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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

“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.”

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.