The Denver Police Department plans to spend $1.17 million in overtime pay for the Democratic National Convention.
The police department has budgeted the expenditure out of the $50 million federal grant for security costs of the convention.
With nearly 1,500 officers currently on the force, that would amount to nearly $800 in extra pay for every officer if the overtime got spread evenly throughout the department.
But insiders say some officers will get more and others less.
The police force is moving to 12-hour shifts the week of the convention, said Detective Martin Vigil, president of the Denver Police Protective Association.
He added that some personnel will receive extra money for extra training. Others will receive the extra pay for distributing DNC-related equipment during their off-duty hours.
Det. Rufino Trujillo said although the extra pay may sound like a windfall, he’d rather not work the extra hours and do without the extra pay.
“It’s unwelcome overtime,” Trujillo said. “I’d rather just work eight hours a day and be done with it.”
He said he’s not looking forward to wading into a mass of protesters and making arrests if things get unruly.
Officers also are antsy about the recent death of a man found dead in a Denver luxury hotel on Monday near a pound of cyanide.
Other police jurisdictions assisting Denver during the convention also have budgeted overtime pay for police officers, but Denver said it could not provide an accounting of those figures.
Christopher N. Osher: 303-954-1747 or cosher@denverpost.com
