V.I. Police Department Grapples with Understaffing and Skyrocketing Overtime Costs

ST. THOMAS — Amid a stark backdrop of mounting overtime costs and a significant understaffing crisis, V.I. Police Department Commissioner Ray Martinez faced tough questions at the 35th Legislature's Committee on Budget, Finance, and Appropriations on Friday. Mr. Martinez defended the department's fiscal year 2024 budget request of $75.5 million, an overwhelming 98 percent of which is earmarked from the general fund.

A central issue raised by lawmakers was the whopping $8.2 million allocated for officer overtime. Chief Financial Officer Sandra Webster compounded concerns when she revealed that the department expects almost $14 million in overtime reimbursements from FEMA on top of the $8.2 million from the V.I. government's general fund.

Mr. Martinez painted a stark picture of the department's overtime dilemma, especially during festivals and events. He said, "The Cruzan Christmas festival ran us close to $420,000 in overtime… St. John is about roughly $160,000 and St. Thomas carnival runs us easily in excess of half a million dollars." Highlighting the critical understaffing of VIPD, he noted that each district should ideally boast 150 VIPD officers, an achievement yet to be realized.

Senator Kenneth Gittens provided the Consortium with a breakdown of the VIPD's overtime costs so far, since the beginning of the latest fiscal year in October 2023:

St. Croix (STX) District:

Officer (Ofcr)

Base Pay: $52,886

OT-to-date: $171,925

Total: $279,949

Corporal

Base Pay: $57,901

OT-to-date: $153,936

Total: $258,878

Sergeant (SGT)

Base Pay: $63,696

OT-to-date: $205,269