It took four years, but 26 police officers finally settled their lawsuit with the town of Orchard Park in western New York to recover pay for time they worked but for which they weren’t credited, and other violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The heart of their complaint was that donning all their gear to work a shift, then removing it later, took about 15 minutes, and their hourly pay did not include that time. After several years, those minutes add up to real money.

The equipment required to work a shift includes a gun belt, night stick, handcuffs, ammunition pouches, hat and bulletproof vest. Today, the time it takes to don and doff all that stuff is included in a regular shift.

The officers also claimed they spent time writing reports for which they also weren’t compensated.

Orchard Park agreed to pay the officers $72,000. Their individual amounts range from $100 to as much as $3,300, depending on how long they served in the department.

Read the whole story in the Orchard Park Bee.