Police Chief Gene Mascolo is retiring effective Oct. 8, the Valley Independent Sentinel has learned.
Mascolo told City Hall officials of his plans this week. Deputy Chief Gerald Narowski is expected to be named interim chief after Mascolo leaves.
Multiple e‑mails and phone messages were left Thursday with Mascolo and Mayor Anthony Staffieri.
None were returned, as of 6:15 p.m.
Word of the chief’s departure spread quickly among local law enforcement.
Shelton Police Chief Joel Hurliman said he’ll miss his Derby counterpart.
“My impression of him as a chief — he is a voice of reason,” Hurliman said. “He has an uncanny knack for analyzing things and coming up with a solution. I’m going to miss him.”
Mascolo has more than 30 years experience in law enforcement. Mascolo became police chief in October 2006.
Mascolo is a colonel with the Connecticut National Guard. He served in Iraq from November 2004 to October 2005, according to a report in the New Haven Register.
It was unclear Thursday whether a formal letter of resignation — a public document — had been submitted in Derby City Hall.
The Valley Independent Sentinel e‑mailed Town Clerk Laura Wabno Thursday asking if a resignation letter was on file in her office.
She replied via e‑mail saying the mayor’s secretary told her, as per the Mayor, to obtain the information from the police department.
In May, after meeting in executive session, the city’s tax board created a $79,000 retirement-severance line within the police department budget, presumably for the chief’s pending retirement.
