CONCORD, N.H. - State Police are looking into whether troopers are milking the system for witness overtime fees, an alleged practice that was highlighted in a dispute over a troop commander's order that his officers flood the courts with trials.
State Police Colonel Fred Booth rescinded the memo, by Lieutenant Harry Nedeau, saying Nedeau misrepresented the message he gave at a troop commanders' meeting Nov. 7. Booth said he wants to try to reduce the amount of overtime paid to troopers as court witnesses during their off-duty hours. He said Nedeau was late getting to the meeting and misrepresented what went on.
Troopers are guaranteed four hours of overtime at time-and-a-half if their cases, mostly speeding and other motor vehicle charges, are scheduled during off-duty hours.
Booth wants to find out if troopers dismiss and plea-bargain too many cases on their days off so they spend minimal time in court, but be paid the mandatory four hours of overtime.
"We're going to sample to see if it is a problem. I would be neglectful in my job if I didn't," Booth said.
He said he has no evidence that troopers are abusing witness fee overtime. But overspending the witness fee budget has been a longstanding problem, he said. The state police have spent 65 percent of their $350,000 witness fee budget, four months into the fiscal year.
Assistant Safety Commissioner Earl Sweeney said the department is working to have troopers scheduled for court during their regular hours.
"If somebody wanted to work the system to spend minimal time in court and get four hours overtime pay, I don't know that that goes on. I've heard from time to time, it's been a concern," Sweeney said.
The issue arose when someone mailed a copy of the Nedeau memo to the New Hampshire Sunday News.
The memo said Booth recently had a dispute with Judge Edwin Kelly, administrative justice of district courts, on how troopers are scheduled. But Booth and Kelly said no such conversation took place.
Nedeau wrote that the plan was to stop most plea negotiating and dismissal of charges the day of trial and "plan on going to trial with everything . . . Be prepared to see courtrooms more packed than ever before."
Kelly said he was shocked by the memo and by the State Police attempt to clog the courts by taking just about every case to trial, which he first heard about from judges around the state.
Kelly and Sweeney said the courts always have tried to help State Police on witness fee savings and as recently as Tuesday, they spoke about how to help reduce the costs.
Booth issued a memo to counteract Nedeau's message. He ordered that State Police court officers handle all cases in which defendants must appear, such as extremely high-speed cases. He also ordered that no cases be dropped without approval of a troop commander, who then must justify the action to a superior.
