More than 30 Boston officers made over $300,000 last year
By Danny McDonald and Ryan Huddle Globe Staff,Updated April 29, 2021, 5:22 p.m.
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Large marches and demonstrations over the past year drew a significant police response.Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff/file
Amid sustained calls for police reform, marches demanding an end to systemic racism, and an uptick in street violence, more than 30 Boston police officers made more than $300,000 last year thanks in part to overtime earnings that yet again exceeded what the city had budgeted for the year, according to city data.
All in all, the departmentâs top 30 earners collected a total of $3.9 million in overtime pay for the year. The grand total for this top group: more than $9.6 million in total earnings.
An ongoing coronavirus pandemic wasn’t going to stand in the way of city employees making big bucks, with more earning six figures, $200,000 and $300,000 in 2020 than they did in 2019.
As always, the top of the list is dominated by the city’s cops and firefighters, according to the city’s 2020 payroll data released Friday. The year’s top earner was police Lt. Sean Smith, who enjoyed stacking $124,396 in overtime, $45,210 in detail work, $36,447 in Quinn Bill bonuses and $13,161 in “other” on top of his $145,788 in base pay to bring home $365,001.
Following right after him was Detective Waiman Lee, who took home $96,127 in OT and $111,688 in detail pay to bring the gumshoe to $360,143. Then came Sgt. Detective John Brown, who benefited in $155,123 in OT pay to bring home a total of $345,758, and then Capt. John Danilecki frequent target of lefty activists’ ire and resident of the district attorney’s list of “questionable” police officers due to a reported i