It pays to be a cop.

Nearly a third of the

's 985-member force made more than $100,000 in fiscal 2011-12.

That's 305 sworn members - 114 officers, 77 sergeants, 54 detectives, five criminalists, 31 lieutenants, 13 captains, eight commanders, two assistant chiefs and the chief - and five civilian employees in the state's largest city police agency.

.

Many of the lower-ranking members -- whose base salaries ranged from $70,000 to $85,000 --took home much higher pay working extra shifts that drew overtime pay or working hazardous assignments that brought premium pay or they received end-of-the year cash payouts for accrued compensatory time.

Public safety workers often make more than their bosses or close to their wages because of overtime and other perks. In the Portland Fire & Rescue Bureau, 201 out of 602 fire personnel made more than $100,000 in 2011-12.

With both bureaus facing potential cuts in their budgets for the next fiscal year, city officials are taking a new look at what police officers and firefighters are earning and why, and whether their staffing is appropriate.

has asked City Council members Amanda Fritz and Dan Saltzman to dig deep into the figures and recommend ways to reduce overtime before the end of this month.

"That's a lot of people making a lot of money," said Fritz, who asked the city budget office to break down the salaries by base wages versus overtime or premium pay. "You don't want public safety folks to be working particularly long hours."

A citizen activist involved in the budget process also suggested at a City Council work session Monday that more tightly controlled police pay could stave off the elimination of school resource officers, the mounted patrol unit and fingerprint technicians recommended by the Police Bureau and city analysts.

"It seems to me there's an awful lot of overtime here," said Carl Farrington, a retired software company manager. "We could hire the police we need to be in the schools -- the money's here that needs to cover what needs to be done."

The chief did not respond, but the mayor assured Farrington that he has a subcommittee examining overtime.

Officer Daryl Turner, president of the Portland Police Association, said police making the higher pay earn it. The overtime pay is partly to fill patrol shifts because the bureau is understaffed, he said.

"They're not boosting their base pay. They're getting paid for working. They're performing," Turner said. "They're not sitting at home, collecting a paycheck."

City Council member Steve Novick said the city must address whether the public safety bureaus are staffed appropriately. He said he doesn't mind paying police to deal with serious crimes. But with violent crimes down 18 percent since 2005 and the chief saying officers are dealing more with social disorder issues, such as homelessness and public drunkenness, "Are we paying police to do social work, which social workers can do cheaper and better?" Novick asked.

A pay chart presented to the City Council showed a retiring detective division commander, Ed Brumfield, took home the highest pay in the fiscal year that ran from July 2011 to June 30, 2012 at $215,166, making more than the chief or his assistant chiefs. Brumfield's base pay was $129,843, but he also got a cash payout of $77,565 for unused vacation leave or accrued comp time.

A retired police commander Dave Benson who was hired back immediately as a civilian manager of the police evidence warehouse made $208,917, having received a cash payout of $126,529 for accrued vacation leave or comp time over his base salary of $81,881.

A motorcycle officer, Ron Hoesly, earned more than the chief: He collected $64,120 in overtime, close to his base pay of $73,999, for a total of $179,664. The chief made $175,486 that year.

Portland police spokesman, Sgt. Pete Simpson, who is on-call 24 hours, seven days a week, made $61,489 in overtime pay, with another $17,880 in premium pay, to boost his base pay of $85,336 to $164,706.

Portland's police contract allows many ways to make extra money. A hazard pay premium equal to 6 percent of base salary goes to officers assigned to motorcycles, officers and sergeants assigned full-time to the Drugs and Vice Division, the Special Emergency Reaction Team and the Explosive Disposal Unit.

Officers who have a police dog also make overtime pay for each day off they perform "kennel time," for exercising, grooming or cleaning up a dog run.

Officers who are "on call" -- meaning they must be available to respond when they're off duty -- make 10 percent of a day's base pay for each day, or portion of a day, they remain on call. .

If an officer is temporarily assigned to fill a higher pay grade job, they make regular salary plus 8.25 percent of their salary, or the entry rate of the higher-ranking post, whichever is higher. Court time on an officer's day off also draws overtime.

Any uncollected comp time remaining at the end of a calendar year is paid out in cash.

Portland police have historically outspent their budgeted overtime.

enforcement raised the overtime in 2011-12 to $11.6 million, according to city figures. This year, the bureau is projected to spend $8.6 million, above the $7.8 million budgeted for overtime, said Tess Jordan, city budget analyst.

--

;