So is the Lt. able to operate without sleep? How many hours does one work to make $130k in overtime and details, and how is he getting enough rest to be alert during his shift? Is overtime allocated around fairly? Don't blame the guy for using available opportunities, but the city should not permit this ridiculousness. We pay for these details in our utility bills, and in the cost of other services. And a retirement "bonus" to Carol Johnson could have paid for another teacher. Outrageous for a leader who can't even get the $80m busses to arrive ontime.

I suggest the city generate additional revenues by holding clinical trials to uncover the super-metaphysical qualities these people have to enable them to forgo sleep. There is so much in this story to make a property tax paying resident of the city concerned that one doesn't know where to begin. What is clear is that management control at the department head levels and at the mayor's level is lacking.

Where do they find the time for detail work? No wonder the city is going broke with over paid cops and never ending crime by illegals who are invited here by "El Mumbalito" to commit crimes to get the police more overtime for the union who employs "El Mumbalito" as their political stooge. "Corummba"

Time to dump the Quinn bill. With some cops earning a quarter million dollars - more than a few more than the top administrator of a city or town - it is time to let the cops pay for their own educational costs. If they want to be stupid lumpits, that would be their problem, or maybe they would be eligible for GI Bill education benefits. The Quinn Bill has outlived its usefulness and needs to be dumped by a Legislature that claims to be working for the public good, especially a House Speaker with an eye on a gambling saloon.

Its good to know city workers aren't being harmed by the prolonged slump in the private sector. Nothing like seeing cops get tens of thousands of dollars for "details" that are manned, safely, at a fraction of the cost everywhere else in the country. Its wonderful to see Boston fire trucks at routine car accidents and know that this deployment lines their statistics with useless, grossly overmanned, "runs" while making sure firefighters have something to show for their six figure incomes. Its great to know city workers, with their extensive healthcare benefits, fat pensions and utterly unscrutinized "work" aren't "greedy" like the private sector.

Truely shocking every year when these numbers come out. What a waste to pay these guys this much and give them a pension. Its really shocking to me that letting public sector unions have as much involvement as they do in electing local politicians worked out so poorly for the taxpayer. Maybe we should consider that average family in mass is making just over 40k a year while cops are pulling in nearly 113k on average? Plus getting a pension? Nothing to see here folks, please just move along---

Boatwrote, please do your homework. The Quinn Bill has been gutted by Deval Patrick and is now defunded by the State. In Boston the city pays half of it to those who made the effort to eschew overtime and details in order to obtain an advanced degree in policing. (Incidentally, the cost for my degrees was over $175,000). Answer this: Who would you rather have answer your 911 call for service? A guy who works 40 hours a week plus 50 hours of details directing traffic, or a guy like me who works 40-50 hours a week and has an advanced degree in community policing? I know that if my family had a need for police service, we would prefer the former. What about you?

People, please don't go for the knee-jerk response here. The fact of the matter is that the people topping this list work nearly 90 hours a week and to the point of near exhaustion. And the calls to eliminate the Quinn Bill are also erroneous - it's been defunded by Deval Patrick for several years now. Boston pays its officers half of the educational incentive, so an officer like me who earned two advanced degrees in policing from top-line universities costing over $175,000 has taken a pay cut while still paying the tuition loans. I don't know about the folks on this board, but I would prefer to have a well-educated police officer answer my family's call for service rather than a person who works 90 hours a week (50 of them directing traffic). Which would you prefer? I think the rational people on the board would prefer the former.

Hard working cop is probably on a detain typing on is Iphone---And as far as having professional workforce, being a professional typically means no OT. Also, just because you have a diploma doesnt mean you get 10-20k bump EVERY year for simply sitting through some idiot proof class at Curry college. The bottom line is, we could hire guys coming out of the military for 40k a year on salary with a 401k and wouldnt lose a beat on the quality of the officers that we had. let them have all the details they want but the OT needs to be controlled.

jjag why dont you enlighten us on where cops are not used on details in the country. I drive 93 in New Hampshire all the time and it is loaded with State Troopers on detail. RI has police details everywhere.Flaggers are not used in Mass because the myth of a 10 dollar an hour is just that, a myth. Dont let the truth get in the way of a good post. Oh, and boatwrote, cops pay for their own education. Again, commenting without having a clue.

Richstan---in general flagmen are used, your talking about the biggest highways in two states where there is a practical reason to use troopers. Notice that local police in New Hampshire are practically never used for road work. In Boston, posting an officer on a dead end street is required by contract.

Charlie, a practical reason to use troopers? A one way road with all the construction off to the side? For all of you who think flaggers are cheaper Google "Cape Cod Times- Civilian Flaggers not a money saver." And no, cops are not just used on major highways in the other states. I live near Woonsocket, RI and see local cops on the streets all the time. Cheaper and better prepared than some ex-con holding a stop sign.

Richstan--so you are denying that in general, most states use civilian flaggers for a fraction of the cost? Rhode island public sector unions are just as juiced as mass so im sure they get their way on this as well. The point is, as a country, we are trillions in debt. One of the reasons is pols have lost control of unions like yours. They are supposed to negotiate with them representing the taxpayer. Not as a potential partner in their reelection campaign.

And I certainly dont want to imply that people working for the city or state are not doing a good job in general. However, their pay is more than we can afford without either substantial tax increases or cuts in the services. The baby boomer generation made a lot of promises to a lot of people without actually putting the money aside to pay for it. Now, our generation needs to man up and fix our debt issues so that our kids will be able to afford to pay police officers then a good wage.

So, why do you need the Quinn Bill to direct traffic? You get your overtime for sitting in your car texting all day, why do you need a raise for a masters degree? What part of sitting on the side of the road collecting OT do they teach in grad school?

What "top line" universities did you attend for $85,000 a piece? An MS from MIT runs about $75,0000, and last time I checked they weren't offering a chop shop style MACJ like UMB or Curry.

I'd prefer the logical solution: hire more officers to work at a normal wage. But that isnt what the unions want; by keeping supply scarce (supply being the number of officers), they can manipulate prices (wages). More officers would eliminate time and half/double time waste, but would mean top players would start earning normal incomes.