Brentwood Chief of Police Steve Disbennett will retire in March, he announced in an email to his staff, according to two sources on Sunday.
One of the sources said it’s essentially an immediate retirement because Disbennett will be on vacation until he retires, and not to look for him at the board of aldermen meeting on Monday.
Disbennett was appointed assistant chief in 2004 and chief in April 2009.
Disbennett was not available at the police department Monday morning. City Administrator Bola Akande responded with a “no comment.”
Update: Mayor Pat Kelly confirmed at the board of aldermen meeting on Monday that Disbennett will be retiring, and will be using vacation time until then. He also announced that Assistant Chief of Police Dan Fitzgerald is promoted to fill the position until a permanent chief of police is hired.
Disbennett’s retirement wasn’t mentioned in the meeting until someone in the audience asked Kelly where he was, following Fire Chief Ted Jury’s recommendation that the city use the East Central Dispatch Center (ECDC).
“Chief Disbennett called me late Friday and he … decided he was going to retire,” Kelly said. “I don’t want to speak for the chief, although he was in favor of this.”
Kelly also said he received a letter over the weekend signed by 24 Brentwood police officers opposing Brentwood using the ECDC. Many Brentwood dispatchers and police officers spoke against the move in the meeting. Kelly said it will be up for a vote by the aldermen at the next meeting.
