CONFIRMED: Chief Stanley Leaving

Town Manager Mark Rees, along with the Board of Selectmen, confirmed Wednesday that North Andover Police Chief Richard Stanley plans to leave his position for the police chief position in Wareham.

"Chief Stanley stated to us that the town administrator in Wareham was recently able to offer him a significant increase in salary beyond what North Andover has the fiscal capacity to provide and that in the financial interests of his family he could not turn down this opportunity," Rees and selectmen said in a statement released Wednesday afternoon.

The Wareham Observer reported Tuesday night that Wareham Town Administrator Mark Andrews named Stanley to be Wareham's chief of police, and that town's selectmen voted 3-1 to approve that appointment along with a $166,000 salary.

Stanley will not be new to that job. He has been using vacation time every Friday to serve as Wareham's interim police chief on Fridays and weekends since 2009.

There had been talk for months that Stanley would leave North Andover to serve in Wareham as permanent police chief. But last month as he Stanley said that he had turned down a good job because his heart is in North Andover.

And Tuesday night in during the Board of Selectmen meeting, nothing was mentioned about the situation, even as selectmen in Wareham were approving Stanley as their police chief.

"We would like to thank Chief Stanley for his 34 years of service to North Andover culminating in the recent accreditation of the Police Department by the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission and construction of a new police station," Rees and selectmen wrote. "We wish him the best of luck in his new position."

Their statement also pointed out that any enhanced retirement benefits Stanley accrues will be paid by Wareham.

The Board of Selectmen will meet Friday to start the process of looking for a new chief.