Former police chief should have lost part of his pension

To the editor:

Re. your editorial of June 18, “Police scandal ends with a sense of injustice”:

In my view, former Hamilton police Chief Walter Cullen should have lost that portion of his pension earned while he was serving as chief (a period of time when he clearly was not doing his job honorably), and he should also have been held financially responsible for the “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in legal fees the town of Hamilton has had to pay to deal with those involved in committing this fraud, himself included (all acting with his approval, apparently).

Regarding Judge Feeley’s handling of this case, it appears the judge deems putting the public’s safety at risk, betraying a town’s trust in its police force and costing the town of Hamilton thousands and thousands of dollars in legal fees are of little consequence when measured against an admitted felon’s right to collect his full pension. How sad for all of us that justice was not served.

Judy O’Leary

Marblehead

Editorial Salem News