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A New Orleans police officer collected more than $282,000 in a single year by claiming he worked over 4,500 hours, averaging more than 12 hours every day without a single day off. Sgt. Henry Burke’s timesheets said he was on duty. Hidden cameras planted outside his home told a different story entirely. After years of complaints and one earlier investigation that ended with only a written warning, the New Orleans Police Department has fired him for payroll violations and false reporting.
$87,000 Salary Nearly Tripled by Reported Overtime Hours
Burke’s base salary as an NOPD sergeant totaled $87,254 in 2025. His actual pay reached $282,200, built almost entirely from overtime and extra duty assignments layered on top of his regular shifts. His timesheets claimed 4,529 work hours for the year, averaging more than 12 hours every single day, weekends and holidays included. Between 2022 and 2025, his total compensation from the city approached $750,000, according to payroll records reviewed by investigators.
Undercover Cameras Caught Burke at Home During Working Hours
FOX 8 placed cameras outside Burke’s house on seven separate days in July and September 2025. On four of those days, the footage showed him at home while his timesheets said he was on duty for NOPD. On July 13, he left home almost 30 minutes after his shift was supposed to have already started. Two days later, he arrived back home before his listed shift had even ended.
Dash Cam Data Contradicted Burke’s Own Activity Reports
On July 13, Burke logged an equipment test shortly before the hidden camera reportedly placed him at home outside Orleans Parish. He also recorded a business check at a coffee shop on Carrollton Avenue during a Mid-City Security District shift. Dash camera metadata instead placed his patrol vehicle at the Second District station in Gert Town. Investigators found similar conflicts involving claimed neighborhood patrols and equipment checks on other dates throughout the year.
A 2023 Complaint Uncovered 489 Overtime Violations
NOPD watchdog Skip Gallagher filed a complaint about Burke’s timesheets in 2023. The resulting internal investigation found that Burke had violated department overtime policy at least 489 times. He received only a written reprimand instead of being fired or criminally charged. “This should have put up red flags everywhere,” Gallagher said, adding that a quarter-million-dollar patrol officer should have triggered closer scrutiny long before the department acted.
City Watchdog Found NOPD Failed to Monitor Overtime Spending
The New Orleans Office of Inspector General reviewed the city’s overtime practices and found that NOPD had not properly budgeted or monitored overtime pay, leaving the door open to payroll fraud, waste and abuse. Inspector General staffer Edward Michel said the department failed to follow required reporting policies for overtime expenditures. Three other officers identified through the same review remained under internal investigation, barred from working overtime or off-duty detail shifts while the inquiries continued.
NOPD Overtime Spending Fell $8 Million After New Safeguards
NOPD overhauled its payroll procedures after the findings, adding stricter approval requirements, timekeeping verification and regular audits. Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick credited biometric time clocks and closed loopholes for helping bring overtime abuse under control. The Inspector General’s Office reported that police overtime spending dropped by roughly $8.3 million during 2026 following the changes. Crime Commission President Rafael Goyeneche said falling overtime numbers have coincided with continued declines in violent crime across the city.
Burke Arrested on Ten Felony Counts in February 2026
NOPD arrested Burke in February 2026 on four counts of public payroll fraud and six counts of injuring public records, all felonies. The department placed him on unpaid emergency suspension immediately following his arrest. Burke had joined NOPD in 1983 and was assigned to the Field Operations Bureau in the First District at the time. He was one of at least two NOPD officers arrested that same year amid a wider overtime crackdown.
Prosecutors Dropped Charges, but a Federal Referral Is Underway
The Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office and state prosecutors declined all 10 felony counts against Burke on July 1. NOPD said the case had been referred to another jurisdiction without naming it. Days after his firing, the felony case against Burke was referred to federal prosecutors, according to a source. Burke can appeal his termination and would likely keep his pension even if convicted, under state law.
A System That Let One Salary Triple Now Faces Federal Scrutiny
Burke’s firing closed out a department investigation that stretched across three years and one earlier written warning before consequences finally arrived. New timekeeping safeguards have already cut millions in overtime spending, and three more officers remain under review as NOPD works through its broader overtime crackdown. Burke’s case now sits with federal prosecutors, a sharper turn than the local charges that were dropped in July. The sergeant who nearly tripled his salary for years now answers to a different authority entirely.