of Inspector General

City of New Orleans

New Orleans Police Department Payroll Performance Audit

AR13PAU003

E.R. Quatrevaux Inspector General

Issued August 6, 2014


NOPDPayrollPerformanceAuditAR13PAU003

ExecutiveSummary.............................................................................................................3I. Objectives,ScopeandMethodology..................................................................................4II. GeneralNOPDPayrollFindings...........................................................................................6

Finding#1: SeventeenNOPDofficersworkedmorethan16hoursand35minutesaday.

Finding#2: FourteenNOPDofficersworkedmorethan32hoursofovertimeinaweek.

Finding#3: ThreeNOPDofficersworkedmorethan24hoursofovertimewithoutappropriateapproval.

Finding#4: TwentytwoNOPDofficers testeddidnotapprove their time in theBeatBook.

Finding#5: FourteenNOPDofficersBeatBookswerenotavailableforaudit.III. NOPDPayrollFindingsResultingFromPaidDetails..10

Finding#6: NOPD officers failed to enter paid details into the paid detaildatabase.

Finding#7: ThreeNOPD officersworked a total of four paid detailswhile alsoworkingtheirtourofduty.

Finding#8: Twelve NOPD officers worked 50 paid details without a breakbetweenthetourofdutyandthepaiddetail.

Finding#9: NOPDofficersworkedpaiddetailswithouttheknowledgeorapprovaloftheirsupervisors.

IV. Observations...13

Observation#1: NOPDofficerswereable toworkup to106hoursand55minutesaweek.

Observation#2: OneNOPDofficersplithisworkshiftseighttimestoperformatraffic

escortdetail.V. GlossaryofTerms.14VI. OfficialNOPDComments.................................................................................................16


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Office of Inspector General conducted an audit of the NOPDs payrolls occurring fromDecember30,2012throughApril6,2013.Theobjectiveoftheauditwastotesttheoperatingeffectiveness of payroll, overtime, and paid detail1 processes specifically related to dailyworkinglimitsandcontrolsthatareuniquetotheNOPD.During theperiod tested theNOPDemployedover1,200officerswithaquarterlypayroll inexcessof$23millionandanannualbudgetinexcessof$127million.Ninetyofficerswere randomly selected for testing. SeventeenNOPDofficersworkedmorethanthe16hoursand35minutesadayallowedinNOPDOperationsManualChapter13.15Overtime. ThreeNOPDofficersworkedmore than24hoursofovertime inaweekwithoutrequiredapprovals.FourteenNOPDofficersworkedmorethan32hoursofovertimeinaweekwhichwasinviolationofNOPDOperationsManualChapter13.15Overtime.Officers could possiblywork up to 106 hours and 55minutes in aweek if theyworked themaximumovertimeandpaiddetailhoursinadditiontotheirnormaltourofduty.BeatBookswerenotproperlymaintained. Twentytwoofficersdidnotapprovetheirtime inthe Beat Book as required by NOPD Operations Manual Chapter 13.18 T.R.I.P. PayrollSystem.Additionally,BeatBookswerenotavailablefor14oftheofficerstestedwhichwasinviolationofNOPDOperationsManualChapter13.18T.R.I.P.PayrollSystemandtheNOPDsrecordsretentionpolicy.Paiddetailswerenotproperlydocumentedorapproved. NOPDofficers failed toenterpaiddetails into thepaiddetaildatabaseas requiredbyNOPDGeneralOrder#906. ThreeNOPDofficerswereinviolationofNOPDOperationsManualChapter22.8PaidDetailsbyworkingatotaloffourpaiddetailswhilealsoworkingtheirtourofduty.TwelveNOPDofficersworked50paiddetailswithout a requiredbreakbetween theendof the tourofduty and thepaiddetail. NOPDofficersworkedpaiddetailswithoutobtainingtheproperapprovalsasrequiredbyNOPDOperationsManualChapter22.8PaidDetails. Furthermore,anofficer splithisworkshifts,whichwasinviolationofNOPDGeneralOrder475,inordertoworkpaiddetails.Most of the Citys responses/corrective actions to these findings are contingent upon thesuccessfulimplementationofADPandthetransitionofdetailstoOPSE.Note:AllresponsesfromtheCityinthebodyofthisreportaredirectstatementsandhavenotbeenmodified.

1Testsofpaiddetailprocesseswerelimitedtothoseprocessesthatfactorintopayrollprocessesandcontrols.


