MESA — As cities and towns face growing budget deficits that have forced job cuts and other cost-saving measures, police officers in eastern metro Phoenix are raking in huge amounts of overtime pay, sometimes making more money annually than police chiefs.
The findings are the result of a review by the East Valley Tribune of the top 100 salaries of public officials in Mesa, Gilbert, Tempe, Scottsdale, Chandler, Queen Creek and Apache Junction, and Maricopa and Pinal counties.
Rank-and-file officers in nearly every community made well over six-figure incomes, and in most cases, even those at the bottom of the top 100 lists made more than double than the average county worker.
Public officials say the high-paying salaries are necessary to attract and keep the best and brightest. Opponents of the practice criticize the incomes as a symbol of a government that has grown too large and wants its workers to be paid like CEOs.
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In Gilbert, Apache Junction and Chandler, overtime pay pushed officers' income ahead of the police chiefs' pay.
Almost three-quarters of Gilbert's highest-paid employees last year worked in the Police and Fire departments. Two police sergeants, a lieutenant and a police officer made more money than Police Chief Tim Dorn, the town's 16th-highest paid employee.
Town Manager George Pettit said officers generally work more overtime than other town employees, but that some of the overtime pay comes from outside employers who reimburse Gilbert for the officer's time.
In Chandler, officer Ronald Emary earned $155,045 last year, more than the $153,600 made by police Chief Sherry Kiyler.
City Manager Mark Pentz is looking to cut about $180,000 out of the Police Department's overtime budget to address the issue. Already, the department has been ordered to cut back the number of hours that its officers work traffic control at construction sites.
In Apache Junction, Cpl. Howard Logsdon's nearly $115,000 gross pay package last year was about $6,000 more than Police Chief Glen Walp's.
Of the city's 100 highest-paid employees, about 50 percent represent Police Department positions — a figure that didn't surprise interim Police Chief Thomas Kelly.
"Instead of 40 hours, some folks are putting in 60 to 70 hours and are working instead of taking vacations," Kelly said.
He said it's hard for Apache Junction to remain competitive with neighboring cities such as Mesa, which is able to increase police salaries to recruit officers.
In Tempe, one officer got nearly $90,000 in overtime last year in addition to his $78,000 base pay, making him the third- highest-paid employee in the city, earning nearly as much as Police Chief Tom Ryff.
Overall, more than a dozen officers with the department made more than $25,000 each for working extended hours.
Both city and police officials said the high number of special events in Tempe is driving up the need for overtime, but City Councilwoman Linda Spears questioned whether it's appropriate to have officers working so much.
"You don't want officers working so much that they become ineffective," she said. "So for me this becomes a public- safety issue."
The council voted to allow the Police Department to fill more than 50 new positions to address the issue.
Mark Spencer, president of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, the state's largest police union, said rank-and-file officers deserve to make more because they're the ones putting their lives on the line.
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