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New Orleans police officer made $245,903 in 2024, tripling his base salary of $83,024
Posted on 7/31/25 at 10:13 am
Posted on 7/31/25 at 10:13 am
A Fox 8 investigation finds members of the New Orleans Police Department working long hours for months on end without a single day off. That raises concerns for one former NOPD chief about the effectiveness of those officers and whether exhaustion could impact public safety.
“I would be worried about that officer’s safety,” former NOPD Superintendent Ronal Serpas said after seeing Fox 8’s findings.
Sgt. Manuel Castellon’s timecards show he took just 27 days off last year. And 211 of the days Castellon worked included shifts of 12 hours or longer.
Hessler says there’s nothing wrong with such workloads, according to department policy.
“The department monitoring it, they know it,” Hessler said. “They’re put in the payroll. This is not a secret.”
The overtime and off-duty detail hours also meant plenty of extra pay for these officers.
“I would be worried about that officer’s safety,” former NOPD Superintendent Ronal Serpas said after seeing Fox 8’s findings.
quote:
Fox 8 analyzed NOPD timesheets and overtime records from 2024. The investigative team found 23 officers who more than doubled their base salary last year through overtime and extra work on paid security details. The top earners often clocked more than 16 hours per shift, with some taking only a few days off during the entire year.
quote:
Among them, Sgt. Henry Burke, who claimed to work 16 hours or longer on 199 different days in 2024. Pay records show Burke took home $245,903 last year, nearly tripling his base salary of $83,024 with overtime and extra pay. “Who can sanely approach their job -- especially a job as stressful as an NOPD officer -- and be sane without a day off?” asked citizen police watchdog Skip Gallagher when looking through Fox 8’s findings.
quote:Another top earner, senior police officer Brandon Coleman, reported taking just 19 days off in 2024. Coleman’s timesheets show he worked 110 straight days from March 3-June 20, 2024. After taking two days off, Coleman recorded another 42-day stretch of work. He also put on his timesheet that he worked a 75-day stretch without a day off from Oct. 18-Dec. 31. His average workday in 2024 was 13 hours long.
Burke often worked overnight in 2024, his usual shift from about 2:45 p.m. until 7:00 a.m. From Oct. 15-Nov. 8, Burke submitted timesheets showing he worked 25 days straight, averaging 15½ hours each day.
Sgt. Manuel Castellon’s timecards show he took just 27 days off last year. And 211 of the days Castellon worked included shifts of 12 hours or longer.
Hessler says there’s nothing wrong with such workloads, according to department policy.
“The department monitoring it, they know it,” Hessler said. “They’re put in the payroll. This is not a secret.”
The overtime and off-duty detail hours also meant plenty of extra pay for these officers.
quote:I’m sure no time is getting stolen under the watch of Latoya the Destroyer watch
Burke’s annual base salary is listed at $83,024. But records show he took home nearly $246,000 in 2024. Coleman’s pay jumped from a base salary of $64,759 to $217,776. And while Sgt. Castellon’s base salary is listed as $96,370, records show the extra work allowed him to take home $255,447.33 last year. Payroll records show Castellon and Burke were among the top five earners in the entire NOPD in 2024.
35
Posted on 7/31/25 at 10:16 am to BowDownToLSU
quote:
25 days straight, averaging 15½ hours each day.
Congrats on the paycheck. I was doing the same amount of hours back when I was working two jobs.
Posted on 7/31/25 at 10:17 am to BowDownToLSU
quote:Let’s go Brandon!
Another top earner, senior police officer Brandon Coleman, reported taking just 19 days off in 2024.
Posted on 7/31/25 at 10:18 am to BowDownToLSU
I'm sure it was really tough sleeping in their car.
Posted on 7/31/25 at 10:19 am to BowDownToLSU
I’m more surprised at the $83k base.
I still wouldn’t do it, but that’s not a bad base pay for PD.
I still wouldn’t do it, but that’s not a bad base pay for PD.
Posted on 7/31/25 at 10:19 am to BowDownToLSU
Working extra details can be pretty laid back work. If their time can actually be verified, i don't know that I see much of an issue here, assuming that the details are paid by whoever hired them.
