Feb 7, 2007 10:35 am US/Eastern
Report: Some Mass. State Troopers Making Big Money
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
More than 200 state police troopers who boosted their base salary by working overtime and road details were paid more than the governor last year, according to a published report.
Nearly one in 10 -- or 225 troopers -- surpassed the governor's $140,535 annual salary.
Four of 2,338 state troopers made more than $200,000 last year and 123 others made more than $150,000, according to payroll information obtained by The Boston Globe under state public records law.
The state police salaries are "vastly excessive and extreme," said Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a nonpartisan state budget watchdog group.
In a recent report on eliminating government waste, the WBZ I-Team cited costly police details.
"We're the only state in the country where just about every work site has police," said Widmer. Officers are paid $40 an hour for detail work, at least twice what a civilian flag person would earn.
"This confirms that police details are a costly and unnecessary burden on the state's taxpayers," Widmer said.
The state police pay totals reported by the Globe do not include money earned working details paid for by the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority or the Massachusetts Port Authority, meaning many more officers likely made more than $150,000 last year.
State Police officers earned $6.1 million on turnpike details for the Big Dig alone during the 2006 fiscal year, and they made $7.2 million on Massport details during the 2006 calendar year, according to the agencies.
John Coflesky, president of the State Police Association of Massachusetts, said having officers at construction sites instead of civilians enhances public safety. "With us, you get a cruiser, someone with the ability to stop and issue citations, someone with a radio," he said.
Municipal police officers also benefit from working details. A 2004 study by Suffolk University's Beacon Hill Institute estimated the costs of local police details in 2003 at $93.3 million, as much as $66.5 million more than civilians would have cost.
State troopers' base pay is between $49,376 to $68,236 a year, depending on years of service. The higher ranks and detectives earn more.
Private contractors and other state agencies reimburse the state police for work on details, Coflesky said.
But Widmer said the consumer always pays. "It's of no import whose budget it comes out of; it comes out of the taxpayer's pocket," he said.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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