Mayor Megan Barry's ex-bodyguard received thousands more in overtime pay than other security

The Nashville police officer with whom Mayor Megan Barry had a longstanding affair received thousands of additional dollars in overtime pay compared with other security officers on the mayor's protection detail, records show.

Sgt. Rob Forrest earned $173,843.13 in overtime from July 2015 through January 15 this year according to city data. Forrest, who served 14 years on the mayoral protection detail before retiring January 31, earned far less in overtime pay during the tenure of former Mayor Karl Dean, records show.

Barry, a Democrat, was elected to office in September 2015. She said the affair with Forrest began in Spring of 2016 but she would not say when it ended.

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Four other Nashville police officers worked on mayoral security. One worked full-time on the detail during Barry's entire tenure, while two others were full-time on the detail for months at a time. The fourth worked part-time on the detail as needed during 2017 and became full-time in January 2018.

Forrest earned nearly $53,000 more in overtime than the other officers combined, records show.

"As the head of the detail, Sgt. Forrest was responsible for scheduling all members of the detail and was the default lead assigned to Mayor Barry's protection," said Barry spokesman Sean Braisted.

Forrest's attorney, David Raybin, declined to comment when asked whether Forrest scheduled himself to work more overtime to further the affair.

Forrest is set to receive $80,302.56 a year in retirement, based on an average of a five-year period in which he made the most money from salary and overtime. That amount could fluctuate if he takes an upfront partial lump-sum payment, according to human resources records.

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Apart from Forrest, the only other officer to work on mayoral security full-time from the start of Barry's administration is Officer Michael Dixon. Dixon earned $69,232.70 in overtime from July 2015 through January 31 this year, less than half the amount earned by Forrest during the same time period.

Det. Corey Wilson worked on the detail from September 2015 to July, 2016. His overtime for the 2016 fiscal year, which covers his time on the mayoral protection detail, was $11,587.63.

Det. Kevin Akin started on the detail in July 2016. His overtime pay from that time to January 31 was $27,452.78

Officer Khanthasit Phothirath worked "as needed" on the detail during 2017 before joining the team full-time in January. He earned $12,623.23 in overtime from the start of the 2017 financial year through January 31, according to city records.

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For this analysis, the overtime pay for the 2015 through 2017 financial years came from the city open data portal. The overtime pay for the first six months of the 2018 financial year came from the finance department.

The amount originally provided for Forrest's overtime during the same time period is roughly $2,000 less than the city's data shows. Some overtime totals in the open data portal may include holiday pay as well, said a city finance spokesman.

Forrest frequently accompanied Barry on out-of-town travel, including 10 over the course of 2016 and 2017 where he was the only employee to join her on the trips.

Barry said all of the trips were for legitimate business, but she acknowledged staying four extra days during three trips, including one to Athens, Greece, where there was nothing on her official schedule and Forrest was her lone travel companion.

The mayor and Police Chief Steve Anderson have said Barry traveling with security was warranted. However, records also show Barry frequently traveled without security from the start of her tenure through June 2016, at which point she says the affair was underway.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and a special city committee are looking in to whether Barry and Forrest misspent public funds. Barry denies violating any laws or policies.

Reach Dave Boucher at 615-259-8892, dboucher@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Dave_Boucher1.