Reported by Ted Hart

Columbus Police dispatchers on duty right now might be overworked. That's because according to city records, they are putting in a ton of overtime.

While some of it is voluntary, much of it is mandatory.

The required extra hours are leading to big burnout as well as big costs to taxpayers.

Overtime in the police radio room is a problem the city can't seem to solve. One former communications technician tells 10 Investigates that employees face mandatory overtime on every shift of every day.

Three dispatchers were among the top five recipients of overtime for the city of Columbus last year. While making $40,000 or more in regular pay, the top three pulled down as much as $52,000 in overtime. The second-highest earner collected $50,000 while the number three, Fay Wedlund, was paid $44,000in OT.

But after 15 years on the job, Wedlund quit. That's a recurring theme.

"Yeah, the money's nice. And I was in a position without any children at home that I could work that."

Because of the stress and lousy work schedule, 60 to 75 percent of all new hires quit in their first year.  And even seasoned employees like Wedlund get worn out by bizarre work schedules.

"Work 12 hours, off four, back in for four, off four, then back in for your shift," is one scenario Wedlund described.

And she says it happens a lot.

Sgt. Mike Woods concedes there's a problem.

"Because we're so short that even though we make some hires, it's just not enough to get us up over that hump where we can start to reduce that overtime and reduce the stress on our comm techs," Sgt. Woods said.

Experts say it's not healthy for employees to consistently work more than 1,000 of overtime a year, and such a workload is likely to affect overall job performance.

Those top three dispatchers all worked well over 1,000 hours of OT last year, averaging between 26 and 33 hours of overtime per week.

"Your 911 dispatchers for this city are tired...very tired," Wedlund remarked.

And in a job that requires a clear head and quick decisions, that becomes a concern for officers on the street.

"We're in a life or death business. And the slightest mistake or lack of information could drastically affect the outcome of any given situation," Fraternal Order of Police president Leif Bickel

There are 41 positions currently open in the radio room, more than a third of the total staff. Statistics indicate the turnover rate in Columbus is worse than the national average.