Earlier this week, the Newton City Council voted against a resolution to cut any of the $375,462 budgeted to fill 5 currently empty police officer positions. Mind you, these positions have been empty for 2–6 years, according to Police Chief David MacDonald. Time and time again, councilors said that they felt uncomfortable with any cuts to the police budget without more data. Well, here are the data.
City employee earnings reports going back to 2007 have been publicly available on the city website. The following data come from the 2019 employee earnings report. First, let’s look at the city’s top-earning employees. Figure 1 shows the breakdown of the 50 top-paid city employees by which department they work for.
Newton is a city that prides itself on our public schools, but in reality, we are far more generous when it comes to police pay than teacher pay, or any other department pay. Figure 1 shows that almost half of these 50 top-paid employees are in the police department. Curiously, unlike in other departments, almost none of these top-earning police employees are high-level administrators. In fact, even Chief MacDonald is not on this list (and Mayor Ruthanne Fuller didn’t make the top 50 either). In the school department, top-earning employees are all superintendents, assistants to superintendent, or principals. Of the best paid police that made the top 50, 4 are officers, 6 are sergeants, 6 are lieutenants, 2 are “detail police”, and 1 is an executive officer. I went through Newton Public Schools and worked at Newton South as support staff last year. It was abundantly clear that teachers are not being paid fairly for the incredible job they are doing in educating our youth. Why do rank-and-file employees earn more than administrators in the police department but remain underpaid in schools?
We see the answer when we look at sources of income within total compensation: while the average police employee’s regular salary is $49,785.89 (median: $63,062.90), their average total income is $84,249.00 (median: $91,897.40). A breakdown of pay sources shows the source of this large difference.
This shows that while on paper the police and teachers have similar salaries, officers are given access to huge revenue streams to bolster their income, even earning more than four times their regular salary. The largest stream of revenue is detail pay, in which officers monitor a non-criminal situation such as road work or a large concert — when a police officer waves your car around an electrical crew on the road, that’s a police detail.
Detailing is a topic I could fill a whole other article about, but for now I’ll direct you to this Boston Herald piece explaining how police unions have carefully ensured that almost all detail work goes to police, even though civilians are legally and professionally capable of performing the work. The fact that Newton police are complaining about being understaffed, yet they have 18 full time Detail Officers whose main priority is waving at cars really highlights the hypocrisy in the council’s assumptions about where Newton PD can be cut. Detail work being only done by police does not reflect the public safety needs of Newton.
The more concerning stream of revenue that should be addressed by our data-conscientious council is that huge amount of mysterious “other” pay that is supplementing police earnings (purple pay in Figure 2). One detail officer earned $76,599.88 in “other” pay in 2019; another brought in $57,999.84. Figure 3 shows a histogram of the 20 police employees who earned the most “other” pay in 2019. All were above $10,000. No information is given on the city website about where this likely taxpayer money is coming from, what it is for, or why its origins are not fully disclosed. In total, $1,587,125.07 of unexplained pay was earned by police employees in 2019. To put that in context, the resolution that failed earlier this week suggested cutting at most $375,462, or less than 2% of the police budget, for vacant positions. Last year, these undisclosed “other” earnings made up 7.1% of the total police department’s budget.
No other city department has close to these trends in their employee earnings. Figure 4 shows that the School Department and Health & Human Services show the expected trend of employees making most of their income from regular salary. The police, on the other hand, have unique access to these other revenue streams that are closely guarded in police union negotiations.
Newton CFO Maureen Lemieux, in public conversations about the secretive police union contracts negotiations, has said that the “police unions have too much power” and the city cannot fairly negotiate with them. We see this trend across the country, where police officers reprimanded for egregious misconduct are reinstated with back pay because of the unions. While it is the job of unions to protect their members, these outlandish revenue streams do not seem necessary for officers’ safety or rights on the job.
