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Six months after the city’s Office of the Inspector General warned that lax overtime management at the New Orleans Police Department created an environment ripe for fraud, the department has cut overtime costs by 45% after implementing new safeguards, the OIG said Thursday.
In the first half of 2025, NOPD’s overtime costs, as reported on the city’s BRASS program, totaled nearly $18 million. In the first half of 2026, those costs had dropped to $9.6 million — an $8.3 million reduction.
“The OIG applauds the NOPD and City administrators for improving the Department’s timekeeping and overtime practices to ensure that resources dedicated to public safety are used as efficiently and effectively as possible,” IG Ed Michel said in a Thursday statement.