GLOVERSVILLE, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Will the police chief stay or will he be forced to go? That was the question several posed to the Gloversville Common Council during their meeting Tuesday evening. The answer, per Mayor Vincent DeSantis, is yes, but only for a few more months.
“The chief is still with us. He is going to be with us. He has not been dismissed. He’s expressed his desire to retire at the end of the year and he is going to be helping us with a very clean, orderly transition,” explains Mayor DeSantis.
For several days, the chief’s status with the city was in limbo. Following a report of opioid use and abuse in the city, the chief came under fire from the mayor for how Gloversville was portrayed in the report. “He was literally just trying to shed light on this situation but they are trying to force him out which I don’t think is right,” says Cora Harrington who lives in Gloversville.
Harrington says she carries Narcan, also known as Naloxone, the overdose reversing medicine, daily because of how often she sees someone in need in her neighborhood. “You can’t walk out your front door without seeing it. And that is a sad situation.”
Many in the public began to speculate the chief was being forced to resign by the mayor following his involvement in the report. But, the city says the chief’s decision to retire at the end of the year was something the chief had contemplated for some time. “He’s continued to be employed throughout this entire situation. There has never been a separation the chief had indicated his desire to retire, and I could tell you that those conversations for an orderly transition have been on going in life is proceeding along with the Gloversville Police Department.”
The chief was not present at Tuesday’s meeting. His last day will be December 31.