This week’s FY2021 budget deliberations come at a time of huge cuts across many departments. 100 educators and other NPS employees were let go at a time when our children face an education crisis due to COVID-19. Many students simply did not have a fourth quarter of instruction and learning this past academic year. In hearing from the city councilors that they are concerned about moving too fast on police budget cuts, I wonder whether they expressed the same concern about budget cuts for other departments. The councilors’ lack of urgency here implies that actions on the epidemic of racism in Newton and the USA as a whole can be postponed. It signals that in their eyes, drastic change is not needed, that we can wait an indefinite number of months or years for Mayor Fuller’s task force to report back. Did any councilor ask to see the data when the police asked for more funding year after year? Are data really the reason that councilors Auchincloss, Baker, Gentile, Ciccone, Danberg, Crossley, Markiewicz, Grossman, Kalis, Kelley, Krintzman, Laredo, Lipof, Malakie, Albright, and Wright didn’t vote in favour of a modest cut in those 5 vacant positions? Now that you have some more data, will you act, or will you allot more and more taxpayer dollars for mysterious and unaccountable purposes? At a time when we all have to tighten our belts, police departments should not be exempt.
Thank you to councillors Bowman, Greenberg, Leary, Humphrey, Noel, Downs, Norton, and Ryan for voting in favor of the resolution and continuing to fight for what so many constituents are demanding.
A large group of Newton residents has formed Defund Newton PD to demand a very modest 10% cut to FY2021 budget. To learn more about the organization and what Defund the Newton Police means, read these FAQs or visit the Facebook page
All code is publicly available at https://github.com/benyaminmk/DefundNPD and source data are available at http://www.newtonma.gov/gov/comptroller/trend.asp
Thank you to Rose Taylor for contributing to this post
Since you compare teachers to police, I think it’s fair to compare results
Newton has been voted several times recently as one of the safest cities in America
Newton was “once” voted best high school in America many decades ago. Its now sitting at #734 in a recent patch article
Definitely agree about police detail work. Absolutely does not require police, wonder how much $ could be saved (someone else still needs to be hired to do it though)
@Benyamin-
Are the detail officers the parking enforcement officers? It is my understanding that parking enforcement also serve as school crossing guards.
@ Lisap I do not know what the job description of Detail Officers is, that is the title listed in the earnings report. Susan Albright suggested it may be related to retired officers being hired just to work detail, though that doesn’t explain why they would also get a regular salary on top of that.
@Bugek Public safety is influenced by so much more than the police. I’d argue the biggest influence is the fact that the majority of our fairly affluent citizens do not worry about their basic needs. Most of us have healthcare and housing we can afford. Most of use don’t worry about not being able to feed our family. These are the conditions that create public safety, and national trends on crime being associated with poverty support that. I’m not claiming that the level of education is entirely due to the school budget either, but it is a much more direct connection than safety and policing. The comparison to teachers also shows that police have access to very deep coffers of undisclosed money while teachers are being in my opinion underpaid. Why does the city not disclose where the over $1.5 million of “other” pay is coming from for police?
Good piece. Shame on cowardly councilors Auchincloss, Baker, Gentile, Ciccone, Danberg, Crossley, Markiewicz, Grossman, Kalis, Kelley, Krintzman, Laredo, Lipof, Malakie, Albright, and Wright.
Hopefully everyone saw today’s Globe article about the more than two dozen Boston cops making over $300k per year, thanks not only to excessive base salaries but also phony overtime as well as old Quinn Bill bonuses for their basket-weaving courses.
How could anybody possibly justify $300k salaries + 75% pensions + OPEBs being paid out for a job that probably nine-tenths of the age-appropriate population is capable of doing? This isn’t sustainable and it’s bankrupting our cities and towns.
It’s interesting to note that long after the Mass State Police ratted out each other with a vengeance, shut down Troop E, and even sent a few of their own sacrificial lambs to face criminal proceedings, the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association’s strict omertà policy has prevented even a peep about bogus overtime and salaries in Boston, aside from the annual Globe article that nobody has ever paid much attention to. There’s a good explanation of how the Boston cops and their consiglieres keep each other quiet in The Fence by Dick Lehr (of Black Mass fame).
