It’s a pattern seen in many police departments across Connecticut: officers earn much higher than their base pay.
Police Capt. Jeffrey Rousseau was Hartford’s top wage-earner in 2023, earning $266,751 in “regular” pay, which includes extra duty work and $2,889 in overtime, city records show.
His regular pay, as with others on the list of top earners, includes base salary, special duty pay, payouts and anything else besides overtime.
Rousseau was among 10 police officers, 10 fire department employees and five city administrators on the top 25 list of municipal earners.
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Most of the police and firefighters in the top 25 list boosted their income with overtime and/or extra, or special, duty pay in an era when police departments nationwide are experiencing staff shortages. Special duty is paid by outside businesses and agencies.
Police were heavy with overtime throughout the 2023 payroll year, but beyond the top 25 wage earners, overtime in the Fire Department was much less common.
One of the fire department exceptions was Derrick Frink, heavy equipment mechanic, who earned $67,446 in regular pay and $63,656 in OT, records show.
In total, regular pay for the 2023 payroll was about $120 million, and more than $17 million in overtime.
Some people on the full city payroll list of about 2,160 people earned more than their base pay — or close to it — in overtime.
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For instance, police officer Adam Demaine, who is not on the top 25 list, earned $88,257 in regular pay and $104,811 in overtime.
Hartford Police Department
Former Mayor Luke Bronin was No. 9 on the list at $189,261.
Outgoing Police Chief Jason Thody, who did not make the top 25 earners’ list, did not respond to calls seeking comment. Thody was No. 35 on the wage-earner list at $160,620 in regular pay.
Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam said the city is working hard to “recruit and retain” officers amid the shortage for the sake of public safety and decreasing “the impact of overtime.”
But it’s a complex issue that’s not so easy to achieve, said Hartford Police Union President Sgt. James Rutkauski.
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He said the department is about 100 officers short, more than ever, and its likely negatively affecting coverage of Hartford and definitely affecting morale, making it difficult to retain even veteran officers.
“It’s like a snowball effect,” Rutkauski said. “It wears on you.” All the OT is not “physically, mentally or spiritually good for them,” he said.
Some officers like to earn more money through overtime, but shortage of officers is creating more overtime than officers who want to work extra, he said.
In some cases officers have been ordered to work extra, in some cases on their days off, he said.
Other times officers agree to work overtime for the sake of their colleagues and the city, but would rather not and are feeling sleep deprived and missing more holidays and family events than they would like, he said.
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Rutkauski said after he works three, 16-hour shifts with with five hours of sleep in between each, he’s feeling “punchy.’
“We have to find a balance,” he said.
On top of the shortage and morale problems it helps create, Hartford pays less than many other municipalities where there are less serious crimes to deal with on a daily basis, and therefore less stress,he said.
Another factor officers now consider is the liability created by the state police accountability law, which holds them personally responsible if it’s determined that a person’s constitutional rights were violated.
Higher pay, better working conditions and liability are among the top reasons police officers leave Hartford, he said.
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He said one incentive the city could offer would be retention bonuses to try to get officers to stay.
Police officers have a high rate of divorce and health issues stemming from the job, he said, and long work hours can contribute.
“They sacrifice so much. It scares me to think, what if we didn’t have these men and women?” Rutkauski said.
He said the current generation “has a different monetary earning philosophy,” going for life balance, rather than racking up overtime.
Rutkauski said some people are afraid to come to Hartford, for instance to shop or do business, and having more police is part of the solution.
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“If you want to change the narrative (in Hartford) you have to have people safe,” he said.
He said in the coming years there will be a “tsunami” of retirements coming up on the force.
Policing expert John DeCarlo, a former Connecticut police chief and now a University of New Haven professor and director of the Masters Program in Criminal Justice at UNH, said he can’t speak to Hartford, but generally, the top wage earner lists nationwide have a “healthy representation” of police and fire personnel.
DeCarlo said the nationwide officer shortages result in the need for more overtime to keep the public safe and in some cases, fulfill contractual requirements related to the union.
“It (staff shortages) makes more opportunity for people who want to work a lot of overtime,” DeCarlo said. “The motivation for OT is individual. Not everyone wants it, other people make it a habit.”
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The Courant obtained the list of all city employees and their earnings for 2023 through a freedom of information act request. The 2022 list also was led by police officers.
In this case the category ” regular pay” refers to base pay and any other that isn’t overtime, including sick, comp, vacation, payouts and extra duty work. Extra duty work is not funded by city coffers.
Here is the list of top 25 2023 wage earners in order, aside from Rousseau and Bronin, who are named above.
Christopher Henry, Fire Department, alarm and signal system superintendent. Regular pay was $228,586 with no overtime.
Mario Oquendo, District Fire Chief, $223,613, with no OT.
Police Capt. Michael Coates, regular pay was $219,875 and OT was $ 948.
Police Capt. Gabriel Laureano, made regular pay of $ 216,788 and $904 in OT.
Deputy Fire Chief Adam Guertin made $ 207,739 with no OT.
Deputy Fire Chief Kenneth Kowal made $ 196,012, and no OT.
City Chief Operating Officer Thea Montanez made $192,356.
Pension Commission employee Gary Draghi made$ 188,529.
Deputy Fire Chief James York made $187,965, with no OT.
Fire Capt. Jeffrey Greene made $ 187,422 with no OT.
Library CEO Bridget Quinn made $182,266.