Respect the hustle.
Respect the hustle.
Posted on 7/31/25 at 10:20 am to BowDownToLSU
If he's working the extra hours he deserves to be paid for them. That's a fricking tough job, especially in New Orleans.
And the side gigs are a huge incentive for people to become police officers and it doesn't come out of tax payer wallets.
Having a hard time getting upset at this guy's hustle.
And the side gigs are a huge incentive for people to become police officers and it doesn't come out of tax payer wallets.
Having a hard time getting upset at this guy's hustle.
Posted on 7/31/25 at 10:20 am to BowDownToLSU
quote:
Fox 8 analyzed NOPD timesheets and overtime records from 2024. The investigative team found 23 officers who more than doubled their base salary last year through overtime and extra work on paid security details. The top earners often clocked more than 16 hours per shift, with some taking only a few days off during the entire year.
IF they actually did the work and put in the hours, who cares?
Posted on 7/31/25 at 10:20 am to LNCHBOX
We have this post annually and nothing ever changes. Sickening.
Posted on 7/31/25 at 10:21 am to BowDownToLSU
Let the man work. Paid security details are not of similar stress.
Posted on 7/31/25 at 10:21 am to rob0710
quote:
Sickening.
Why?
Posted on 7/31/25 at 10:22 am to BowDownToLSU
McNulty at it again?
Posted on 7/31/25 at 10:31 am to BowDownToLSU
Is it always them again Boo Boo?
Posted on 7/31/25 at 10:34 am to BowDownToLSU
Some of these are likely stacking pay for their retirement. Unless there has been a recent change, they base retirement pay on the last three years of pay (including any overtime). It is a stupid rule. The officer works a ton of overtime for three years and gets a far heftier retirement check.
The State really needs to omit OT pay from the retirement pay calculation.
The State really needs to omit OT pay from the retirement pay calculation.
This post was edited on 7/31/25 at 11:04 am
Posted on 7/31/25 at 10:34 am to BowDownToLSU
If you pull a list of the 50 highest earners that are “city employees”, you’d be amazed that about 20-30% of the list are police officers. We’re talking several of them making over 200k
Posted on 7/31/25 at 10:35 am to Geauxld Finger
quote:
If you pull a list of the 50 highest earners that are “city employees”, you’d be amazed that about 20-30% of the list are police officers. We’re talking several of them making over 200k
I'd prefer that percentage to be higher. at least their pay can be correlated to hours worked instead of some bloated city official salary that has no business making $200k for a 40 hour week.
Posted on 7/31/25 at 10:36 am to BowDownToLSU
These news “investigations” always leave out an important detail. One of the ways these officers boost their pay is to take Annual Leave on days of holidays and special details. So they get paid straight time for that shift where they were “off on leave.” They then sign up for the detail as an Off Duty Overtime status. That pays them double time. So, in effect, they make triple time for the shift. It sounds shady on its face but is a perfectly legal and within policy way to make extra money. But splashing the salary numbers gets more clicks for the media than explaining all this.
Also don’t forget that NOPD has Mardi Gras once a year plus Jazz Fest and dozens of other voluntary Overtime events. For Mardi Gras, every officer is on mandatory 7 days a week / 12 hours a day shift for a month.
Also don’t forget that NOPD has Mardi Gras once a year plus Jazz Fest and dozens of other voluntary Overtime events. For Mardi Gras, every officer is on mandatory 7 days a week / 12 hours a day shift for a month.
This post was edited on 7/31/25 at 11:13 am
Posted on 7/31/25 at 10:36 am to BowDownToLSU
Is he close to retirement and is trying to raise his average pay for his last few years?
Posted on 7/31/25 at 10:39 am to BowDownToLSU
Dude was parking his cruiser somewhere and going to sleep.
Posted on 7/31/25 at 10:41 am to Loup
Doesn’t have to be last few. Police pensions are based off your “High Three” or “High Five” years over your entire career. Lots of guys pick specific years to burn it down for this reason. Other dudes just don’t want to be home.
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