Benyamin, this is an enormous service to the residents of Newton who, like me, had no idea of these eye-opening budget details.
I don’t know why these data were not discussed during the lengthy recent budget deliberations.
Thank you.
I assume that the specific issues cited here, mainly police detail pay and police union influence, are highly dependent on laws and policies at the state level.
What influence does Newton have on them? What flexibility does Newton have to address them on its own?
Is there evidence of malfeasance or illegal behavior by Newton police regarding detail or overtime pay, as was true with the State Police?
Does cutting the police budget accomplish the city’s goals if, by collective bargaining or state policy, effective police salaries are inherently high? How is the relative price of police officers related to how many we need (and how many *do* we need?), or what responsibilities can be done by non-police staff?
This is just a small piece of the whole big “police and community” question, of course, but even just this piece doesn’t seem to have simple answers.
I learned a lot from this article, thank you Benyamin. As an NPD special ed teaching aide laid off, I am heartbroken thinking that the councilor who voted against the cut thing that 5 extra police officers are more important for the city than dozens of educators supporting students with disabilities.
https://forms.gle/P8fjK8RpsJkmuJZh7 Sign these demands to make sure the task force represents the communities of color in Newton rather than the Mayor’s personal agenda.
@Benyamin: You cannot talk about data by comparing apples to oranges.
Police and firefighters work 12 months a year. Most teachers do not. At least they are not under contract to do so. What do you find if you compare monthly instead of annual compensation?
The differences don’t stop there.
We have police and firefighters on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, all holidays included. Nights, weekends, and holidays pay overtime. Extra shifts pay overtime (what you would propose otherwise?). Teachers simply do not have the same opportunities to collect overtime.
Statistically, policing and firefighting are more dangerous than teaching. It is a marketplace reality that dangerous professions tend to command more pay.
Our police officers, firefighters, and educators are all represented by competent unions with seasoned negotiators and access to compensation databases. If you look at comparable cities and towns, I think you will find that each union has negotiated exactly what the market for its respective profession will bear.
From the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics, here are the 25 most dangerous professions in the US:
https://www.ajc.com/business/employment/these-are-the-most-dangerous-jobs-america/x2MOTeEYCgkt2zYCLfqfJJ/
1. Logging workers
2. Fishers and related fishing workers
3. Aircraft pilots and flight engineers
4. Roofers
5. Refuse and recyclable material collectors
6. Driver/sales workers and truck drivers
7. Farmers, ranchers and other agricultural managers
8. Structural iron and steel workers
9. First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers
10. First-line supervisors of landscaping, lawn service and groundskeeping workers
11, Electrical power-line installers and repairers
12. Grounds maintenance workers
13. Miscellaneous agricultural workers
14. Helpers, construction trades
15. First-line supervisors of mechanics, installers and repairers
16. Police and sheriff’s patrol officers
17. Construction laborers
18. Maintenance and repair workers, general
19. Mining machine operators
20. Operation engineers and other construction equipment operators
21. Bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists
22. Electricians
23. Heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration mechanics and installers
24. Athletes, coaches, umpires and related workers
25. Industrial truck and tractor operators
The City Council is voting on the budget tonight; with the police budget coming last, probably after 10 pm.
Here is the zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89019841547
Aren’t police details funded by those I need of the detail (ie private parties)? If so, is it then fair to lump that in with taxpayer salaries?
@Matt Lai I not to claim that detail pay was taxpayer money in the article, but the analysis was of employee earnings so leaving millions of dollars out of the analysis doesn’t make sense to me. The fact remains that the city has control over these revenue streams and where they go and for some reason the system is directing millions to the Police. If police are already overworked and also having trouble filling positions, why should they on top of all of that also be the only ones doing detail work? On the topic of taxpayer money, the larger issue here is the undisclosed other pay that was also about 20% of total police earnings.
