Methuen’s police chief is one of the highest paid in the country — and he says he deserves more

This community on the New Hampshire border may be smaller than 772 other American cities, but the salary of police Chief Joseph Solomon is anything but small. His salary of $326,707 in 2019 made Solomon one of the highest-paid police chiefs in the nation, paid more than his counterparts in Boston, New York, Chicago, and many other major urban areas.

And, unlike them, Solomon doesn’t have to face a serious crime problem: Methuen had one murder last year. Still, Solomon believes he is underpaid.

He is refusing to take 10 unpaid furlough days to help the cash-strapped city work down a $7 million shortfall. He is the only department head to refuse the request from the city’s mayor, Neil Perry, who recently cut his own pay from $80,000 to $68,000 a year.

Continue reading at The Boston Globe.