West Hartford Cop's High Earnings Raises Questions

A West Hartford police lieutenant’s high earnings has raised questions from town officials and concern from the department’s administration about the potential for stress and sleep deprivation from working so much overtime and extra jobs, according to the Hartford Courant.

The Courant reports that Lt. Roger Brancoforte more than doubled his base pay and earned $285,621.85 in 2014.

Through a freedom of information request, the Courant received records that show Brancoforte often stacks vacation and sick days on top of private duty jobs (which aren’t paid by the town), works 16-hour days with regular shifts and private duty shifts back-to-back, and at one point didn’t take a full day off in nearly a month.

Brancoforte, who was also the department’s highest earner in 2013 with a gross pay of $255,918.26, was described in a performance review as “very dependable and detail oriented,” but his “excessive amount of O.T. occasionally hampers interpersonal skills,” according to the Courant, which also reported that the administration was concerned about Brancoforte’s “health & safety w/regard to excessive number of hours worked.”

Read the Hartford Courant’s detailed report, including comments from officials, here.

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