Nearly $18 million in overtime paid to Milwaukee police officers

Gina Barton and Ben Poston of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel analyzed city of Milwaukee salary and overtime data and found that the police department spent $17.8 million on overtime last year — a 23 percent increase over the previous year. Officers worked enough overtime to hire 380 more officers and pay their benefits. One officer alone earned more than $64,000 in overtime last year, more than doubling his salary. He was one of 42 officers who got paid more than $100,000 a year in 2006. The story includes a searchable database of city of Milwaukee salaries.