Instead of walking a beat to track down the bad guys, many cops are sitting at desks doing auditing, accounting and other record-keeping tasks.

"Assigning cops to records-related work wastes taxpayers' money," said Maf Misbah Uddin, president of NYC Accountants & Actuaries Local 1407. "They were hired for law enforcement, not to examine financial records, which should be done by civilian personnel."

Management Auditor Stanley R. Purdie, a Local 1407 shop steward, works at the Medical Bills Unit at the Police Dept. The unit handles medical claims, including Worker's Comp cases filed by cops who are injured on the job. Between 15 and 18 Police Officers are doing the work of Local 1407's Benefits Examiners at the unit, according to Mr. Purdie.

Mr. Purdie said he frequently uncovers errors in the claims work of the Police Officers, who lack the training of the non-uniformed employees but are paid about $20,000 more. The cops doing the civilian work generally know little about the city regulations, comptroller's rules, mayoral executive orders and administrative codes that are relevant to auditing, accounting and record-keeping. The high concentration of limited-duty cops in civilian spots hinders productivity, because they are often absent for medical and other reasons.

Mr. Purdie says assigning cops to civilian jobs also raises troubling conflict-of-interest issues. In the Medical Bills Unit, he said, "You have patients covered by Worker's Compensation who are working here." Ten Police Officers do the work of auditors in the Leave Integrity Unit, which checks on timekeeping and payroll. And the Inspections Unit, which deals with corruption, is short 20 auditors. The low civilian head count there means cops are investigating themselves.

"We Can Do the Work" - the DC 37 report released May 2, identifies ways in which the city could save $600 million. It calls attention, among other things, to the misguided management practice of assigning Police Officers to civilian work in the NYPD's Pension Office. The department could save as much as $250,000 a year by replacing these uniformed personnel with Local 1407 members, including Accountants, Bookkeepers and Benefits Examiners, according to the report.

In the pension unit, Local 1407 members are very upset and demoralized by the practice, but as workers in a paramilitary organization they fear retaliation and are reluctant to speak out, Mr. Uddin said.

"The problem in the pension unit is emblematic of what is going throughout the Police Department, where thousands of cops are being used instead of members of Local 1407 and other DC 37 local unions," Mr. Uddin said.

— Gregory N. Heires