@Michael Singer I appreciate your point on comparing teacher pay to police pay. They are very different lines of work and the hourly breakdown would be enlightening, but unfortunately that data is not publicly available. If you know where to find it please send it my way!
On your point of overtime, your argument would make a lot of sense if huge amounts of police pay came from overtime, but its only 6%. Sure more than most teachers, but it doesn’t explain the huge pay differences. Similarly, if policing was as hard as you are talking it up to be, wouldn’t that reflect in the regular salary of these workers? That would agree with the trend seen across those very dangerous jobs Nathan posted about, where regular salary tracks well with level of risk. That’s not what we see for police. Their average regular salary is $49,785.89. Detail work is by no means difficult or risky. Anyone with half a brain could be doing it, yet 18.3% of total police income is from detail. And what about the $1.5 million of pay that is not disclosed? Why should police be paid by secret sources if their just getting paid for doing hard work?
Teachers tend to work way more than the hours that they are paid for but aren’t eligible for overtime.
On the topic of construction details, a few seconds of research reveals that pay for civilian detail workers is on a par with police pay because it is tied to the prevailing wage for law enforcement. Also, I was trying to find the current contract between the City and the NPD. If anyone has a link that would be very useful. I’m seeing expired contracts and MOU’s but the status is entirely unclear. I expect that as with earlier agreements, the actual contract will provide a lot of explanation as to shifts, hours, eligibility for details, etc. One thing that is clear from earlier contracts; officers may not sign up for a detail when they are scheduled for a regular shift.
As for other pay, I’m not sure where compensated time for court appearances would be detailed but that would make sense. Police appear and testify in court in connection with both criminal and civil matters. They also are required to attend and testify at civil depositions which – to my chagrin- can be needlessly long and tedious. This may well be categorized as “other”.
Benyamin – The data on teacher’s pay/hour would not enlighten the discussion. The salary only covers hours in the contract, not the extra hours teachers put in on a daily basis that are not compensated. The hourly pay based on contract hours only serves to undermine the perception that teachers are overpaid.
Also, former 5th-grade math teacher here: I taught my students to question statistics presented as percentages. It’s the least reliable means of presenting data and the easiest to manipulate. I see 6% of police pay is overtime – what is the real dollar amount? That 6% statistic is a significant amount (and would be in any city department) and could indicate a staffing problem. Overtime is typically given when there’s no coverage for a shift. Is that the best use of tax dollars or would it be better to staff the department so overtime is rarely, if ever, necessary?
I see CEO’s of corporations and Big Pharma companies, hedge fund managers, and Wall Street bankers don’t make the list of dangerous professions. Criteria for compensation and the level of danger of a particular job is not in any way, shape, or form a reality.
The City charges a 10% surcharge to the hiring company for every detail worked by a NPD Officer. That is a huge money maker for the City every year. Also by having NPD Officers working the details it puts many more officers on our streets, they have in the past been able to stop crimes in progress.
The Police budget was going up .64% for the year compared to the NFD budget that was going up 4.97% plus the Council just approved 750K in overtime money to be moved from Retiree Health Insurance to the NFD. NFD budget is millions of dollars higher that the NPD. Where is the public scrunity of the NFD budget or any other departments budget?
Data and transparency are absolutely essential here. How much of our perception of police is driven by selective news reports.
I would bet that the data would show that the number of lives saved (for ALL races) far outweighs the number of incidents of police brutality.
More importantly, what is the % in Newton?
Asking for complete reform until we know the % is not reasonable. If its 0.5%, is it reasonable to overhaul the entire budget of the police department
Facts, not emotion
And since you compared to teachers. Should teaching compensation be overhauled because
“8th through 11th-grade American students in 2000 showed that 9.6% of the students reported educator sex abuse”…
From this article:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_harassment_in_education_in_the_United_States#Statistics
So, Bugek: approve the PD budget Monday without due diligence on what the $1.6M in “other” was, or find out first and then decide?
Nathan,
I would hope the city council are doing their jobs and have been looking at the “other” expenses of “all” departments… especially in these tough times..
