Darren Tripp’s
Feb. 12 firing was upheld by selectmen.
BETHEL – Four of five selectmen at Monday night’s board meeting decided to hire an interim police chief in the absence of Darren Tripp, whose Feb. 12 firing was upheld by the board Thursday.
Now they have to find someone who is willing to wait until the outcome of Tripp’s pending lawsuit in federal court against Town Manager Scott Cole and the town of Bethel.
“I don’t think we ought to hire anyone until we find out what’s going on with this,” said Selectman Jack Cross.
If Tripp wins his case, which is not expected to be heard until October, and gets reinstated, selectmen said they didn’t want to have two police chiefs.
Cross and Selectmen Al Barth, Don Bennett and Acting Chairman Reggie Brown made their decision after listening to public comment and advice from the town’s lone full-time patrolman, Charles Beale. Board Chairman Harry Dresser Jr. was absent.
The board chose not to follow Town Manager Scott Cole’s decision to start advertising for a new police chief on Friday, April 2.
But they were interested in interviewing the three people who contacted Cole about the opening.
Cole said all three had been certified by the Maine Criminal Justice Academy, something that Beale is not scheduled to do until August.
“I can do the job administratively, but there is nobody else in this department who is certified,” he said.
“This department needs an academy-certified police chief, because there are some issues I can’t handle. If there is a suicide, I can’t touch it. If there is an unattended death, I can’t touch it,” Beale added.
He also said he couldn’t handle homicide investigations or fatal wrecks, but, Beale noted, those are handled by State Police.
“If this isn’t cleaned up by August, there is no law enforcement in Bethel,” he added.
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