I.OBJECTIVES,SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY Theobjectiveofthisauditwastotesttheoperatingeffectivenessofthepayroll,overtime,andpaiddetailprocessesandcontrols.2Testsofpaiddetailprocessesandcontrolswerelimitedtothosecontrolsthatfactorintopayrollprocessesandcontrols.The audit was conducted in accordance with Generally Accepted Governmental AuditingStandards(GAGAS)3andthePrinciplesandStandardsforOfficesofInspectorGeneral.4Thefollowingprocedureswereperformed:

1. Conducted interviewswithNOPD payroll personnel to gain an understanding of theprocessesandcontrolsinvolved:

a. NOPDpayrollprocesses;b. Dutyschedulingforofficers;andc. Paiddetailreporting.5

2. Obtainedalistingofthepaiddetailsfromthepaiddetaildatabase.3. Obtained a listing of all paid details called in to the Orleans Parish Communication

District(OPCD)forthetestingperiodandperformedthefollowing:a. Testedthepaiddetaildatabaselistingforcompletenessbyselectingasampleof

90 details (confidence level 90%,margin of error 7%) from the list of detailscalledintoOPCD.ThissamplewasonlyusedforFinding#6.

b. Verifiedwhether thedetail selectedwas includedon the listing from thepaiddetaildatabase.

4. ObtainedalistingofallNOPDemployeesfromDecember30,2012toApril6,2013andselectedasampleof90employees(confidencelevel95%,marginoferror10%)totest.ThissamplecontributedallfindingsexceptFinding#6.Performedthefollowingforeachemployeeselected:

a. ObtainedalistingoftheofficersTRIPtime;b. Obtained overtime approval forms to verify whether overtime was properly

approved;c. Recalculated the officers time worked each day to verify whether daily

maximumworkinghourswereexceeded;d. Recalculated the officers overtime worked each week to determinewhether

maximumovertimelimitswereexceeded;e. Recalculatedtheofficerstimereportedforpaiddetailseachweektodetermine

whethermaximumpaiddetaillimitswereexceeded;2AperformanceauditonthecitywidepayrollsystemwasreleasedinOctober2011.3PublishedbytheGeneralAccountingOffice(GAO),December2011Revision.4PublishedbytheAssociationofInspectorsGeneral,May2004Revision.5CitywideprocessesthatwerenotuniquetoNOPDwerenotretested.


f. Verifiedwhetherpaiddetailswereworkedwhile theofficerwasonsick leave,workmenscompleave,orondutyinjuryleave;and

g. Verified whether paid details overlapped with the officers scheduled NOPDwork.

5. Developed findings, observations and recommendations as a result of the testingperformed.

Computerprocesseddatawasprovidedandreliedupon.Aformalreliabilityassessmentofthecomputerprocesseddatawasnotperformed.Hardcopydocuments reviewedsupported theinformationcontainedinthecomputerprocesseddata.


II. GENERAL NOPD PAYROLL FINDINGS Finding#1Condition:Forthe90officerssampled,17NOPDofficersworkedmorethan16hoursand35minutesperday.Table1belowdisplayshoursworkedoverthelimitbyofficers.

Table1.HoursWorkedOvertheLimit

Officer

NumberofdaystheOfficerworked

exceedingthe16hour35minutelimit

Totalcumulativehoursover

limitOfficer1 7 14:00Officer2 5 13:15Officer3 3 5:15Officer4 2 4:50Officer5 4 4:45Officer6 1 4:00Officer7 2 3:50Officer8 1 3:25Officer9 3 3:10Officer10 4 3:00Officer11 2 2:55Officer12 1 2:25Officer13 1 1:45Officer14 1 1:25Officer15 1 1:00Officer16 1 1:00Officer17 1 0:30

Total 40 70:30Criteria: NOPDOperationsManualChapter13.15Overtime stated that Employees shallnotworkmorethansixteenhoursandthirtyfiveminutesinaday(excludingcourttime)Themaximumhourscitedincludedtheofficerstourofduty,overtimeandpaiddetails.Cause:NOPDsupervisorsdidnoteffectivelymonitorofficerstime.Effect: Officers lacked proper restwhich could lead to poorwork performance and fatiguerelatedaccidents.Recommendation:Policiesshouldbeenforcedtopreventand/ordetectofficersworkingmorethanthemaximumhoursallowedeachday.


