Chronic understaffing at the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department has often forced deputies to work mandatory double shifts, helping to triple annual overtime to more than $30 million under Sheriff Steve Tompkins.
But budget overruns didn’t stop the sheriff from embarking on an unusual new initiative: Last year, Tompkins launched a marine patrol, paying a jail officer to work full time as a harbormaster for the town of Winthrop.
Sergeant Dennis DeCarney now spends his days on a boat owned by Winthrop and adorned with a large decal of a Suffolk sheriff’s badge. As he bobs in the waves off Winthrop‘s town pier, DeCarney is 7 miles and a world away from his old assignment at the Suffolk County Jail.
It is a financial win for Winthrop because the sheriff’s department is covering DeCarney’s full $105,000 base pay. And it works out for DeCarney, who lives in Winthrop and gets to work in considerably more scenic surroundings, while still picking up overtime shifts at the jail — to the tune of an additional $60,000 last year.
But the harbor patrol raises fresh questions about mismanagement by Massachusetts’ elected sheriffs, who are perpetually blowing through budgets and engaging in conduct that generates unflattering headlines.
The Suffolk sheriff’s department last year asked the Legislature for more money after it exceeded its $130 million budget by almost 20 percent. State lawmakers cited “questionable spending practices” when they withheld more than $100 million that Suffolk and other sheriff’s offices had requested to cover overruns. The Legislature asked the state inspector general to investigate, and a preliminary report is due Feb. 27.
In Suffolk, DeCarney is one of 15 sheriff’s deputies assigned to work for other law enforcement agencies, which include federal task forces, local police, and a SWAT team, according to public records from the agency. Officials would not provide the dates of the postings, say whether the assignments were full time, or confirm whether the sheriff continued paying the officers while they worked elsewhere.
The sheriff’s department urged the Globe not to reveal the officers’ names because they said the assignments “rely on a good amount of discretion and anonymity,” though they did not explain further. Despite its request, the sheriff’s department has published some officers’ names in its monthly newsletter. The Globe chose to name the officers.
The sheriff’s department has three officers working for the Boston Police Department, including Captain Melvin Reed, who was assigned to the special investigations unit and last year was paid $270,000, including $134,000 in overtime. Another deputy, Captain Angel Lopez, was assigned to the youth violence strike force and took in $223,000, including $95,000 in overtime.
“We don’t pay their salaries,” said Boston police spokesman Sergeant Detective John Boyle, who would not provide additional details. “I don’t answer for other agencies.”
The sheriff’s department pays Lieutenant Jarrod Trovato, who has been assigned to the Revere Police Department’s detective bureau for more than a decade. Other sheriff’s employees serve on task forces run by the US Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
In Winthrop, DeCarney is one of two Suffolk sheriff’s deputies working for the police department. The sheriff’s department pays their wages, according to town officials.
The arrangements raised the eyebrows of one fiscal watchdog, who described them as “dubious at best.”
“State taxpayers foot the bill for an overtime scheme while municipalities fill jobs for free,” said Mary Z. Connaughton, director of government transparency for the right-leaning think tank the Pioneer Institute. “While these programs may have started well-intentioned, they seemed to have run amok.”
Suffolk sheriff spokesman Peter Van Delft defended the practice because he said it makes communities and correctional facilities safer. When deputies work alongside police and federal agents, it facilitates intelligence sharing about gang dynamics, criminal networks, and more, Van Delft said in a statement.
Van Delft did not address how working as a harbormaster achieves these ends, though its appeal to Winthrop is obvious.
“Economically it’s a good deal,” said Winthrop Police Chief John Goodwin. “But from an operational standpoint, I think it’s a great deal. The guy is really good at what he does.”
Goodwin added that people “would be amazed at what goes on in the harbor,” citing drug dealing and prostitution.
DeCarney has made his presence felt in at least one significant way. Since he took the helm at the harbormaster’s office last January, the number of tickets issued to boaters — mostly for unpaid waterways fees — has surged from 33 in 2024 to more than 500 in 2025, according to the town manager’s office. That’s a fifteenfold increase that netted Winthrop thousands of dollars in fines.
Reached by phone, DeCarney declined to comment, citing department policy that prohibits speaking to the media.
In some states, including many in the South, sheriff’s departments operate more like traditional police departments, sending deputies out on patrol and investigating homicides, robberies, and other crimes.
Massachusetts sheriffs have a much narrower mission — primarily operating county jails and houses of correction, where inmates serve shorter sentences than those in state prison. Sheriffs here also handle civil processing, serving summonses, and other legal documents.
The state’s sheriffs have faced heightened scrutiny in the wake of a series of scandals. In August, federal authorities arrested Tompkins on charges he extorted a marijuana company. The Democrat pleaded not guilty and agreed to “step away” from the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department while his criminal case plays out.
Other sheriffs have been accused of misusing campaign funds and drunken driving.
As lawmakers examine sheriffs’ spending, Bristol Sheriff Paul Heroux announced last month that he had saved $3 million by eliminating jobs beyond the scope of corrections. “I put this money previously spent outside of the jail back into the jail,” Heroux said in a statement.
At the Suffolk sheriff’s department, annual overtime has soared under Tompkins’s tenure. The department paid $10 million in OT the year before he became sheriff. Last year, overtime hit $31 million, state payroll records show.
In a statement, the department attributed the spike to difficulties in hiring during the pandemic, which caused staffing shortages and increased the reliance on overtime. Since then, the sheriff has intensified recruitment efforts.
“As a result, we have regained ground post-pandemic and continue to maintain a strong, sustainable recruiting, hiring, and academy training pipeline,” the statement said.
Matt Stout of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
Andrew Ryan can be reached at andrew.ryan@globe.com or via the encrypted messaging app Signal at @andewryan.61