After more than two and a half years on paid administrative leave and multiple setbacks and delays in his disciplinary hearing process, Marblehead Police Officer Chris Gallo has been fired by the Select Board, Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer announced at the board’s meeting Wednesday night. 

Kezer said that Gallo was given notice of his termination on Feb. 23.

“That was his last day of employment,” Kezer said at the meeting.

In an interview with The Item, Gallo claimed that the hearing was “more of a formality than anything” and said that the town could have saved money by terminating him years ago.

“They could have done that two and a half years ago and save the taxpayers over a half a million dollars,” Gallo said.

Gallo was originally suspended for five days in 2021 before being placed on paid administrative leave in June of the same year, following an internal investigation into accusations that Gallo had committed time fraud. It then took nearly two years for Gallo to have his first disciplinary hearing with the town in March 2023, which was continued and concluded on a second day nearly a month later.

Gallo’s hearing was the result of two accusations. One was that he had been going home during hours when he was designated to be working patrol shifts, and another stemmed from a domestic incident that occurred in July 2021.

During the hearing, Police Chief Dennis King advocated for Gallo’s termination. 

From there, the process continued to drag on after counsel for both Gallo and the town requested multiple extensions to submit their final briefs to Kezer. The briefs were originally due on June 30, but were submitted on Sept. 8. Kezer then gave himself an extension to submit his written recommendation to the Select Board, which then had to sift through hours of tape recordings from the hearing, in addition to reviewing Kezer’s recommendation. 

The Select Board then met in executive session on Feb. 16, when members reached the decision to terminate Gallo.

While Gallo said he believes he and his counsel presented a strong case during the hearing, he claimed that the cards were stacked against him from the start.

“It was never a question that was their goal,” Gallo said of his termination. “They should have done it sooner. We crushed them at the hearing, we provided all the evidence and they came back with nothing.”

“You can’t hold a hearing where the judge and jury is an agent of the town. You can’t hold an unbiased hearing to that. I don’t think it was handled very well,” he added. 

According to the Police Department’s records, the town paid Gallo $171,127.49 while he was on leave as of Aug. 19, 2023, which equates to roughly $5,400 per month.

With Gallo’s termination, Kezer announced that the Police Department now has two positions open, although only one of them will be filled.

“One will be filled through either allowable transfer or through a new hire through the civil service process,” Kezer said. “The other vacant position will remain vacant due to budget constraints through next year’s budget.”

Gallo told The Item that he has filed for arbitration with the town and is waiting for a date to begin that process.