Police Capt. Jan Powell, made $ 181,548, with OT of $ 926.
Police officer Domenick Agostino made regular pay of $ 180,264 and OT $30,238
Fire Capt., special services Jose Rivera, made regular pay of $ 180,233 and no OT.
Police Lt. Luis Ruiz, made regular psy of $180,208 and OT of $ 29,253.
District Fire Chief Kyle Krupa made regular pay of $175,884 and no OT.
Police officer Corey Daugherty made regular pay of $174,415 and OT of $43,938.
Deputy Fire Chief, training, James Errickson, classified on the list under “police” earned $172,401 in regular pay with no OT.
Police officer Adnan Hodzic earned regular pay of $172,113 and OT of $71,276.
Police officer Justin Bankston earned regular pay of $169,889 and $32,479 in OT.
District Fire Chief Richard Driscoll earned $169,257 with no OT.
Chief Financial Officer of Developmental Services Leigh Ann Ralls earned $166,067.
District Fire Chief Gerald Sisco earned $165,654 with no OT.
Have you still seen a lot of mini-liquor bottles, littering the streets in Connecticut?
Members of one environmental group said they still see them, and believe a ban is the best way to solve a multi-tiered problem.
State data shows in the past 12 months, ending September 30, there were more than 93 million mini-liquor bottles sold in our state.
The group supporting local bans says it’s not just the litter, but also the fact mini-liquor bottles are easy to conceal and consume on the job, in the car, or at school.
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The group “Connecticut Towns Nixing the Nip” met this week, working on strategies to get a legislative hearing on the issue in the upcoming 2026 session.
Right now, stores collect a 5-cent surcharge for every mini-liquor bottle sold, resulting in about $5 million annually for town and city environmental cleanup efforts.
Town funding from nip sales
Average revenue per year 2021 to 2025.
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“Having talked to a number of towns, well a few towns, they like the money, said Tom Metzner, a member of the group. “It’s fairly broad in how it can be used. It’s environmental. It doesn’t have to be used for cleaning up nips. And so the towns have become somewhat silent on the issue of banning nips.”
The group cited Chelsea, Massachusetts, where minis are banned, both litter and alcohol related EMS calls decreased.
The Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of Connecticut, which devised the “nickel per nip” program, said banning the mini-liquor bottles would be unprecedented.
Instead, it said the environmental group should be challenging municipalities to prove they actually use the money for cleanup.
Legislative leaders suggested several years ago the way to really do this is to have a redemption program for mini liquor bottles, and now, that could be possible.
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At least one state with the Clynk bottle collection program has redeemed mini-liquor bottles for cash.
The company just announced a major expansion in our state, but it told us it is not aware of a redemption program for mini-liquor bottles here any time soon.
National trust in the federal government is at some of its lowest levels in nearly seven decades, and many Connecticut residents fall in line with that belief, a survey found.
New data from the Pew Research Center found only 17% of Americans believe that what the government does is right either “just about always” or “most of the time,” hitting one of the lowest points Pew has seen since first asking this question in 1958. And according to a DataHaven survey, Connecticut residents trust the federal government less than state or local institutions.
While these are some of the lowest polling numbers seen in American history, national trust in the federal government has been on the decline for decades. Public trust initially dropped in the 1960s and ’70s during the Vietnam War from a near 80% but began rising again in the 1980s into the early ’90s. Trust peaked again after 9/11 before falling.
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The DataHaven survey found that of all Connecticut residents surveyed, only 9% trust the federal government “a great deal” to look out for the best interests of them and their family. About 28% trust the federal government “a fair amount.”
Federal government trust among Connecticut residents was at its highest in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the federal stimulus programs and child tax credit were active.
The DataHaven survey also asked about trust in local and state government. Connecticut residents generally trust these institutions more than they trust the federal government, the survey found.
Trust in the local governments was higher than trust in both state and federal, with 67% of residents surveyed trusting their local government “a great deal” or “a fair amount.”
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And when it came to state government, 61% of residents trust the state “a great deal” or “a fair amount.”
However, across the board, white residents are more likely to trust local and state government than are residents of color. Black residents had higher levels of trust in government than Latino and Puerto Rican residents, but less than white residents.
As of early 2025, the Connecticut State Police was facing a staffing shortage of roughly 300 troopers compared to the more than 1,200 troopers the department had in its ranks over a decade ago. This is due largely to retirements, resignations and a shrinking applicant pool.
Recent academy classes are helping slowly rebuild staffing, but Gov. Ned Lamont and police leadership say Connecticut still needs substantially more troopers to meet public safety demands. More recently, news outlets reported the department had 938 troopers.
This spring, troopers negotiated a 4.5% wage hike with state officials. Troopers’ base pay is on average about $116,000 per year, but that rises to $175,000 per year once overtime is included.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
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CT Mirror partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims.
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Reginald David is the Community Engagement Reporter for CT Mirror. He builds relationships across Connecticut to elevate community voices and deepen public dialogue around local issues. Previously, he was a producer at KCUR 89.3, Kansas City’s NPR station, where he created community-centered programming, led live event coverage for major events like the NFL Draft, the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl Parade, and Royals Opening Day, and launched KC Soundcheck, a music series spotlighting local and national artists. Reginald has also hosted special segments, including an in-depth interview with civil rights leader Alvin Brooks and live community coverage on issues like racial segregation and neighborhood development. He began his public media career as an ‘Integrity in News’ intern at WNPR in Hartford.
