Boston Council Grills BPD on Overtime Overages and Delayed Civilian Flagger Program

BOSTON — May 7, 2026 — Boston's City Council Ways and Means Committee pressed Police Commissioner Michael Cox and command staff on overtime spending, the long-delayed civilian flagger program, and officer wellness at a May 7 fiscal year 2027 budget hearing. Chief of the Bureau of Administration and Technology Lisa O'Brien reported that BPD is on track for a third consecutive year of declining overtime hours, with the Mass and Cass encampment operation down 22 percent year over year as of May 4, though she confirmed BPD spent roughly $112 million against a $52 million overtime budget in fiscal year 2024 and approximately $97 million against $55 million in fiscal year 2025. O'Brien said the St. Patrick's Day Parade alone consumed 11,826 overtime hours at an estimated cost of roughly $993,000. The civilian flagger program — approved by the council three years ago — remains unlaunched; O'Brien said user-acceptance testing of the Extra Duty Solutions platform is imminent, with a phased rollout targeting end of August. Six in-person and two virtual public commenters uniformly opposed any police budget increase and called for restoration of approximately $6 million cut from the school-year youth jobs program, with Kate Crockford, testifying virtually, citing a 2021 analysis by her office finding no correlation between officer headcount and reduced overtime, and calling the Mass and Cass overtime operation "the largest single-named overtime expenditure" in BPD's budget.