Cape Cod Times, March 20, 2002: “Tisbury police chief apparently forced into retirement” by Dawn Aberg.
TISBURY – Town administrator Dennis Luttrell pulled the shiny badge of of his office drawer, an offer of proof.
Tisbury Police Chief John McCarthy has left the department after nearly 29 years, and after several months of fighting for his job. The move was announced yesterday as a retirement. But all indications point to the fact that McCarthy was forced out.
The departure comes just a little more than a year after a consultant’s report characterized the Tisbury Police Department’s operational dynamics as “dysfunctional at best.” In the most dramatic example of labor unrest in the department, the town was forced to pay $375,000 to settle a discrimination complaint filed by a former patrolman. The Wasserman Report, as the consultant’s study as called, recommended specific steps for getting the department back on track. The report did not specifically call for the chief’s dismissal. But its recommendation that operational control be turned over to a lieutenant hired from outside the department did raise questions as to what McCarthy would have left to do as chief if that advice were implemented.
In December, the selectmen reportedly offered the chief a retirement package in exchange for his immediate resignation, an offer McCarthy did not accept. In February, the chief was forced to relinquish operational control of the department to his new lieutenant, Theodore Saulnier. Then the selectmen notified McCarthy they would not renew his appointment in June. The selectmen never formally confirmed any of these widely reported events. But, as Luttrell said last night, “they didn’t refute them either.” McCarthy, who officially left the department Monday afternoon, could not be reached for comment.
The press release issued by the town quotes him as being “thankful for the opportunity to serve the citizens of Tisbury.” At the selectman’s meeting last night, officials praised McCarthy for his long service to the town. Saulnier, who will serve as interim chief, announced that “everything is going well” in the newly structured department.
But questions about McCarthy’s retirement benefits remain. The timing of his departure calls into question his eligibility for full benefits. McCarthy served 20 years as chief, almost three times the state average of 7.3 years. But his overall department service is still shy of the 30 years required to obtain maximum benefits. Luttrell noted that the county, not the town, sets the benefit level according to a statutory “equation.” Salary levels as well as length of service are factored into the formula. If only his department service is counted, McCarthy is 1 ½ years short of maximum benefits. But, according to Luttrell, when the chief’s military service is factored in, an acceptable adjustment under the rules, the pension level will be very close to maximum retirement levels. Luttrell estimates that the pension will come to 78 percent, as opposed to a possible 80 percent, of the chief’s working salary. McCarthy earned $72,702 in 2001.
Dawn Aberg 