On Long Island, Police Chief Gets Payout More Than Three Times His Salary

The police chief in Southampton Village, part of Long Island’s most exclusive and expensive places to live, will get an almost $775,000 payout as he retires this month.

The payout is one of the largest ever paid to a Long Island official, according to Newsday.

The large sum for unused sick, vacation and other time includes 686 unused days at a rate of $1,095 per day and almost $23,000 in retroactive per diem pay.

The police chief, Thomas Cummings, has worked for the police department in Southampton Village, part of one of New York’s upscale and overpriced communities referred to as The Hamptons, since 1987, Newsday reported. He has been chief since 2011.

He will get premium-free medical and dental benefits for him and his family for the rest of his life and his wife can continue to collect some of the benefits after his death until she dies or remarries, the newspaper reported. The funds come from an employee benefit reserve fund that has about $1.1 million in it.

In 2020, Cummings’ salary was $248,342 — higher than that of NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea at $243,171. Four-star generals in the U.S. military receive approximately $278,000 per year.

Southampton Village’s year-round population is around 3,200 and balloons in the summer with vacationers visiting their summer homes, while New York City’s population is just under 8.5 million.

Southampton Village Mayor Jesse Warren criticized the lucrative package, pointing out it was one of several awarded by previous administrations that raised the village’s long-term debt to $115 million.

Paying $775,000 to a single person for a government job is certainly one way to raise a small village’s debt.

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