CityCommentandCorrectiveAction: InthedatedmainframeTRIPpayrollsystem, itwasdifficult for supervisors to compute and monitor hours worked by officers in multiple unitsoutsideof theirnormalworkassignment.With the implementationofADP itwillbeeasier tomonitorhoursworkedbecause time is recordedona single employee recordacrossmultipleassignmentsviaabiometrictimeclockwithlivedatathatisreadilyaccessibleforsupervisorstomonitor.TheDepartmentplanstohavethePayrollUnitreiteratetosupervisorsduringannualinservice training (Payroll processing session) the importance of closely monitoring hoursworkedbyemployeesundertheircommandtoenforcethepolicy.TheComplianceSectionwillalsoincreasetheirmonitoringofdistrictsrelativetothenew16hoursperdayworkmaximum.Finding#2Condition: FourteenNOPD officersworkedmore than 32 hours of overtime in aweek. Theunapprovedovertimetotaled126hoursand30minutes.Criteria:EmployeesshallnotworkmorethanthirtytwohoursofovertimeperweekwiththepermissionoftheemployeesAssistantSuperintendent,orOfficerCommander/Director.6Cause:TRIPreportsonlyshowedtheofficerstimeworkedbyunit;therefore,supervisorscouldnoteasilytrackovertimewhentheofficersworkedformultipleunitsduringthesameweek.Effect:Withoutappropriateapprovalfortheovertime,supervisorswerenotawareofthetotalhourstheofficerwasworking.Recommendation: NOPDshouldrequest thattheCitydeveloppayrollreports thatshow theofficers timeworked forallunitscombinedand implementanearlywarningsystem toalertthesupervisorsinadvancewhenanofficerisapproachingtheovertimelimit.City Comment and Corrective Action: The Department agrees that supervisors could noteasilytrackovertimehoursworkedbyofficersduetolimitationsinTRIP.NowthatADPhasbeenimplemented the Department is developing reports to assist supervisors with tracking ofovertimehours(earlywarning)Finding#3Condition:ThreeNOPDofficersworkedmorethan24hoursofovertimewithoutappropriateapproval.Theunapprovedovertimetotaled17hoursand41minutes.Criteria: Employees shall not work more than twentyfour hours of overtime per week(Sunday throughSaturday). Thirtytwohoursofovertimeperweekmaybeworkedwith thepermissionoftheemployeesAssistantSuperintendent,orOfficerCommander/Director.7Cause: TRIP reports only showed the officers timeworked by unit. Therefore, supervisorscouldnoteasily trackovertimewhen theofficersworked formultipleunitsduring the sameweek.6NOPDOperationsManual,Chapter13.15Overtime.7Ibid.


Effect:Withoutappropriateapprovaloftheovertime,supervisorswerenotawareofthetotalhourstheofficerwasworking.Recommendation: NOPD should request that the City develop payroll reports that showofficers time worked for all units and/or budget codes combined and implement an earlywarning system toalert supervisors inadvancewhenanofficer isapproaching theovertimelimit.City Comment and CorrectiveAction: Two of the three officers remain on staff and theinformationwillbesenttotheDepartmentsPerformanceStandardsSectionforfurtherreviewtodeterminerecommendationsforfurtheraction.Aspreviouslystated,nowthatADPhasbeenimplemented the Department is developing reports to assist supervisors with tracking ofovertimehours(earlywarning).Finding#4Condition:Twentytwo (24%)ofthe90officerstesteddidnotapprovetheirtime intheBeatBook.8

Threeofficersdidnotapproveanyoftheirtime Nineteenofficersmissedmultipleentries.

Criteria: NOPD Operations Manual Chapter 13.18 T.R.I.P. Payroll System stated Everymember shall signhis/hernameon theDailyBeatRollprintoutnext to each entry for thatemployeeonadailybasisacknowledgingthattheworkingstatusandhoursarecorrect.Cause:OfficersandtheirsupervisorsdidnotproperlymonitortheBeatBooktoascertainthatofficerswereapprovingtimeasrequired.Effect: Officers work status and/or hours could have been entered incorrectly resulting ininaccuraciesinbenefitsandpay.Recommendation: Officers should follow policy and sign each Daily Beat Roll printout toacknowledgethattheworkingstatusandhoursarecorrect.CityCommentandCorrectiveAction:TheDepartmentacknowledges thatdaily signature inthebeatrollbookwasapolicyrequirementintheTRIPsystem.Officerswererequiredtosignattheendof their tourofduty toverifywork status.However, inourcurrentADPenvironmentsignaturesareno longerrequired,withutilizationofthebiometrictimeclocks,anemployeesfingerprint servesas an electronic signatureand canbeauditedatany time to verifyworkstatusFinding#5Condition:FourteenofficersBeatBookswerenotavailableforaudit.Fortwoofficerstested,theBeatBookwasnotavailableatall.For12otherofficers,manydaysoftheBeatBookweremissing.8Atotalof8,036entrieswerereviewedwithatotalof734entries(9%)missingofficerapprovals.


