A new report from the Baltimore Office of the Inspector General has put a spotlight on the police unit tasked with providing executive protection for the city’s top leaders. The investigation found the 16-officer unit costs taxpayers around $3 million annually, with costs ballooning by over $1 million in just the last two fiscal years due to surging overtime expenses.

The probe was sparked by a complaint about the Executive Protection Unit. Among the findings, officers logged 2,300 overtime hours guarding Mayor Brandon Scott, 1,600 hours for State’s Attorney Ivan Bates, and 340 hours for Police Commissioner Michael Harrison in just the first half of the current fiscal year.

“We’re paying this police [unit] money, but we don’t have operating procedures on how this should properly work,” said Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming, expressing surprise at the lack of formal policies governing the unit’s operations.

While no fraud was uncovered, Cumming questioned whether the costs represent a wasteful use of funds that could potentially hire more patrol officers in a city grappling with staffing shortages and violent crime.

The report compared Baltimore’s spending to other cities of similar populations and found places like Memphis, Detroit, Boston, and Milwaukee devoted significantly less resources to executive protection details.

In response, the Baltimore Police Department acknowledged the findings and pledged to enhance transparency around full costs while developing new scheduling to cut overtime expenditures, especially on weekends. State’s Attorney Bates also committed to working with the mayor and police to address concerns raised.

As Baltimore’s leaders grapple with the fiscal impacts, the investigation has reignited a debate around the necessity and appropriate scope of taxpayer-funded executive protection details.