(The Center Square) — A decade ago, sheriff and police employees in Allegheny County took home roughly the same amount of overtime pay. Today, sheriff’s employees earn significantly more per worker on average—the highest of any department, according to an analysis of pay data by The Center Square.
The change highlights differences in how departments in the southwestern Pennsylvania county of 1.2 million people allocate taxpayer dollars to overtime.
On average, sheriff employees in Allegheny County earned $17,542 in overtime last year, according to county records. That was slightly more than jail staff. It was also $4,700 more than county police employees, who are responsible for security at Pittsburgh International Airport, Allegheny County Airport, and nine county parks.Michael D. Makowsky, associate professor at the John E. Walker Department of Economics at Clemson University, said the increase may reflect “significant understaffing” in the sheriff’s department. “When you see large increases in total overtime hours, they are failing to hire enough people because of a tight labor market, or the positions haven’t been budgeted for at an adequate level,” he said in an interview.The starting salary for a sheriff’s deputy in Allegheny County was $58,326 last year, according to the sheriff’s office.
Measured by average pay per worker, the sheriff’s office led all county departments. But in total dollars, the jail accounted for the most overtime, reflecting its larger workforce. Its overtime budget was $12.2 million for 695 staff. The sheriff’s offices 203 employees earned $3.6 million in overtime, while the police’s staff of 297 garnered $3.8 million.’Mike Manko, a department spokesman, declined two requests for interviews. In a statement, he said that overtime “is built into our budget and is a necessary product of our public safety mission.”
A 37% boost
The different averages reflect how overtime is used among departments.
Only 46 of the sheriff’s 203 employees earned less than $700 in overtime last year, or roughly 23%. By contrast, 200 of the jail’s 695 employees—nearly 29%—earned little or none.
The gap with police has opened up only recently.
In 2016, sheriff’s and police employees each earned about $8,900 in overtime—roughly $12,000 in today’s dollars. Since then, police overtime has increased modestly, to $12,821 per worker on average last year. By contrast, sheriff’s overtime has shot up 37%, reaching $17,542.
The shift is clearest among the highest earners.
In 2016, only three sheriff employees ranked among the county’s 20 highest overtime earner. Last year, eight did.
One sheriff deputy earned $110,119 in overtime, a sum larger than his annual salary of $103,138. A lieutenant, a 20-year veteran, made $78,985. An additional five employees garnered $73,000 to $64,550. To put those figures in perspective, no police employee earned more than $58,000 in overtime last year.
In total, Allegheny County spent $38 million in overtime—a 6% boost from 2024.County officials have taken notice.
Cracking down on overtimeIn February, county manager John Fournier issued a directive warning that overtime can “significantly impact county finances and departmental budgets” and requiring departments to limit its use. “Overtime,” he wrote, “is (to be) used only when operationally necessary and more cost-effective alternatives have been considered.” The directive does not apply to the sheriff’s office, which is led by an independently elected official and operates largely outside the county manager’s authority.
Manko, the sheriff’s department public information officer, said under the department’s collective bargaining agreement, “overtime is offered by seniority in the office so a deputy who is high on the seniority list and regularly accepts an overtime request earns that income just as much as their regular pay.” He declined to answer follow-up questions.
The sheriff’s office also provides less transparency.Payroll records redacted the names of 158 of its 203 employees who receive overtime earnings, more than three-quarters of its workforce. And unlike some law enforcement agencies, the sheriff’s office does not publish regular reports detailing staffing or performance.
