Glenville detective who retired amid probe to get $50K payout

PHOTOGRAPHER: Michael Goot

Former Glenville police detective William Gallop — who announced his retirement from the force in July after he was the subject of an internal investigation — will receive a payout of roughly $50,000 in accumulated sick, vacation and personal leave time.

Town Attorney Michael Cuevas said the exact amount of the payout is still being calculated, but it will be between $50,000 and $55,000. The town does not have the option of making the payment in installments.

Gallop had accumulated 1,200 hours of sick leave, 205 hours of vacation leave and 470 hours of compensatory time as of July 29, according to the agreement specifying his retirement conditions provided to The Daily Gazette through a Freedom of Information Law request.

Gallop formally retired Saturday, according to the state Comptroller’s Office. He has been using some of his leave time since going off active duty June 21 at the start of the internal investigation. Any unused leave time will be paid out at his current salary, nearly $70,000 a year.

Some of the money for the payout will come through savings realized by not paying Gallop’s salary, as the position will remain vacant for the rest of the budget year. Police Chief Michael Ranalli will cover the expense within the existing budget, according to Cuevas.

The Town Board on Aug. 17 approved Gallop’s retirement resolution. The agreement also contains a gag order that prohibits Gallop and town officials from making derogatory statements about each other. Cuevas said this is typical language that is included in agreements when people leave town employment.

“If somebody is a disgruntled employee, we want to protect the town,” he said.

Cuevas admitted there is not much the town could do if the agreement were violated, such as not make the payout, because employees are contractually entitled to those payouts.

Town Councilman John Pytlovany, himself a former police chief in Scotia, offered a different view, saying he does not believe that these gag orders are typical for retirement agreements.

“I believe that was put in there between the town attorney and Officer Gallop’s attorney,” he said.

No probe details

Town officials have not disclosed the outcome of the investigation, which Cuevas said had been concluded. “It was an internal police matter.”

However, Cuevas said neither he nor Ranalli had decided on the next step before Gallop announced his intention to retire, which made the question moot.

Town Supervisor Chris Koetzle said previously the purpose of the investigation was to determine whether “all proper departmental procedures” had been followed.

Koetzle on Tuesday also would not disclose any further details about the investigation. He said the town has tried to reduce these large payouts in labor contracts but was unsuccessful as the unions did not agree.

“That’s one of the things we feel the state failed to help municipalities with when they put in this tax cap. They didn’t give us any way to fix these structural problems in our budget and this is one of them,” he said.

Gallop was a 21-year member of the force and had been a detective since 2007. He said in an email that after many years of police work, he was ready for something different.

“As for my payout, it is no different than past officers who have retired that have accumulated time,” he said. “I always worked hard, and rarely took time off, both of which benefited the town and now it will benefit me.”

Gallop said since leaving the force he has been involved in the making of a movie. He did not provide details but said it was not “The Place Beyond the Pines.”