Bugek – I’ll take that as a grudging “yes”. This concerned taxpayer (maybe I’ll run for the NTA presidency) thanks you.
@Jane Franz thank you for raising that important point, that teachers are expected to put in many overtime hours without any way to be financially compensated.
@Bugek I not only linked the original data as pdf files, but also posted the scraped data as CSVs on the github repo, which honestly was most of the work I put into this and could’ve been avoided had the city made the spreadsheets publicly available. If you think I’m hiding something in my reporting you are welcome to look yourself: https://github.com/benyaminmk/DefundNPD/tree/master/data I also reject your claim that we should be commending the police if they save more lives than they kill. Why should we accept anywhere close to the current rate of police violence if their mantra is to protect and serve? The data you’re asking for are very poorly defined. How should we get a number for how many people an office saved? The number of people killed is very well defined and in my opinion is enough data to show that there is a serious problem.
We’re not going to get far framing things as “number of lives saved far outweighs the number of incidents of police brutality” or “I also reject your claim that we should be commending the police if they save more lives than they kill”. We don’t design building codes that say, “the number of people safely houses far exceeds the number of killed by roof collapses.” or “the number of people crossing bridges far outweighs the number killed when they crumble.”
In any professional institution where health and safety are potentially at risk, we *always* want to maximize the good. We *always* want to prevent the bad. And what’s more, we want to learn from the good so that we do ever better, and to learn from any bad to understand it and prevent it from happening again. That’s why we do crash reconstruction and incident review. Why we have professional codes, training, and certification (and why police certification should be part of the discussion).
This isn’t some sort of tradeoff. There is no reason to frame failures of policing, or any other professional institution, as inevitable. Again, this shouldn’t be controversial.
Mike,
With building codes, there’s always going to rogue inspectors who take bribes the look the other way.. will any amount of procedures prevent this 100%
With human nature, there is going to be a a hole, racist at some point. There needs to be a way to identify and root them out frequently… rehauling the police budget is not going to solve that problem. The vast majority of police care for their community
Not status quo, something needs to be done…but dont use a shotgun to kill a fly
How does that data relate to unfilled spots and budget? Wouldn’t overtime and total comp per officer go down if there were more uniformed officers?
Benyamin,
One thing worse than racism: child sexual abuse
Schools are considered a safe place for children, yet cases of abuse by staff still occur
By your same logic, the vast majority of great staff do not outweigh the predators and we should defund and overhaul school budgets
Of course such a suggestion is ridiculous… just as crazy as defending the newton pd because of bad police outside of Newton
This is not rational thinking… only emotional
Newton needs the teachers union to fold just like every other union. That would shake things up. Great article Ben.
Teachers don’t have a code of silence that protects and enables bad behavior.
Nathan,
While on the subject of schools, i personal believe the poor performance of inner city schools (which are tolerated year after year) is one of the root problems economic racial disparity..
It would be great if inner city education could be discussed as part of the solution (boston spends $ per student.. so not clear if it’s a funding issue)
This would be a good opportunity to highlight this “fact” to try to have it addressed
Congrats to the author on an excellent bit of research and analysis.
Thank you for shining a light on these budgetary issues, particularly at a time when ~100 aides and support staff positions were just cut from the Newton Public Schools.
I do hope our city councilors and mayor are paying attention. Voters certainly will be in the next election.
Having disagreed with police officers in the courts for almost 60 years, you could not call me a police fan. However, over the years I have come to know many police in different communities and I say that there are good officers, there are OK officers and there are officers who should not be on the force.
Does the police mission need to be reviewed and updated? Most certainly, but not with the intent of punishing those working today.
Everyone knows people whose goals revolve around making money. Should people with those goals be restricted from serving as police officers?
Comparing school teachers to police officers is, at best, disingenuous. There is little correlation between the two; their backgrounds and goals are different. The one thing they have in common is that they are municipal employees and an easy target for the disgruntled.