Criteria: NOPD Operations Manual Chapter 13.18 T.R.I.P. Payroll System stated Everycommanding officer shallmaintain all originalDaily Beat Roll printouts, signed as describedabove,forallemployeesunderhis/hercommandandshallberesponsibleforproducingsamewhen ordered to do so by an authoritative source. The NOPD records retention schedulerequiredtheBeatRollBookstobemaintainedforthreecalendaryears.Cause:CommandingofficerswerenotproperlymaintainingtheBeatBooks.Effect:Officersworking statusand/orhours couldhavebeenentered incorrectly resulting ininaccuraciesinbenefitsandpay.Recommendation:CommandingofficersshouldmaintainBeatBooksasrequired.CityCommentandCorrectiveAction: TheDepartmentacknowledgesthatsomeoftheBeatBookswerenotreadilyaccessibleduringthetestingperiod.TheDepartmentsrecordsretentionscheduledoesrequirethatwemaintainthreecalendaryearsofbeatrollbooks.However,inourpaperlessADPenvironment,theprintingandmanagingofbeatrollbooksisnowobsolete.Weareintheprocessofupdatingourpayrollpoliciesandrecordsretentionscheduletoreflectthenewandimprovedelectronicenvironment...


III. NOPD PAYROLL FINDINGS RESULTING FROM PAID DETAILS Finding#6Background:Whenofficersworkedadetail,onememberofthedetailwasrequiredtocalltheOPCD to check inbefore commencementof thedetail.9 During the check inprocess,OPCDissuedanitemnumberforthedetailwhichwasenteredintothepaiddetaildatabasebyeachofficer.10Thepaiddetaildatabaseprovidedinformationneededtocheckthenumberofdetailhoursanofficerworkedduringagivenperiod.Condition:Supervisorscouldnotproperlymonitortotalhoursworked(tourofduty,overtime,anddetailscombined)becauseofficersfailedtoenterpaiddetailsintothepaiddetaildatabase.Fiftytwo(57.8%)ofthe90officersthatcalled inapaiddetailfailedtoentertheirpaiddetailintothedatabase.Criteria:NOPDGeneralOrder#906,datedMarch7,2012,requiredeachofficerworkingpaiddetails to record them in thepaiddetaildatabasewithin the firsthourof theirnext tourofdutywhenpossibleandnolaterthantheendoftheofficerstourofduty.Cause:OfficersdidnotfollowtheNOPDspolicy.Effect:Supervisorswereunable toaccurately track thehoursworkedby theofficers in theirunit.Recommendation:TheNOPDpoliciesshouldbeenforcedtoensureallofficerspaiddetailsarerecordedinthepaiddetaildatabasesothatsupervisorscanproperlymonitoranofficerstotalhoursworked.City Comment and Corrective Action: While the Department acknowledges there wereerrors reflected in some entriesbeing selfgeneratedbymembers, thedatabasedidprovidevalue in reasonably predicting OPSE operational development strategies. Departmentsupervisorswerenevergivengeneralaccesstothisdatabase,norweretheyrequiredtoverifythe validity of information contained within. As the City completes full transition to OPSEtakeoverofpaiddetails,theneedformaintainingthisdatabasehasbecomeobsolete.Finding#7Condition:Threeofficersworkeda totalof fourpaiddetailswhilealsoworking their tourofdutyfortheNOPD.Criteria: NOPDOperationsManualChapter22.8PaidDetails (OperationsManual) statedOfficers or other employees authorized to work paid details may perform or engage inauthorizedpaiddetailsonlyduringthosetimeswhentheyareoffduty.9Therankingofficer,orseniorofficer iftherewasnorankingofficer,called inthedetailandprovidedthedetailitemnumbertotheotherofficersworkingthepaiddetail.10Eachofficerworkingapaiddetailwasrequiredtologtheinformationwithinthefirsthouroftheirnexttourofdutyunlessauthorizedbyasupervisorduetoexigentcircumstances. However, itmustbeenteredbeforethemembersETOD[endoftourofduty].


Cause:CertainofficersdidnotcomplywiththeOperationsManual.Effect:TheNOPDwasunderstaffedduringperiodswhentheofficerswereworkingpaiddetailsinsteadof their tourofduty.11 Officersalsoreceivedpay frompaiddetailsandNOPDat thesametime.Recommendation:OfficersshouldabidebythepoliciesintheOperationsManual.CityCommentandCorrectiveAction: The informationprovidedbyauditorswillbesenttotheDepartments Performance Standards Section for further reviewand corrective action aswarranted.Finding#8Condition:For theofficers tested, twelveofficersworked5012paiddetails (14.5%of the344detailstested)withoutabreakbetweenthetourofdutyandthepaiddetail.Criteria:InanemailtoallNOPDemployees,onApril13,2011,SuperintendentSerpasclarifiedthat,"Adetailendorstarttimeandatourofdutystartorendtimemustbeseperated[sic]byaresonable[sic]timespantoallowfortraveltoorfromyourplaceofassigment[sic]."Cause:OfficersandsupervisorsdidnotfollowSuperintendentSerpasdirectiveregardingstartandendtimesofpaiddetails.Effect:Theofficerwasunable toworkall scheduled (and reported)hoursduringhis tourofduty.Recommendation:OfficersandsupervisorsshouldcomplywiththeSuperintendentsdirective.CityCommentandCorrectiveAction:InourcurrentADPenvironment,biometrictimeclockentries can be audited at any time to verify accuracy of punchin / punchout times.Furthermore,as theCity completes full transition toOPSE, truepayroll recordsassociated topaiddetailswillbereadilyavailabletomanagersforcomparison.Finding#9Condition:Officersworkedpaiddetailswithouttheknowledgeorapprovaloftheirsupervisors.Ofthe90officerstested,36workedpaiddetails.Twentythreeofthe36officersweremissingapprovals.Fourofficersweremissingapprovalsforsomeofthepaiddetailsandnineteenoftheofficers did not have approvals for any of the paid details. See Tables 2 and 3 below foradditionalinformationfortheunapprovedpaiddetails.11Theactualnumberofofficersworkingpaiddetailsatthesametimeastheirtourofdutycouldbelargersincealldetailswerenotenteredintothepaiddetaildatabase.12Atotalof344detailswereincludedinthetestingforthisaudit.


