METHUEN, MASS. (WHDH) - Methuen Police Chief Joe Solomon has been placed on paid administrative leave after a scathing report from the Inspector General found leadership failures made him one of the highest-paid police chiefs in the country.
The report released Wednesday says a captain in Solomon’s department added language into a 2017 contract that had never been approved in negotiations with the city.
The mayor at the time, Stephen Zanni, allegedly failed to thoroughly review it before signing.
The language caused base pay for superior officers to skyrocket up to 183 percent, which would have entitled Solomon more than $375,000 dollars — higher than the commissioners of Boston, New York, Los Angeles, and most police chiefs around the country.
The city refused to pay that, but even then his salary still doubled to nearly $300-thousand between 2017 and 2021.
The report says Solomon knew about this but didn’t speak up, even though it would place the city in a huge financial hole and force them to layoff 50 patrol officers, about half of the police department’s uniformed staff.
Current Methuen Mayor Neil Perry says he has placed Solomon and Capt. Gregory Gallant on paid leave but says it is not disciplinary.
In a statement he wrote:
“I intend to follow the appropriate guidance of the Inspector General and will carefully consider this report, the soon to be received audit, and all applicable laws in arriving at a proper course of action.”
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