LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Louisville Metro Police Chief Paul Humphrey said Wednesday that he has "no concerns" about his officers' use of overtime a day after a WDRB investigation showed more than a dozen officers doubled their pay in recent years with those extra hours.
Speaking live in WDRB's studio, Humphrey explained his department's overtime spending, saying every major in every division makes sure all those hours are for valid openings with people actually working.
"We have no concerns from what we've seen that there's any malfeasance going on with the overtime," Humphrey said. "You have seen the effect of officers being out there, being proactive and being visible having a direct correlation to the reduction of — particularly violent — crime in the city."
According to Metro Government payroll records LMPD spent $66 million on overtime in the last three years, and it's up across the board:
- 170 officers made at least $50,000 in overtime in 2025
- 17 officers more than doubled their salary with overtime since 2023
- The highest earners sometimes took no days off for weeks on end averaging 70-80 hours (or more) per week
"I'm very happy that we have officers willing to put in the extra time to keep people safe," Humphrey said.
Prior WDRB reporting also uncovered a clause in the union contract which allows officers to bank overtime without actually working it. It counts annual leave or vacation time as days worked.
There's been a 40% increase in average overtime since the rules changed. The average employee went from making about $10,000 a year in overtime in 2023 to $25,000 last year.
"I don't necessarily control that so I have to make sure the officers play within the rules that we have," Humphrey said. "So far there's been no indication anyone hasn't been following the rules."
The agreement LMPD is operating under goes beyond what federal law requires under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Guidance for employers from the U.S. Department of Labor says "even though the employee is paid" for a holiday, vacation or sickness, that time "is not hours worked and need not be included in the total hours worked for overtime purposes."
Of the 21 union contracts across Metro Government, 19 specifically block this benefit — with the exception of police and fire. Fire's overtime costs are lower — about $41 million from 2023-25 — and its contract includes safeguards to limit excessive overtime with staffing changes.
The overtime issue came to light in the aftermath of a domestic violence call. In January 2024, Donna Stukenborg was held captive by her ex-boyfriend with a knife. It took police three hours to respond to a 911 run after Sgt. Todd Jenkins told the officers first assigned to the run not to go because their shift was ending. He was the highest paid employee in Metro Government that year, making nearly $300,000 in 2024, largely from overtime.
"Because you had one person that was working overtime that went to that call for service," Humphrey said. "That doesn't mean that's the reason anything happened on a particular call for service."
Humphrey's response in the live interview on WDRB Mornings misstated what actually happened. Jenkins assigned himself to the domestic violence run but never went.
Stukenborg suffered a fractured orbital bone and a brain bleed, among other injuries. It's the subject of an ongoing lawsuit.
"People were held accountable for the decisions that were made that day. Some of the decisions were made in a way that I don't agree with or I would like to see done better but weren't necessarily violations of rules," Humphrey said.
Metro Government delayed releasing the internal LMPD investigation records detailing how the call was handled, including video and interviews tied to the response. Four months after the first request and only after repeated subsequent requests, the city released the video of Jenkins explaining why he called officers off the run.
Overtime has cost taxpayers $66 million in the last three years. The highest earners, like Jenkins, average upwards of 80 hours a week, with some working 16-hour days and going weeks without a day off. There is no cap on overtime in LMPD, only union rules requiring minimum rest between shifts.
"I don't think any of us are going to be upset if it turns out that our tax dollars are being well spent and we're paying fresh officers, we're paying people that are doing their jobs right," said Stukenborg's attorney, David Barber. "But if we find out that our tax dollars are going to pay fatigued officers who maybe are not following the operating procedures that are putting people in danger, nobody wants to pay for that."
The chief touted the department's transparency but made inaccurate statements in Wednesday's interview.
"Gil had access to that domestic violence internal affairs investigation," Humphrey said. "He put in an open records request back in November and is now running a story on it seven months later. The case was not finished when he requested that. He has all the documentation available to him that anyone can have. And so all he had to do to answer his questions was read the case."
While WDRB's first open records request was submitted in November, dated emails show Metro Government failed to fully release the requested materials related to Jenkins. The city delayed for months, then, in February, claimed videos were released that hadn't been.
Most notably, the internal affairs interview where Jenkins admits he called officers off the 911 run for Stukenborg's home and that he didn't see it as a priority.
"I didn't think that was a high priority, even a domestic of its nature, that they were just arguing on the steps," Jenkins told the internal investigator.
The city didn't release the footage until April 7. As of this writing, WDRB still doesn't have all the documents. Another open records request was filed Tuesday.
A judge dismissed Stukenborg's lawsuit against Jenkins in Jefferson Circuit Court as it was filed after the one-year statute of limitations had passed. Barber contends Metro Government deliberately delayed open records requests and concealed Jenkins role in the slow response to her home. He's taking the case to the court of appeals.
Metro Councilwoman Tammy Hawkins said she would support an investigation into LMPD overtime practices.
LMPD Chief Paul Humphrey addresses concerns over rising overtime, officer fatigue and response times, including questions surrounding a delayed domestic violence call highlighted in a WDRB investigation.
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