Annapolis fire and police leaders were the highest-paid employees in the city of Annapolis last year, according to payroll data obtained through a public information request.

The data includes regular, overtime and other earnings for 966 employees. Annapolis paid $60.05 million to workers last year, an increase of 4.4% from 2023. The city paid $4.55 million in overtime last year, a 12.9% increase from 2023, according to data provided by the city’s Human Resources office.

Joseph Mann, a lieutenant in the Annapolis Police Department, out-earned police Chief Edward Jackson after collecting more than $72,000 in overtime pay. Mann’s salary factors in his role as an acting captain for approximately seven months, according to Jackson, who was the city’s highest-paid department head for the second consecutive year.

Paying officers overtime is not an uncommon practice in Annapolis or the law enforcement profession due to staffing shortages, Jackson said. The department has 124 budgeted sworn positions, 10 of which are vacant. Annapolis is “doing better than a lot” of law enforcement agencies in terms of staffing shortages, said Jackson, who described the issue as “perpetual.”

“People have to leave under all types of circumstances. So, it’s very difficult to operate consistently in full strength,” he said.

Jackson earned $214,771 in 2024. He took over the 159-person department in 2019, seeking to improve the relationship between police and the city’s neighborhoods by holding his department accountable.

He faced criticism from members of the rank-and-file last spring after the department lost its Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies certification, a measure of a police agency’s commitment to professional standards, because the department missed a filing deadline.

Later that summer, the chief suspended two officers for reporting “waste and mismanagement” to Mayor Gavin Buckley. The suspended officers were reinstated within a week of the incident, following an independent review of the suspension by the Baltimore Police Department.

Buckley later defended Jackson’s leadership, but the police union issued a vote of no confidence in the command staff. Annapolis regained its CALEA accreditation in March, but it is unclear if relationships have improved.

Seven of the top 10 city earners worked for emergency services. David Fitzpatrick, a police sergeant; Stanley Brandford, deputy police chief; Wayne Fretterd, a fire battalion chief; and Henry Lister, a fire captain, also rank in the top 10.

Department leaders, such as City Manager Michael Mallinoff; Jodee Dickinson, the outgoing director of Finance; and Stephen Rice, a manager in the Department of Planning and Zoning, also made the list.

Mallinoff was hired as city manager in 2022 but has served in various roles in Annapolis for different mayors. While Mallinoff earned the second-highest annual salary, Philip Morris, a fire battalion chief, was paid more last year after factoring in nearly $50,000 in overtime. Morris earned $201,078 in 2024.

In Annapolis, the mayor is the chief presiding officer, while the city manager supervises department directors, including police and fire, and day-to-day operations. Mallinoff is expected to resign in May.

Rice rounded out the list, earning nearly $42,000 above his annual salary with no overtime. The additional money is part of a payout of personal leave as well as back pay for an annual raise after he left the city in November, according to Tricia Hopkins, the city’s Human Resources manager.

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