Lynn officer out-earns police chief

LYNN – A number of officers saw their salaries balloon through overtime and details last year, some even doubling their take-home pay.Officer Peter Holey topped the list in salaries with $167,443, surpassing Police Chief Kevin Coppinger’s take-home pay of $163,208. Holey combined his base salary of $111,728 with $43,651 in overtime and $12,064 in details.Despite the big paycheck, Coppinger defended Holey’s and other officer’s earnings, saying they work hard for what they are paid for.”This is not a 40-hour-a-week job,” he said. “And it’s also not the easiest job in the world.”Ward 3 City Councilor Darren Cyr said while he’s always been an advocate of hiring more police officers to deter crime, he understands that overtime is a necessity.”It’s actually cheaper for them to work more overtime than to hire more cops, and that’s the reality,” he said. “You can’t knock anybody for working overtime, but I’m sure people will say (about a $100,000 salary) how can they make that much, but you have to look at the number of hours they’re putting in, not seeing their families and putting their lives on the line.”In all, $2,552,254 was paid out in overtime and $1,154,560 in details last year.Coppinger said overtime is worked out through a deal with the police union, where hours are doled out on an equitable basis. On the other hand, Coppinger also said the department has been without a contract in a tough economy for the past four years, undoubtedly adding to officers looking to pick up extra hours.”We do have a long-standing order that officers can’t work more than a 16-hour period in one day to make sure they have at least eight hours off,” he said. “It’s rare that that rule gets violated.”City Council President Tim Phelan noted that while a number of the detail jobs are paid for by third parties, such as Verizon, he expressed concern that some officers may be overextending themselves.”Are they working too much to not be on top of their game when they’re working their regular shifts?” he said. “This goes by all professions too where people work 60 or 70 hours a week to provide for their family, but I think they (cops) monitor themselves and I have confidence that they will get the job done.”Cyr also stressed the department’s capabilities of juggling overtime and detail schedules, but added that any criticism should be directed toward Gov. Deval Patrick for not allocating enough money for public safety in the city.”That’s what people should be talking about, not police salaries,” he said. But as Chairman of the Public Safety Committee, I think they do an unbelievable job with what they have and I think the people of Lynn ought to be grateful for what they have (with the department).”Officer Christopher Hagerty earned the most in overtime with $54,983. Combined with $3,786 in details and his base pay of $70,931, his total salary reached $129,700.”He’s (Hagerty) a very productive and aggressive officer,” Coppinger said. “He’s also willing to work morning shifts, which other officers don’t want to do. Each guy has their particular shifts they like to work, but if someone calls in sick at the last minute, he’s usually the guy (to pick it up).”In terms of details, Officer Charles Griffin earned the most with $56,468. He also took home $1,578 in overtime, bringing his total salary to $141,980.Other top earners include Officer Holey, who took home $47,833 in overtime, padding his $70,706 base salary with $3,398 in details, totaling $121,937, and Officer John Meaney, who earned $44,718 in overtime, $15,368 in details on top of his $95,812 base pay, totaling $155,898.Officer Patrick McGuire, who was attacked in October while working a Verizon detail and had his gun stolen away from him, earned $20,273 in overtime and $3,696 in details on top of his base salary of $80,909, which totaled $104,878.In 2010, 71 officers earned $100,000 or more, with 70 officers in 2009 and 90 in 2008. A total of 15 officers made $30,000 or more in overtime in 2010, comp