Table2.OfficersWorkingPaidDetailsWithoutApproval Number Percentage

Numberofofficersworkingpaiddetails 36Numberofofficersmissingsomepaiddetailapprovals 4 11%Numberofofficersmissingallpaiddetailapprovals 19 53%Totalofficersmissingapprovals 23 64%

Table3.ComparisonofApprovedvs.UnapprovedPaidDetails Number PercentageTotalapprovedpaiddetails 109 32%Totalunapprovedpaiddetails 235 68%

Totalreportedpaiddetailsforofficersin sample 344 100%

Criteria: NOPDOperationsManual,Chapter22.8PaidDetails statedApproval toworkpaiddetailsshallnotbeautomatic.Employeeswishingtoworkapaiddetailshallcompletethecurrent New Orleans Police Paid Detail Authorization Form #21 (revised 02/01/2004) inadvance,priortoworkingthepaiddetail.Upon approvalby theofficersDivisionCommander, theofficerwillbe allowed towork therequested detail pending final approval of the Superintendent of Police. There are noexceptionsfromthisrequirement.Cause:OfficersdidnotfollowNOPDpolicyrequiringapprovalsforpaiddetails.Effect: Without proper knowledge of the officers paid detail hours, the supervisor cannotaccuratelyverifythatofficersarenotworkingmorethan16hoursand35minutesaday.Recommendation: NOPD should enforce its policy to prevent officers from working paiddetailswithoutapproval.CityCommentandCorrectiveAction:TheDepartmentacknowledgesthat,ataminimum,theapproval of a members Division Commander is required prior to an officer working a paiddetail. The information provided by auditors will be sent to the Departments PerformanceStandardsSectionforfurtherreviewtoverifytheauditorfindingsandforadeterminationastowhether further action is warranted. With the Citys transition to OPSE, electronic recordmaintenancehasprovidedenhancedoversightcapabilitiesassociatedtoapprovalstatus.


IV. OBSERVATIONS Observation#1NOPDOperationsManualChapter13.15Overtimelimitedtheamountofovertimeanofficercouldworkto24hoursaweek(32hourswithapproval).NOPDOperationsManualChapter22.8PaidDetailsstatedthatofficerscouldwork24hoursofpaiddetailsinaweek(32hourswithapproval).13Therefore,officerswereabletoworkupto106hoursand55minutesinaweekiftheyworkedthemaximumovertimeandpaiddetailhoursincludingtheirnormaltourofdutyasshowninTable4below.

Table4.TotalWorkHoursPossibleStandardtourofdutyhours 42:55Possibleovertimehours 32:00Possibledetailhours 32:00Totalpossiblehours 106:55

Observation#2Background:NOPDpoliciesprohibitanofficerfromsplittingworkshiftsduringthecourseofascheduled tourofduty. Splitting awork shift isdefined as clockingout andback inwithoutusinganytypeofleave14fortheworkinterruption.Observation: OneofficersplithisworkshiftseighttimesonfourdifferentdaystoperformatrafficescortdetailwithintheCitylimits.SeeTable5below.NOPDGeneralOrder475statedthepracticeofsplittingworkshiftsisprohibited.15Whentheofficerlefthistourofdutytoperformthepaiddetail,theNOPDwasunderstaffed.

Table5.NumberofSplitShiftsPerDay

DateNumberofpaiddetailsworkedduringtourof

dutyWorktimemissedtoperformdetails

1/29/2013 1 0:302/5/2013 5 2:152/6/2013 1 0:152/7/2013 1 0:15Total 8 3:15

13NOPDOperationsManualChapter22.8PaidDetailsstatedthatdetailsinexcessofthe24hourlimitrequiredapprovalbytheSuperintendent.14Annualleave,sickleave,orcivilleavewasrequiredtobetakenbytheofficerwhensplittingashift.15IssuedonMarch30,1995bypreviousNOPDSuperintendentPennington.


