Salaries for members of the University of Connecticut (UConn) Police Department have risen in recent years, with department higher-ups seeing the biggest increases.

According to data from the Connecticut Office of the State Comptroller, department salaries saw the most consistent across the board increase between 2022 and 2021, following a contraction in salaries driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. The median income for the department’s lieutenants rose 2.3 percent during that period, while the median income for sergeants rose by 18.5 percent. Detectives saw their median income rise by 16.5 percent during that period and police officers saw a 11.2 percent increase. Gerald Lewis, the department’s former police chief saw a 66.9 percent increase in pay, between 2022 and 2021. Lewis was paid $104,428 in 2021 and $174,369 in 2022. He announced his retirement in September 2022.

The role of chief was split by deputy chiefs Magdalena Silver and Andrew Fournier, both of whom made $134,067 during 2023. Gene Labonte was announced as the department’s next chief in June 2023. He is projected to make $235,000 in 2024.

Between 2021 and 2024, the department’s chiefs and interim chiefs have consistently made less than projected. Lewis’ projected salary for 2021 was $225,000. Fournier and Silver were anticipated to make $198,850 each in 2023.

Understanding the rates at which police department salaries have grown over recent years is complicated by mid-year retirements and hirings. When personnel, such as the police chief, resign halfway through the year or are appointed halfway through the year, the median income for their position is affected. Personnel changes mid-calendar year can also result in pay falling below expected income.

Organizationally, the police department is headed by the Associate Vice President of Public Safety, who sits above the police chief and vice-chiefs. Currently, the department is headed by Hans Rhynhart, who stepped down as police chief in 2020 but retained the associate vice presidency. Between 2016 and 2020, the roles were split, with Rhynhart serving in both. In 2017, Rhynhart took home $180,437 in pay. The state’s OpenPayroll website lists his position as police chief for this year. By 2018, his job title in the payroll data had changed to associate vice president and his pay increased to $195,158. In 2020, the year of his retirement, he brought home $216,466 in total pay.

Most members of the UConn police department are represented by Connecticut Police and Fire Union NP-5. Per their collective bargaining agreement, which is in effect through June 2025, the salary of union members was required to increase by 2.5 percent in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

Officers, the lowest ranking members of the department, saw their largest pay increase since 2018 between 2022 and 2021, coming at 11.2 percent. That was the second smallest pay increase for that period, with detectives receiving a 16.5 percent average increase in pay and sergeants receiving an 18.5 percent increase. Lieutenants saw a 2.5 percent increase between those two years, but received a significantly larger increase, at 14.3 percent, between 2023 and 2022. By contrast, both officers and sergeants saw a roughly 5.5 percent increase each during that time period.

The median income figure does not include forms of payment other than wages, such as overtime.

Funding for UConn, whose top-two highest payments last year went to men’s and women’s basketball coaches Daniel Hurley and Geno Auriemma, has been a contentious issue in the state house for the past several years. Gov. Ned Lamont proposed to cut $360 million from the school’s budget when he unveiled his biennial budget in 2023. Lamont’s recently unveiled budget adjustments would also result in spending cuts to the university due to the expiration of pandemic-era federal funds.

Republish This Story

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.