Sands Point Police Chief Richard Lertora is to retire from his post in January.
The village Board of Trustees approved his termination pay at its meeting on Tuesday.
He has held the position since August 2015, when he replaced Mark Mandel, who had held the post for 10 years.
Lertora, 61, previously was a lieutenant for the Sands Point Police Department. He has been on Sands Point’s police force for 37 years.
In a telephone interview, Lertora said he is retiring because it’s time. He said when he started someone told him that he would know when it was time to leave, and now is “as good time as any.”
He said that his greatest accomplishment as police chief was all of the officers he has hired over the years. He said he is happy to leave the department to such great officers, and he expects they will be there for the next 20 or 30 years.
“Everyone that I have hired is an absolutely great cop that has a great future,” he said.
He said that he will miss coming into the department in the morning and seeing all of his fellow officers, but he is sure he will be back to visit.
He added that working for the Sands Point Police Department has been a terrific experience and he “could not ask for a better Police Department or a better area to work.”
He said that the crime rate has stayed steady during his time as police chief.
“Sands Point has always been a low-crime area and has remained a low-crime area,” he said.
“Chief Richard Lertora’s retirement after 37 years as a member of the Sands Point Police Department is bittersweet,” Sands Point Mayor Ed Adler said. “His outstanding service to our village will long be remembered. We will miss him and wish him well when he begins his well-deserved retirement.”
The Sands Point Police Department’s jurisdiction covers three and a half square miles with a population of 4,000 residents.
A report released by the Empire Center for Public Police says Lertora received a salary of $266,089 in the 2017-18 fiscal year.
He ranked No. 47 among the highest-paid municipal and county employees in the state.
According to the report, 21 police officers in the department were paid an average annual salary of $159,009, which makes Sands Point the 11th-highest paid police department on Long Island.
During Lertora’s tenure as police chief, Sands Point was ranked as the 20th-safest community in the state by Alarm System Reviews, which is an online resource center for home security company reviews.
Sgt. Christina Howes also retired at the beginning of December.
She was promoted to sergeant at the same time Lertora was promoted to chief.
She has been in the police force for 31 years. The trustees also approved her termination pay.
Howes could not be reached for comment.
