118 Providence Police Officers Made Over $100K Last Year

Monday, July 20, 2015

Russ Moore, GoLocalProv Contributor

A GoLocalProv review of city data shows that 118 Providence Police Officers took home more than $100,000 in pay over the last fiscal year, which ended on June 30.

In June, GoLocal reported that in fiscal year 2014 (the latest available data at the time), there were 63 firefighters who made more than $100,000. In the next fiscal year, there was almost double the amount of Providence Police who made more than in $100,000 when compared to firefighters from the year prior.

The Providence Police Union has declined to return calls for comment on this story.

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(The city’s fiscal year runs from July 1st until June 30th of the next year. The city is currently in the beginning of fiscal year 2016.) The pay totals are comprised of all forms of compensation that police officers receive—base pay, longevity, overtime, detail—that are not related to benefits (health insurance, pension, etc.)

The Detail

Unlike the highest paid fire department employees, who haul in significant portions of their pay through working overtime, the highest paid police department employees make significantly more of their money working “detail”.

Detail pay is pay police officers earn working outside of their normally scheduled hours, often for non-profits, such as parades or other social events, or businesses, such as nightclubs of concerts, that require a police presence to keep order. Total detail pay in the Providence Police Department was slightly more than $4.2 million last fiscal year. That’s roughly 10 percent of the aggregate pay for a police department employee.

The police officer who took home the largest amount of detail pay was Andrew J. Frolich, who earned $73,291 in detail pay last fiscal year. All things considered, Frolich earned $140,103 last year. More than half his pay came from working detail.

There were 2 officers who earned more than $70,000 in detail pay last year, 6 officers who made more than $60,000, and 5 officers who made more than $50,000. There were 317 officers who earned any detail pay last year. Among them, the average detail payout was $13,383.

Cost Effective?

The city is currently negotiations with the fire department to reduce the amount of overtime in the department by moving from a 4 platoon system to a 3 platoon system—a move the administration believes would save millions per year in overtime costs. The fire department union disputes the notion.

But should the city be looking to curb costs in the police department as well?

Evan England, a spokesman for Mayor Jorge Elorza, said that the administration is seeking ways to make the whole city more efficient and cost effective—not merely the public safety departments. Fiscal responsibility will be a hallmark of the Elorza administration, England said.

“The mayor has always been one for fiscal responsibility and making sure that taxpayer resources are spent as efficiently as possible and he will continue to do that across city government,” said England.

The average member of the police department made about $81,000 last year. Total Providence Police Department pay totaled $42,086,595.85.

The Highest Paid

The highest paid officer was Chief Hugh Clements. Clements made $162,394.98. But unlike the rest of his counterparts, Clements made his pay solely in base and longevity pay.

The second highest paid officer was Lieutenant Richard Fernandes. Fernandes made a total of $155,076.93. Fernandes made a base pay of $83,735.75. Fernandes took home $39,901 in overtime, and 18,128 in detail pay. (The complete list of top paid police officers can be found below.) He made another $4,544.05 in “other pay”.

Most of the highest paid employees in the Providence Police Department made earned their pay by working a mix of detail pay and overtime, similar to Fernandes. However, for the average employees, base pay was a significant portion of their total pay. About $30 million of the $42 million paid to police officers was comprised of “base pay”—that’s roughly 71 percent.

However, unlike the fire department in the year prior, overtime wasn’t such a massive contributor to the average police officer’s pay check. The average police officer took home $7,442 in overtime pay in the most recent fiscal year. In the fiscal year prior, the average firefighter made $14,763—about double that amount.

The police department’s highest overtime earned was Michael Figueiredo, a lieutenant in the department who made just over $48,000 in overtime last year. Figueiredo made a total of $139,886 last year.

Overtime

There were 3 officers who made over $40,000 in overtime last year, and 10 who took home more than $30,000 in overtime.

Overall, there were 468 officers who earned any overtime pay last year. The average pay among those officers was $7,060.85.

England pointed out that a major contributor to police overtime is police officers and detectives working on cases such as violent crimes and homicides. Those instances of overtime are impossible to curb, as police chasing leads on important cases obviously aren’t going to be asked to not work overtime, he said.

Overtime pay made up roughly 7 percent of the pay that police officers earned in the most recent fiscal year.  

Public Sector Pay

Justin Katz, the Research Director for the Ocean State Policy Research Institute, a conservative think tank located here in Rhode Island, said that the myth of low public sector pay, thanks to media reports, and the fact that Rhode Island is constantly awash in red ink, has finally begun to crumble after years of reports such as these.

“Only people who really pay no attention at all could accept the proposition that government employees are underpaid. I still don't think enough people understand the problem, and many of those who get it simply pack up and leave, but the notion that elected officials are under constant moral obligation to increase the pay of people paid by taxpayers sounds increasingly absurd,” said Katz.

Monique Chartier, a spokesperson from the Rhode Island Taxpayers, said that taxes in Providence, and elsewhere in Rhode Island, are out of control. Providence currently has the 4th highest municipal property tax in America, and its residential property taxes are among the highest in the nation. Chartier said that the city needs to get its costs under control, not only for the sake of the taxpayers, but the workers as well. If the system becomes unsustainable for the taxpayer, it fails for everyone, she said.

“Public employees provide invaluable services.  We need to ensure that we can continue to pay them by keeping compensation in a range that is at least somewhat affordable to the taxpayer—particularly when so many taxpayers receive salaries and (too often no) benefits that are less than the public sector compensation that they are funding,” said Chartier.

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Related Slideshow: Providence Police Officers Who Made More Than 100K Last Year

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