In Warwick, firefighters can earn overtime without working a full week
Jim Hummel
WARWICK — Mayor Frank J. Picozzi has directed his administration to review a longtime practice that allows city firefighters to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars every year in overtime for hours they don’t actually work — using sick and vacation time to trigger being paid time and a half.
Picozzi’s order came in response to a three-month investigation of city records obtained by The Hummel Report and a detailed computer analysis of the information by Ken Block, founder of the nonprofit WatchdogRI. It included an examination of every firefighter shift over the last 15 months.