V. GLOSSARY OF TERMS 1. Associationof InspectorsGeneral (AIG)Anassociationestablished in1996 toprovide

leadershipinthepromotionofintegrityeffortsingovernment.162. BeatBookAcompilationofthedailybeatrollprintouts foreachunitoftheNOPD.The

commandingofficerwasrequiredtomaintaintheBeatBooksfortheunit.3. Beat Roll Printouts A daily printout for each unit of the NOPD which indicated each

employeesworkingstatusandhoursforthegivenday.4. BudgetCodeAnaccountingcodeusedtotrackcostsforthevariousunitswithintheCity.

Theofficerstimewaschargedtothebudgetcodecorrespondingtotheworkunitforeachshift.Anofficercouldworkformultipleunitsduringaweek.

5. Finding Findings in a performance audit can be any one or a combination of thefollowing:17a. Significantdeficienciesininternalcontrol,b. Fraudandillegalacts,c. Violationsofcontractandgrantagreements,and/ord. Abuse.Eachfindingcontainsfiveelements:condition,criteria,cause,effect,andrecommendation.

a. ConditionAnelementofafindingthatexplainswhathappened.b. CriteriaAnelementofafindingthatexplainswhatisrequired.c. CauseAnelementofafindingthatexplainswhytheconditionhappened.d. EffectAnelementofafindingthatexplainstheimpactofwhathappened.e. RecommendationAnelementofafindingthatprovidessuggestionstocorrect

thecondition.6. Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (GAGAS) The standards used to

conduct governmental audits as recommended by the General Accounting Office (alsoreferredtoastheYellowBook).

7. GeneralAccountingOffice(GAO)AnagencywithintheU.S.GovernmentresponsibleforwritingtheYellowBook.

8. ObservationObservationsemphasizeamatterthatmayormaynotaffectthequalityoftheorganizationsoperations.Observationsarenotfindingsanddonotrequirearesponsefromtheentity.

16Inspectorsgeneral.org/about/.17 General Accounting Office. (December 2011 Revision) Government Auditing Standards United States GovernmentAccountabilityOfficebytheComptrollerGeneraloftheUnitedStates.


9. Overtime Any timeworked in excess of 42 hours and 55minutes aweek (Sunday toSaturday).Paiddetailhoursarenotincludedintheovertimelimit.

10. Paid Details The offduty employment, for compensation, of any employee of theDepartment by another individual, business, establishment, or organization where theemployee is performing the duties of a police officer or a function of the policedepartment.18Detailswerepaidbytheindividual,business,establishment,ororganizationdirectlytotheemployee.

11. PaidDetailDatabaseAdatabasewhichcontainedallselfreportedpaiddetailsworkedbyallpoliceofficers.Theofficerwasrequiredtoentertheinformationregardingapaiddetailworkedintothepaiddetaildatabaseduringthenexttourofduty.

12. SignificanceAjudgmentcallbytheauditorthatisusuallybaseduponthefrequencyandmagnitudeofthedeficiencyorcondition.

13. SplitWorkShiftsTheprohibitedpracticeofclocking inandoutduringashiftwithoutusinganytypeofleave19fortheworkinterruption.

14. Standards for Offices of Inspector General The standards contained in the GAOsStandards for InternalControl in theFederalGovernment (Also referred toasTheGreenBook)

15. TimeReporting InputProcedure (TRIP)The softwareprogram theNOPDused to inputandtracktimeworked. Information input intoTRIPwastransferredtothepayrollsystemusedbytheCityofNewOrleanstoprocessNOPDpayroll.

16. TRIPSheetThetermusedtorefertoanofficersweeklytimesheet. ThetimeenteredintoTRIP for theweekwasprintedonaTRIP sheet foreachofficer to review, sign,andsubmit to their supervisor. It included theofficers timeworked for theNOPD (includingtimeworkedindifferentdepartments)butdidnotincludetimeworkedonpaiddetails.

17. Tour ofDuty The police officers scheduledwork hourswhich include roll call, patrol,courttime,etc.Astandardtourofdutyiseighthoursand35minutesforatotalof42hoursand55minutes inaweek. DuringMardiGrasandother largespecialevents,theofficerstourofdutyincreasesto12hoursperdayforatotalof60or72hoursperweek.20

18. UnitAunitwasunderthecommandofonesupervisorwhowasresponsibleforthedutiesoftheunit.Oneormoreofficerswereassignedtoaparticulartasksuchas investigations,homicide,specialoperations,patrolofacertainarea,etc.

19. U.S.GenerallyAcceptedAccountingPrinciples (GAAP)The standardguidelinesused infinancialaccountingintheUnitedStates.

18NOPDOperationsManual,Chapter22.8PaidDetails.19Officerswererequiredtotakeannual,sick,orcivilleavewhensplittingashift.20Someofficersworksixdaysaweekduringspecialevents.


