Less police OT expected

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Mayor Jane Campbell's budget proposal for this year allows nearly $3 million less than last year for police overtime, even though the city has eliminated about 250 police jobs to help plug a projected $61 million city budget deficit.
City officials said they expect police overtime in 2004 to cost about $10 million, a 22-percent drop from the department's $12.9 million overtime bill in 2003.
The Cleveland Police Department's total proposed budget for this year is $175.6 million, down $17 million from 2003.
The city has new procedures for police court appearances, after published reports last year revealed that police officers had sometimes used court time to increase overtime they claimed.
Cleveland police spent about $5 million last year on overtime just to send officers to court -- about as much as police in Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton, Akron and Toledo combined.
Cuyahoga County prosecutors say they have been working with police officials since December to help reduce the number of officers called to court.