METHUEN, Mass. — A Massachusetts police chief who was placed on administrative leave last month following the release of a state Inspector General report that found irregularities with the way the city handled the contract that led him to becoming one of the highest-paid police chiefs in the nation has retired.
Methuen Chief Joseph Solomon announced his retirement in a letter to Mayor Neil Perry on Monday.
“I am writing to inform you of my intent to retire from the Methuen Police Department as I turn 60 this month,” he wrote in the letter.
>> Methuen police chief put on leave after critical inspector general report
Inspector General Glenn Cunha wrote that his office “found a failure of leadership at all levels” regarding contracts approved for Solomon and other high-ranking members of the department in 2017 under a previous mayor.
“This total failure of leadership by Methuen’s former mayor and city council” allowed Solomon and a key ally “to put their personal financial interests ahead of the interests of the citizens they swore an oath to protect and serve,” Cunha said at the time.
Solomon has denied wrongdoing and in his letter cited “the ceaseless baseless attacks on my integrity, together with the constant political interference” as reasons for his retirement.
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