Who were Greenwich's top paid employees in 2024? Police officers.

GREENWICH — Police officers, once again, top the town of Greenwich's highest paid employees list for 2024, with a detective earning the first spot on the list.

Detective First Class Joseph Rondini was the highest earner in town last year with $348,152.46 in gross pay, according to data from Greenwich's Human Resources Department obtained by Greenwich Time. His base pay was $109,397.65, but he also earned $13,067.70 in other pay, $74,023.11 in overtime and $151,664.00 in side job earnings. Rondini was the highest paid employee in town in 2022. 

"As in the past the top earners from the police department are police officers that work a significant amount of extra duty jobs on top of their regular scheduled work," the Greenwich Police Department wrote in a statement to Greenwich Time.

GPD said that police officers earn overtime for covering patrol shifts and other officers' shifts when their colleagues are off for training, vacation or are out sick. They also may earn overtime for providing additional security at schools, which the department has been doing since 2022. 

"The department has reorganized some personnel to cover this detail with on-duty officers, but it does sometimes need to be covered with overtime," according to GPD.

Side jobs "are optional work that police officers can do during their off‐duty time," according to the department's statement. 

"Residents can request police officers for traffic control or security‐related jobs, like staffing a fair or parade or directing drivers around a construction zone," according to GPD. "This is paid for by the private resident or company that hires the police officer as well as paying the town a fee for the service."

Sgt. Michael Ucci was the town's second highest paid employee last year by earning $348,066.01 in gross pay. He earned over $142,000 in overtime, close to $68,000 in side job earnings and over $26,500 in other earnings. Ucci was Greenwich's top paid employee last year. 

Sgt. Pierangelo Corticelli was the third highest paid employee in Greenwich last year, with a gross pay exceeding $332,000. He earned over $132,000 in side job earnings and close to $75,000 in overtime. Corticelli also earned over $14,000 in other earnings. 

Eight of the town's top 10 highest earners last year work for the police department. The other two are Board of Education employees — Superintendent Toni Jones and the school district's chief financial and administrative officer, Ben Branyan.

Jones earned a gross pay of $330,695.50, with her base pay exceeding $253,000. Branyan's gross pay was $295,137.50, with his base pay just over $241,000. 

Greenwich Public Schools declined a request for comment. 

GPD employees also dominate the town's top 20 highest earners for 2024, with 13 of those spots. The other seven include BOE employees and Peter Mynarski, the town's comptroller. Mynarski earned a gross pay of $235,030.70. 

Chief of Police James Heavey earned just over $213,000 in 2024, making him 35 on the town of Greenwich employee pay list, while Fire Chief Joseph McHugh earned a gross pay of just over $184,000, 112 on the list.

For the Board of Selectmen, First Selectman Fred Camillo earned $156,776.10 in 2024, making him 205 on the list. In 2023, Camillo's salary was $153,113. Selectwoman Lauren Rabin and Selectperson Janet Stone McGuigan both earned $15,678 for their part-time roles on the board.