VI. OFFICIAL CITY COMMENTS CityCodeOrdinance21120section (8)(b)Prior toconcludinganauditorevaluation report,which contains findings as to the person or entity which is the subject of the audit orevaluation,theOfficeof InspectorGeneralshallprovidetheaffectedpersonorentitywithanInternalReviewCopyofthereport.Suchpersonorentityshallhave30daysfromtheelectronictransmittaldateofthereporttosubmitawrittenexplanationorrebuttaltothefindingsbeforethe report is finalized, and such timely submitted written explanation or rebuttal shall beattachedtothefinalizedreport.AnInternalReviewCopyofthisreportwasdistributedtotheCityonJune23,2014toprovideanopportunitytocommentpriortothepublicreleaseofthefinalreport.ThecommentsweredueandreceivedonJuly23,2014.TheCityscommentsareincludedinthebodyofthisreportbehindeachfindingandinitsentiretybehindthissection.

Mitchell J. Landrieu MAYOR

CITY OF NEW ORLEANS

DEPARTMENT OF POLICE P.O BOX 51480

New Orleans, Louisiana 70151

to protect and to serve

Ronal W. Serpas, Ph.D.

SUPERINTENDENT

July 23, 2014 Ed Quatrevaux, Inspector General Office of the Inspector General City of New Orleans 525 St. Charles Avenue New Orleans, LA 70130-3049 RE: New Orleans Police Department Payroll Performance Audit Dear Inspector General Quatrevaux: Thank you for giving the New Orleans Police Department the opportunity to review and comment on your report titled New Orleans Police Department Payroll Performance Audit. We appreciate the work done by your staff in compiling this report, as well as the level of cooperation shown by those involved. As you are aware, significant steps have been taken by the Mayor and other City Officials to advance the management of internal payroll controls. We are now in the final stages of transitioning away from the antiquated human resource mainframe system (AHRS) to a technologically advanced ADP Payroll Application. Benefits associated with the ADP system will provide greater oversight to our managers in access to real-time payroll data, improved levels of security and other modernizations. We are confident that automated reporting features associated with this implementation will afford our supervisors the ability to more easily recognize and address deficiencies within an employees fixed payroll cycle. Following are our detailed responses to audit findings and response actions: Finding #1: Seventeen NOPD officers worked more than 16 hours and 35 minutes a day. Recommendation: Policies should be enforced to prevent and/or detect officers working more than the maximum hours allowed each day. Departments Response: The Department acknowledges that there are instances where officers have worked over the allotted 16 hours and 35 minutes a day. In the dated mainframe TRIP payroll system, it was difficult for supervisors to compute and monitor hours worked by officers in multiple units outside of their normal work assignment. With the implementation of ADP it will be easier to monitor hours worked because time is recorded on a single employee record across multiple assignments via a biometric time clock with live data that is readily accessible for supervisors to monitor. It should be noted that the sampling of audited information was taken during a time of peak special event coverage (Mardi Gras & Super Bowl of 2013); although not an excuse, manpower demands may have played a role in officers exceeding the threshold.

NOPD Payroll Performance Audit 7/23/14 The Department plans to have the Payroll Unit reiterate to supervisors during annual in-service training (Payroll processing session) the importance of closely monitoring hours worked by employees under their command to enforce the policy. The Compliance Section will also increase their monitoring of districts relative to the new 16 hours per day work maximum. Finding #2: Fourteen NOPD officers worked more than 32 hours of overtime in a week. Recommendation: NOPD should request that the City develop payroll reports that show officers time worked for all units combined and implement an early warning system to alert the supervisors in advance when an officer is approaching the overtime limit. Departments Response: The Department agrees that supervisors could not easily track overtime hours worked by officers due to limitations in TRIP. Now that ADP has been implemented the Department is developing reports to assist supervisors with tracking of overtime hours (early warning). Again, manpower shortage may have been a contributing factor during peak special event coverage. Finding #3: Three NOPD officers worked more than 24 hours of overtime without appropriate approval. Recommendation: NOPD should request that the City develop payroll reports that show officers time worked for all units and/or budget codes combined and implement an early warning system to alert supervisors in advance when an officer is approaching the overtime limit. Departments Response: NOPD was able to verify that the three officers did exceed the 24 hours of overtime without documentation of authorization by a supervisor. Two of the three officers remain on staff and the information will be sent to the Departments Performance Standards Section for further review to determine recommendations for further action. As previously stated, now that ADP has been implemented the Department is developing reports to assist supervisors with tracking of overtime hours (early warning). However, given the extraordinary manpower demands placed on this agency during the first quarter of 2013, we are encouraged to discover that such a minute population of errors was found in such a large organization and across multiple pay cycles. Finding #4: Twentytwo NOPD officers tested did not approve their time in the Beat Book. Recommendation: Officers should follow policy and sign each Daily Beat Roll printout to acknowledge that the working status and hours are correct. Departments Response: The Department acknowledges that daily signature in the beat roll book was a policy requirement in the TRIP system. Officers were required to sign at the end of their tour of duty to verify work status. However, in our current ADP environment signatures are no longer required, with utilization of the biometric time clocks, an employees finger print serves as an electronic signature and can be audited at any time to verify work status. We believe it is important to note that during the period covering this audit, there were a number of documented instances of limited system access due to required mainframe and/or application maintenance.

