After more than four years at the helm of the Edgartown police department, Chief Antone “Tony” Bettencourt announced Wednesday in a letter to selectmen that he will retire, effective May 2.
“I am excited about my impending retirement, but wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for all of the opportunities that I have experienced working for the town of Edgartown,” Chief Bettencourt said in a letter to selectmen dated Jan. 14. “I have made the decision to leave because I believe it is both the right time for me, and more importantly, the right time for my family.”
Art Smadbeck, chairman of the board of selectmen, said the news came as somewhat of a surprise.
“The chief has done a wonderful job for the town of Edgartown, not just the years he has been chief, but his entire career on the Edgartown police department,” Mr. Smadbeck said. “Although it is a well-deserved retirement, I’m sorry to see the chief leave. The good news is, he’s continued to build a great department that will be a credit to his tenure.”
Chief Bettencourt, 49, and his wife have three daughters. He said he had always hoped to retire at a relatively young age.
“My family and I have been talking about it for a while,” he said in a phone interview Thursday afternoon. “It’s maybe a year earlier than I expected, but I’m leaving a great department that’s in great shape. I want to go out happy. I took this job just a couple weeks after I turned 18 years old. I feel like I lost out a bit in the beginning part of my life, when all my friends were traveling, going to college. I’m going to make it up on the other end; that was always my goal.”
Chief Bettencourt said he is not leaving the position because of any specific incident or single reason. But the 24/7 nature of the position entered his thoughts as he considered retirement.
“I’m not sour, I could still keep doing this job,” Mr. Bettencourt said. “It’s not something I’m running away from. I love the job, it’s just, 32 years of doing this job wears on you. You’re always thinking about it. It’s time for me to do something else.”
He pointed to changes in the command staff, an increase in the number of police officers on the force, and efforts to update training and technology, as some of the highlights of his tenure.
“I immediately put an officer in the school, I’m really proud of that program,” Chief Bettencourt said. “We’re getting good stuff done. I think it comes from good morale.”
Selectmen appointed Mr. Bettencourt acting chief in June 2010 following the retirement of Chief Paul Condlin after 15 years in the top post. Selectmen made the appointment official in August of that year.
In October 2013, Edgartown selectmen expressed confidence in their chief, and renewed his contract for another three years at a salary of $167,000. The contract, which changed little over the years, pegged the chief’s salary to the salary of the highest-paid patrolman on the veteran police force, and included longevity pay tied to Mr. Bettencourt’s years on the force.
He oversees a $3 million department budget, and a force of 18 full-time officers, two special officers, and five traffic officers who work mostly during the busy summer months.
Edgartown selectmen will now turn their attention to appointing a new chief. Chief Bettencourt said he will not make a recommendation, though he said there are many capable candidates within the department.
“It’s a tough decision, but I don’t think it’s a decision I should make,” he said. “I’m not going to be there. The officers should have input, and the people that have been around a long time should have some sort of priority, because experience goes a long way.”
Selectmen plan to enlist the help of labor counsel Jack Collins to guide the process of choosing a successor for Chief Bettencourt. Mr. Collins, a former police officer, worked closely with town officials during the transition from Chief Condlin to Chief Bettencourt.
Chief Bettencourt is a native and lifelong resident of Edgartown; he rose through the department ranks to the top job in the Island’s largest police force. He began his career as a summer police officer a few weeks after he graduated from the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School.
Over the years, Chief Bettencourt said he has seen many changes in his town and his department, including requirements for more specialized training, enormous advances in technology, and a more community-based approach to law enforcement.
“Back in the day, when the bars closed, it kind of wrapped up the street,” he said. “That doesn’t happen now. There was no community policing back then. Now we’re involved in the schools, the senior centers, we’re spread out all over the place being proactive, not just answering calls.”
He expects to devote much of his time to his family business, working with his wife and three daughters.
“You’ll see me making ice cream at the Dairy Queen,” he said. “I’ll be hands-on. I plan on doing as much fishing as I possibly can, and hunting in the fall, and probably visiting my father in Florida more in the winter.”
Chief Bettencourt said he will leave active management of the department earlier than May 2, by taking accrued vacation time, but that date has not yet been determined.
