The Chief of the Saratoga Springs Police Department has stepped down. Chief for the last six years, Greg Veitch has been with the police department for more than two decades. His last day was Thursday.
Saratoga Springs Police Chief Greg Veitch said he started thinking about leaving the department about a year-and-a-half ago.
“My wife and I were on a missions’ trip to inner-city Miami. We were doing some homeless outreach and a bunch of other stuff. And it was during that time when I started to get the feeling that, ‘You know what, you need to be looking to do something else. I have something else for you in mind. Figure out how you’re going to get out of being the police chief and I’ll show you what is going to happen.’”
Apart from 10 months in Burlington, Vermont, Veitch, who is 45, has spent his entire law enforcement career in his hometown. He said perhaps the biggest change the city police department has seen over the last 24 years is the city’s growth and evolution into a more year-round tourism destination.
“It’s sort of a blessing and a curse because obviously it’s good for the city. But for the police department there’s really almost no break anymore. It’s not just the August place to be. It’s not almost year round. There’s an event almost every month that requires significant staffing and planning from the police department.”
Veitch faced some calls to resign last year related to the ongoing case of Darryl Mount Jr., a young man who fell into a coma and later died after a police foot chase during the summer of 2013. A Times Union report detailed court testimony where Veitch admitted to misleading a reporter about an internal investigation into the incident.
Veitch has defended himself and the department’s handling of the case. He said his retirement has nothing to do with the Mount case.
“I notified the city long before all of that happened. And I have no further comment on Darryl Mount.”
Veitch, who enjoys teaching and is also an author, says he plans to continue writing. A follow-up to his book detailing organized crime in the Spa City in the 1920’s is in the works.
Veitch says he felt called to his next phase in life similar to how he felt called into public service, but does not have a definite plan for what’s ahead.
“And If I knew exactly what it was, I would say so. But I don’t exactly know. I have plans, I have things I’m planning to do, but those things can change and it’s important to me as a person of faith is to try and follow what God is telling me to do.”
Longtime assistant police chief John Catone is serving as interim chief. Interviews for a permanent chief have not yet been conducted. The position pays approximately $125,000 a year.
Speaking to WAMC after the public announcement earlier this year that Veitch would retire, city Public Safety Commissioner Peter Martin said the police department will be well-served by its officers in the future. But he said he will miss Veitch.
“He has a particularly sharp mind for systems, policies, and he has brought a lot to the Saratoga Springs Police Department in his time as chief.”
Veitch said the city is blessed to have a booming downtown and the commitment from its people toward making it a safe place, but added there are still significant crimes that happen in the city that the department will continue to deal with.
When asked what he’d like to say to the people of Saratoga Springs upon his retirement, Veitch said thank you.
“Thank you to the city for this opportunity, thank you for my family and friends that have supported me along this journey, and just…thank you. I can’t say it more succinctly than that,” said Veitch.
