Two things that I can think of. Either it's retiring officers cashing out unspent holiday time, or else being injured and getting compensation. eg. This guy: h

Two things that I can think of. Either it's retiring officers cashing out unspent holiday time, or else being injured and getting compensation. eg. This guy: http://www.sacbee.com/statepay/salary-details/?firstname=Michael&lastname=Teixeira&totalpay=162043.5&agency=CALIFORNIA+HIGHWAY+PATROL http://www.sacbee.com/statepay/salary-details/?firstname=Mic... has only a 70k base pay for 2009 (1/2 pay), and a 200k other, compared to the two other years. If you look a few pages down the list, you'll get more 'normal' salaries, like this one: http://www.sacbee.com/statepay/salary-details/?firstname=Jerry&lastname=Espinoza&totalpay=166561.77&agency=CALIFORNIA+HIGHWAY+PATROL http://www.sacbee.com/statepay/salary-details/?firstname=Jer... Which is still pretty astronomical, but then he is doing a lot of overtime...