Police chiefs in California getting huge final paychecks

[bemildred]

El Monte Police Chief Thomas Armstrong oversaw a modestly sized department, with 120 officers patrolling a city of 113,000 residents.

But when Armstrong stepped down last year, he was paid nearly $430,000 — significantly more than Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck or Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca.

The payday was possible thanks to a clause in Armstrong's contract that allowed him to accrue unlimited sick and vacation hours and sell them back to the city at the end of his career. By the time he retired at age 56, Armstrong had amassed a bank of more than 1,500 unused hours, city officials said, which he cashed out for roughly $200,000.

And he's not alone. Similar payouts have been made in city governments across the state. A database published by the state controller shows 23 city employees who made more than $400,000 in 2009 or 2010. The Times found that more than half had their total pay boosted through a sick- or vacation-time cash-out.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-chief-compensation-20120711,0,5249903.story

[AnotherMcIntosh]

1. And, of course, chiefs of police in communities outside of California are aware of such arrangements

and can have or demand contracts with similar pay-out arrangements.

In ordinary small towns where residents may think of themselves as middle-class, these people at taking action to make sure that they get theirs.