Today’s Boston Globe reported on Suffolk County deputy Dennis DeCarney who serves as the new harbormaster in Winthrop.
According to the Globe, the sheriff’s department pays DeCarney $105,000 for his job on the harbor.
Additionally, DeCarney raked in an additional $60,000 last year working overtime at the county jail.
The town wins because it gets a free harbor master.
The deputy wins because he gets paid handsomely for patrolling the harbor and moonlighting at the jail.
But the Globe questions if the taxpayer loses in such schemes.
The article cites other examples.
For instance, two Suffolk deputies currently work alongside the Boston police.
One deputy makes $223,000 per year (which includes $95,000 in overtime).
The other deputy makes a whopping $270,000 per year (which includes $134,000 in overtime).
Since Steve Thompkins became Suffolk’s sheriff, overtime has spiked from $10 million per year to $31 million.
Thankfully the state legislature is starting to question such practices.
In October state lawmakers directed the inspector general to look into the sheriffs’ expending habits.
See my earlier post Mass Inspector General to Probe Sheriff Departments’ Runaway Spending.
The inspector’s preliminary report is due by the end of this month.