A.C. canine officers sue over pay issues

Atlantic City's K-9 unit (the officers, not the dogs) unleashed a federal lawsuit last week, with the officers complaining that they aren't being paid for bathing the dogs, looking for fleas and ticks, and brushing their dogs' teeth.

Filed in federal court in Camden, the suit was entered on the books Thursday, the same day the Atlantic City Police Department's newest recruit, Boomer (the dog, not the officer), graduated from training and joined the force.

The city was "required to provide overtime payments for all work time that [the officers] spent taking care of their police department dogs beyond the time of their regular shift," but "failed to do so," the suit says.

The officers' union, Local 24 of the New Jersey Policemen's Benevolent Association, has been involved in discussions with the city on the issue, but the union's president, Paul Barbere, declined to comment, as did the department through its spokeswoman, Monica McMenamin.

Atlantic City, McMenamin said, has 12 officer-dog teams - eight patrol teams, two drug teams, and two bomb teams, including the aptly named Boomer.

Assistant City Solicitor Anthony Swan, who handles police matters, also did not return a call for comment.

In 1993, the officers and the city signed a compensation agreement for K-9 officers. They were allowed to end their shifts 30 minutes early so they would have time for daily care of the dogs and they were given one administrative day a month to handle visits to veterinarians and other tasks.

What's not clear from the suit is whether the 1993 agreement remains in effect. In August 2009, the K-9 unit was temporarily disbanded, but it was reinstated in July 2010, the suit says.

Even though the officers were reassigned, they still had to take care of the dogs, the suit says. In the last few years, the lawsuit says, the officers had not been given a half-hour per shift or a monthly administrative day to care for the dogs.

Instead, they had to handle these tasks in addition to their work, but did not receive overtime, in violation of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, the suit says.

Lawyers Mark E. Belland and David F. Watkins Jr. of O'Brien, Belland & Bushinsky in Cherry Hill filed the suit on behalf of 16 current and former canine officers. Boomer's handler, James Miltenberger, an officer with 15 years on the force, is not a plaintiff.