The highest-paid Minneapolis police employee earned about a half-million dollars last year, with nearly half of that total from overtime pay.

The city’s Police Department posted a record amount of overtime in 2024: $28 million, or $12 million more than planned.

The department has routinely exceeded its overtime budget to make up staffing shortfalls after a flood of officers left following George Floyd’s murder by police and 2020 and the ensuing unrest. The force shrank from about 900 officers before Floyd’s death to 560 in the spring of 2024, the lowest in at least four decades.

Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the Internal Affairs Division is investigating at least three officers’ overtime after an audit he ordered of 2024 spending found some officers violated department policy.