NOPD Payroll Performance Audit 7/23/14 Finding #5: Fourteen NOPD officers Beat Books were not available for audit. Recommendation: Commanding officers should maintain Beat Books as required. Departments Response: The Department acknowledges that some of the Beat Books were not readily accessible during the testing period. The Departments records retention schedule does require that we maintain three calendar years of beat roll books. However, in our paperless ADP environment, the printing and managing of beat roll books is now obsolete. We are in the process of updating our payroll policies and records retention schedule to reflect the new and improved electronic environment. It was also pointed out by auditors that in one district, several beat roll books were apparently misplaced during a move to a new facility. For that, we apologize. Finding #6: NOPD officers failed to enter paid details into the paid detail database. Recommendation: The NOPD policies should be enforced to ensure all officers paid details are recorded in the paid detail database so that supervisors can properly monitor an officers total hours worked. Departments Response: Although this finding is presented as part of a NOPD payroll audit, we believe it is important to note that the paid detail data base referenced in this report was not developed, nor is it supported, as a payroll data base. In 2011, a rudimentary application was developed by the Department as a way to compile data associated to the Citys move to develop the new independent Office of Police Secondary Employment (OPSE). Prior to this time, there was no method for electronically tracking or predicting information associated with paid details. There are no payroll reports or City generated funds associated to use of data contained in NOPDs internal paid detail tracking system. While the Department acknowledges there were errors reflected in some entries being self-generated by members, the data base did provide value in reasonably predicting OPSE operational development strategies. Department supervisors were never given general access to this data base, nor were they required to verify the validity of information contained within. As the City completes full transition to OPSE takeover of paid details, the need for maintaining this data base has become obsolete. Finding #7: Three NOPD officers worked a total of four paid details while also working their tour of duty. Recommendation: Officers should abide by the policies in the Operations Manual. Departments Response: The Department acknowledges that there are records suggesting a possible conflict in reporting involving these three members. The information provided by auditors will be sent to the Departments Performance Standards Section for further review and corrective action as warranted.

NOPD Payroll Performance Audit 7/23/14 Finding #8: Twelve NOPD officers worked 50 paid details without a break between the tour of duty and the paid detail. Recommendation: Officers and supervisors should comply with the Superintendents directive. Departments Response: In April 2011, an information notice was sent to employees providing clarification that a paid detail start and end time should provide for adequate travel time and must not coincide with a members actual tour of duty hours when being entered into NOPDs internal paid detail tracking data base. This stipulation was subsequently made formal policy in the 4th Quarter of 2013. In our current ADP environment, biometric time clock entries can be audited at any time to verify accuracy of punch-in / punch-out times. Furthermore, as the City completes full transition to OPSE, true payroll records associated to paid details will be readily available to managers for comparison. Finding #9: NOPD officers worked paid details without the knowledge or approval of their supervisors. Recommendation: NOPD should enforce its policy to prevent officers from working paid details without approval. Departments Response: The Department acknowledges that, at a minimum, the approval of a members Division Commander is required prior to an officer working a paid detail. The information provided by auditors will be sent to the Departments Performance Standards Section for further review to verify the auditor findings and for a determination as to whether further action is warranted. With the Citys transition to OPSE, electronic record maintenance has provided enhanced oversight capabilities associated to approval status. ______________________________ We would like to again extend our appreciation to the Office of the Inspector General for providing this agency an opportunity to comment. We commend all of the members of your staff participating in this review for their thoroughness and professionalism. Sincerely, Ronal W. Serpas Superintendent of Police cc: Andrew Kopplin, Deputy Mayor & CAO Emily Arata, Deputy Mayor of External Affairs Jerry Sneed, Deputy Mayor of Public Safety Stephanie Landry, Deputy Superintendent / MSB Jay Ginsberg, Deputy Superintendent / Compliance File

NOPD Payrol Report.pdfNOPD Response CITY OF NEW ORLEANSDEPARTMENT OF POLICEP.O BOX 51480Ronal W. Serpas, Ph.D.

Mitchell J. Landrieu

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New Orleans Police Department Payroll Performance Audit

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