In my new data set, the time comes in the format 1652 as it relates to 4:52pm. However, when it is before 1AM it comes in simply as 52 representing 12:52am. What would a strptime look like for this or is it even possible?
Strptime will not accept "52" using "hhmm" as a format string.
I hope by "new data set" you mean this is recent development work. If so, go back the developer and ask for a proper time field.