Darren Tripp was fired Feb. 12 by Town Manager Scott Cole.
BETHEL – Fired Bethel Police Chief Darren M. Tripp is scheduled to appear before the Board of Selectmen at 4 p.m. Tuesday, March 9, in Crescent Park Elementary School cafeteria.
Tripp appealed his Feb. 12 firing by Town Manager Scott Cole. According to town ordinance, the Board of Selectmen must act as a jury in appellate capacity on personnel matters.
At Tuesday’s termination hearing – the first of two scheduled this week – Cole must present his case to selectmen about why the termination was justified. Tripp must then convince the board that it was not justified.
If selectmen do not feel they can render a verdict after hearing evidence and testimony Tuesday, a second session is to be held at 4 p.m. Thursday, March 11, in the Crescent Park School gymnasium.
The sessions are expected to be open to the public, but public comment is not allowed.
“It is a public proceeding, not a public hearing,” Cole said.
After firing the police chief, Cole declined to cite his reasons for termination.
The surprise move left Bethel without a Maine Criminal Justice Academy-certified officer on the town’s police force. It also reduced Bethel’s full-time police force to one patrolman, Charles Beal, who was hired last summer, and a contingent of reserve officers. The two other positions are vacant.
Cole, however, did enact a joint plan between the Bethel Police Department and Oxford County Sheriff’s Office in Paris to provide law enforcement coverage over the interim.
Tripp joined the Bethel Police Department in 1989 and became chief in 1998, the year before Cole was hired as town manager. Until Tripp was suspended by Cole on March 17, Tripp had never had a disciplinary action.
Tripp does have a lawsuit against Cole and the town pending in U.S. District Court in Portland that seeks to recover fees stemming from Cole’s 33-day paid suspension of Tripp last March.
The former Bethel police chief is also seeking an unspecified amount for emotional and physical problems caused by Cole’s conduct.
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