Minneapolis police Sergeant Steven McBride made about $376,000 last year, more than triple his regular pay of $110,240.
McBride was the highest-paid employee at the Minneapolis Police Department last year, with 10 other sergeants, lieutenants and officers paid more than former Police Chief Medaria Arradondo, who made about $204,000, according to salary data. Reformer The documents were obtained through a public records request. McBride could not be reached for comment.
Thirteen MPD employees made more than $200,000 last year, 89 made more than $150,000 and 466 made more than $100,000.
About 72 percent of MPD officers earn six-figure salaries. By comparison, a Minneapolis teacher with only a bachelor's degree made less than $75,000 a year before recent contract negotiations.
MPD is understaffed and has relied on large amounts of overtime to make up for the shortfall.
The department has seen a steady exodus of personnel, with about 300 officers fired and others on disability leave since the police killing of George Floyd two years ago.
In response to the sudden increase in overtime hours, Interim Police Chief Amelia Huffman issued a new MPD policy on May 10 that limits overtime hours for the remainder of 2022. Officers cannot work a full seven days a week. According to the policy that went into effect on Sunday:.
Huffman said curbing excessive overtime was on the “list of issues to address” when he took the job in January to replace Arradondo following his retirement.
She said officers can't provide good service if they don't have time to stay healthy and recharge. The city also plans to provide more mental health services to officers and hire a wellness manager.
Huffman said he understands some officers voluntarily work extra overtime, but the policy change only affects a small minority of officers.
“But it's important for us as an organisation to emphasise that we want our employees to look after themselves,” she said.
Overtime budget expands
MPD's overtime costs ballooned from $6.4 million in 2019 to $12.8 million last year, with about half of that due to staffing shortages.
The city spent $10.3 million on overtime in 2020. After Floyd's killing, protests and riots erupted in the city, residents began suing the city over police actions during the protests, and officers began quitting the police force in droves.
Arradondo said the city lost the equivalent of one police department last year. To make up for the shortfall, he cut foot patrols, three of five community response teams, the Safe Streets Unit and the gang enforcement team. As a result, he said, the police department is only staffed enough to respond to violent crimes and property crimes in progress.
Working overtime has non-monetary costs as well.
According to MPD in 2019, long work hours can lead to fatigue, “increasing existing biases, increasing complaints and use-of-force incidents, reducing driving ability, and generally leading to poorer performance of everyday skills.” After-hours audit.
The night former police officer Mohammed Noor shot and killed Justine Ruszczyk in south Minneapolis, he had reported for a 10-hour police shift but had just finished a seven-hour shift working a second job as a security guard.
Noor had only 90 minutes of rest before working the shift that took Ruszczyk's life. His murder conviction was overturned and he was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for manslaughter.
The 74-hour work week is over
The new overtime rules apply to all work, including special events, contract work and off-hours work, with some exceptions such as courtroom standby and on-call shifts.
Police officers cannot work more than 16 consecutive hours in a week, no more than 74, and must have at least eight consecutive hours of rest every 24 hours. Exceptions are made for large events or major incidents.
Huffman said the new policy will only affect a small number of officers because the majority of officers don't work 20-hour shifts, seven consecutive days or 74-hour weeks.
“I'm worried about the officers who are in their 20th hour of work,” she said.
Huffman said most overtime is voluntary, but there are times when officers have to work overtime due to serious crimes or riots.
“Make no mistake: We need to hire more good officers who are interested in providing effective, compassionate, constitutional police services. That's the answer to a lot of our policing problems.”
Mayor Jacob Frey's office released a statement saying the city supports the mayor's policies to ensure police officers maintain their physical and mental health as it continues to recruit “community-based officers” to bolster the police department's staffing.
Minneapolis police are paid more than other police departments.
Minneapolis police officers are The third-highest starting salary for police officers According to a 2019 study, in the state review According to the Legislative Auditor's Office, Minneapolis police officers' salaries start at about $73,000 a year and can top out at more than $90,000 a year, excluding overtime and other special benefits, according to the most recent police union contract.
The starting salary for a sergeant with MPD is approximately $92,000 per year, and the starting salary for a lieutenant is $106,000 per year.
Among the officers who made at least $100,000 last year were:
- Officer Justin Stetson made nearly $108,000. He Kicked and punched Jaleel Stallings was standing in a parking lot when, without warning, Stetson's SWAT team shot at him with “less-lethal” plastic bullets, after which Stallings fought back and was shot in the head and neck.
- Sergeant Andrew Bittel, who can be heard on body camera footage ordering his SWAT team to “kill” any civilians they see out past curfew, made more than $140,000 last year.
- Officer Christopher Doble, who made more than $125,000 last year, was also a SWAT officer who, in the days after Floyd's killing, fired plastic bullets at retreating protesters, laughing and fist-bumping a Stetson-clad man who yelled, “I've got you!”
- Police union president Sheral Schmidt made more than $125,000 last year.
This story was updated at 9:41 a.m. to correct a section about MPD's new policy on how much time off officers should get per week.
