As you drive around the city of New Bedford, and other surrounding towns, you may see signs in front of some homes and local businesses. These signs, black in color with the New Bedford Police Union logo in the backdrop, read “SUPPORT NBPD FOR A FAIR CONTRACT”. Sadly, we have been without a contract since July 1, 2024. The New Bedford Police Union feels that this is unacceptable, especially when we have been operating well below the required staffing levels and all areas of the department are short-staffed. It is important to note that this has not deterred us from providing the best services that we can for the people of the city of New Bedford.
The NBPU is aware that there was an article published in the Standard Times, authored by Frank Mulligan, documenting the top 100 highest paid employees of the city of New Bedford. Out of the top 100, 71 one are police officers of various ranks, from Chief of Police down to Patrol Officer. In the article, the city’s public information officer, Jonathan Darling, did make note that the figures within the article include all forms of compensation, to include paid details and overtime. The NBPU is glad that this information has been included, as it is important to note that the salaries listed for the rank-and-file members of the police department (Officer, Sergeant, Lieutenant, and Captain), are based on base salary and potentially paid details and overtime. It is also important to note that the higher the rank, the higher the base salary is.
The added information, to show that all forms of compensation are included, is a huge step towards providing transparent information, but we feel that it is not enough. For this article, I will be using my own salary as an example, breaking it down by pay (base salary pay, detail pay, overtime pay, court pay), and then converting those numbers into hours. By converting the dollar amounts to hours, it is a more accurate representation of how much work is put in over the course of the year. The standard work week for a normal person is 40 hours a week, and this break down will show that this is not the case for me and other police officers on this list, and also for those who are not on the list who still put in extra hours at work.
To provide some background information, I have been a police officer for over seventeen (17) years. Prior to becoming a police officer, I have worked for other professions, and I also attended the University of Massachusetts – Dartmouth, where I obtained my bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. When I became a police officer, because I had obtained my bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, I was eligible for what is referred to in Massachusetts as the Quinn Bill. The Quinn Bill provides compensation for police officers who have obtained an associate’s, bachelor’s, or master’s degree from an accredited educational institution within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The percentages for having a degree are 10% (associate’s), 20% (bachelor’s), and 25% (master’s).
Looking at the article, I am ranked as the 26th highest paid employee within the city, with a salary of $170,406.54 in 2024. I will provide a more accurate representation and breakdown of that salary, showing how many hours were put in to earning that salary. It should be noted that the other rank and file members have also put in various amounts of hours throughout the year earning their pay as well. The following is a breakdown of my overall salary for 2024:
- $170,406.54 total salary
- $95,631.32 – base pay, including holiday pay, longevity, and uniform allowance
- $8,200.06 (regular overtime)
- $40,109.46 (out of class overtime)
- $7,061.70 (court time)
- $16,848.00 (detail)
- $2,106.00 (detail rate time and a half)
- $450.00 (detail)
The out of class overtime is overtime that is worked on the 4PM-12AM shift, or the 12AM-8AM shift. The detail rate time and a half is any detail time that is worked over eight (8) hours. The following breakdown is my hourly wage:
- $42.46 hourly wage
- $63.69 regular overtime hourly wage
- $66.79 out of class overtime hourly wage
- $63.69 court time hourly wage
- $54.00 detail rate hourley wage
- $81.00 detail rate time and a half hourly wage
The following is a breakdown of the aforementioned monies, but broken down by hours, to show the number of hours worked (the only hour total not included is the $450.00 detail):
- 128.75 hours (regular overtime)
- 600.50 hours (out of class overtime)
- 111 hours (court time)
- 312 hours (detail)
- 26 hours (detail time and a half)
The added total based on hours is 1,178.25. If you divide this by your typical 52 weeks a year, it works out to roughly a little over 22.50 hours a week (22.65 exactly). Now add this number to the standard 40-hour work week, and you get a total of 62.50 hours a week. This means that over the course of 2024, I averaged 62.50 hours a week. It should be noted that for the sake of keeping things simple I averaged it out to hours per week, there were weeks during 2024 when I may have only worked 48 hours a week, and others where I may have worked 64 or more hours per week.
The hourly breakdown was done to show that most officers work many extra hours over the course of a year. As a result of working extra hours, this is less time spent at home with our families and loved ones, less time with friends, and less time decompressing from the stresses of police work. When you factor that the department has been understaffed for years in all areas (patrol and special assignments such as the detective units), the added hours only increase the mental stress that police work puts on the body.
This article was written to provide a more accurate breakdown of salaries, using my salary as an example, to provide better context as to how much time rank and file officers put into their work. The New Bedford Police Union is asking for a fair and reasonable contract because we have been understaffed and overworked for years, and this is why we are asking for support for a fair contract. This is the first of a two-part article, and the second part will further document the issues going on and why a competitive wage will assist with the retention of personnel.
The link below will take you to the Standard Times article authored by Frank Mulligan for the top 100 highest paid employees in the City of New Bedford.
New Bedford’s 100 highest paid employees in 2024
Stay safe and God bless,
Officer Lorenzo Gonzalez III
NBPU President
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