At least 15 Portland police officers were paid more than $200,000 last fiscal year due to overtime amid mass protests, according to a ...
At least 15 Portland police officers were paid more than $200,000 last fiscal year due to overtime amid mass protests, according to a new report.
Captain Mark Kruger, who retired in March, was the highest-paid earner in the Portland Police Bureau after he made $265,225.
The second, third and fourth highest-paid employees were all sergeants whose overtime earnings exceeded their base pay during the fiscal year which ran from the start of July 2019 to the end of June 2020.
But the figures did not include overtime made by officers during the past four months of daily protests in the city which were sparked across the US following the death of George Floyd in May.
The report comes amid calls to reallocate federal funding from police departments toward other local services that could make communities safer - particularly for minorities.
At least 15 Portland police officers were paid more than $200,000 last fiscal year due to receiving overtime amid mass protests, according to a new report. Pictured: Portland Police using chemical irritants and crowd control munitions in September
Eight sergeants and two officers were among the top 10 highest overtime earners, according to a wage database obtained by The Oregonian.
Sergeants received an average of $24,943 in overtime closely followed by detectives who earned $20,369 and rank-and-file officers on an average of $13,239 in overtime.
The figures also showed a total of 728 bureau employees - out of 1,272 - made more than $100,000.
In June 2020, there were more than four million receiving overtime pay, which was the single highest month recorded in recent memory.
The rise has been attributed to mass protesting as well as a rise in shootings and a lack of officers.
Sgt. Ken Duilio, who was the third highest-paid officer, said: 'There's a lot of people working a lot of hours because there's just a lot of work to be done, and we're limited on the number of cops we have.'
The latest figures did not include overtime made by officers during the past four months of daily protests and riots in the city which were sparked by the death of George Floyd (pictured)
This sentiment was echoed by the President of the Portland Police Association, Officer Daryl Turner, who blamed the city's elected officials for 'ignoring' their staffing needs.
The latest figures did not include overtime made by officers during the past four months of daily protests in the city.
Riots were sparked across the US in May following the death of 46-year-old George Floyd who choked to death when a white police officer restrained him by kneeling on his neck.
Gross pay and overtime earnings for Portland Police are therefore expected to be even higher this fiscal year, according to the publication.
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