Attention to details

Chiefs argue against booting police from private traffic jobs

A Burlington police officer directs traffic during a detail while lines are painted along Middlesex Turnpike at Network Drive. (Joanne Rathe/Globe Staff)

Local police officers have pulled in tens of thousands of dollars a year standing watch on private details at utility and road construction projects, and they show no sign of backing off despite a call by Governor Deval Patrick to curb the practice.

In Burlington, a lieutenant netted $48,640 in a single year in detail pay, for a take-home haul of $189,278, according to a Globe survey. Of top earners in Arlington, two patrolmen collected more than $39,000 in 2007 on details.

Patrick has pushed through new rules tightening use of police officers on details for state projects, and switching to civilian flaggers for some state jobs. But at the local level, police chiefs northwest of Boston defend the use of officers on details and vow to continue the practice in their communities.

"There are documented instances where police on details have saved a life by doing CPR, or catching a suspect, or preventing a crime," said Burlington Police Chief Francis Hart. "That's not their main function on a detail, but that's an added benefit that you wouldn't have typically with a civilian."

The main case against police details has been their price tag. In 2004, the Beacon Hill Institute, a private think tank, estimated that local police officers in Massachusetts earned $141.4 million working details the previous year (2003) with $93 million of that spent on traffic control.

While the bills for private details are paid for by the company doing the hiring - not the city or town - critics such as the Beacon Hill Institute say the top dollar paid for sworn police officers gets added onto utility rates and other costs borne by consumers.

At Verizon, spokesman Philip G. Santoro said the company spends more than $12 million annually for police details in Massachusetts. Santoro said, "We've successfully used both details and flaggers across the country at our work sites."

The cost for a police officer on a detail is generally about $40 per hour, controlled by a union contract, according to Frederick Ryan, Arlington police chief and a spokesman for the Massachusetts Major City Chiefs, a professional organization. The contracts usually require a minimum of a four-hour shift, and beyond four hours of work, pay for eight hours, Ryan said.

In Burlington, for example, police topped off their salaries with a total of almost $1 million on details out of a total budget for salaries of almost $6 million in fiscal year 2008, which ended in June. The top detail earner in 2008 was Patrolman Spyros Tsingos, at $38,885; he made slightly less the year before.

Also making hefty extras through details in Burlington were Patrolman John Thompson, with $36,063 in 2008, and Lieutenant Walter R. Bevis, with $34,195. Thompson made slightly more in 2007. Bevis made out even better in fiscal year 2006, when he cleared $48,640 on details, for a total salary of $189,278.

Tsingos, Thompson, and Bevis did not return calls for comment on their detail pay.

Civilian flaggers would lower the cost of some details, with pay at about $35 per hour, according to the state Division of Occupational Safety. Still, there is little appetite to change the system on the local level.

Lowell Mayor Edward C. Caulfield said because police details do not cost the city money, officials there have not considered changing to civilian flaggers. "Nothing has been even whispered in my ear," he said. Similarly, Medford Mayor Michael J. McGlynn said officials are continuing to look at the issue but have no plans for change.

In Lexington, because of a shortage of officers to take details, the town sometimes uses civilians, most of them Police Department employees, such as crossing guards, dispatchers, and a parking enforcement officer, said Town Manager Carl Valente. Retired police officers sometimes take the gigs, as does one local firefighter. But many details still belong to police officers, and no consideration has been given to changing the system over to civilian flaggers, Valente said.

Several area police chiefs maintained that police on details add extra eyes and ears attuned to crime in city and town centers and neighborhoods at a time of tight budgets.

"The town is cash-strapped," said Arlington's Ryan. "We don't have enough police officers. We don't have the money to hire more."

Ryan pointed out that the town has only 1.4 police for every 1,000 residents while professional standards recommend an average of 2 to 2.5 police for that population. "Police details are a force multiplier," Ryan said.

Ryan pointed out that while on a detail, police officer Joseph Dunn captured an armed bank robber a year ago.

In Burlington, Hart said, an officer on detail recently rescued victims from a car crash, administered first aid, and issued a summons to two people allegedly at fault for driving to endanger. In another instance last May, an officer rescued a screaming woman and her toddler from a raccoon occupying their car. Detail cops also have arrested suspects for assault, home invasion, and drunken driving, Hart said.

Many police argue that officers on the beat do not make enough in base salaries and benefits to afford to live in the region without serving on private details.

"Police details are a supplemental source of income for officers distinct and apart from their regular municipal salary," said Lexington Police Chief Christopher Casey. "This supplemental earned income is crucial to many families of police officers who rely on it to pay mortgages and expenses related with the high cost of living in this region."

Police said they also want to correct a common misconception that the detail pay figures into pension calculations; it does not.

While the details do not boost taxes, many communities make money on them. Most charge an administrative fee of 10 percent to the companies hiring the detail officers. Some also require companies to pay a fee for use of cruisers on details.

As worrisome as cost to critics of the system is the possibility of sleep deprivation among officers who work regular shifts back-to-back with details. The departments surveyed all had rules prohibiting officers from working more than two eight-hour shifts in succession in a 24-hour-period, with some exceptions approved by the chief.

Critics of the system also recount stories of police officers on details witnessed reading, talking on cellphones, lounging in their cruisers, or standing with their backs to traffic.

Police unions are encouraging members to reform their behavior on details, chiefs said.

Connie Paige can be reached at connie_paige@yahoo.com.