Police Chief Jim McCrumb resigned, effective Sunday; Tuesday, he introduced his likely replacement, Joe Mazzone, deputy police chief for now, but also acting chief until Chief McCrum’s position is filled.
Likely filled with Deputy Chief Mazzone, Mayor Becky Stanton-Terk said Tuesday, once they work out details like salary.
Chief McCrum joined the Cobleskill PD last August during a time of turmoil: most of the officers had quit over ongoing disputes with Mayor Stanton-Terk.
He’s only leaving he said, so he can get on with his life and finish work on a retirement home he’s building in Northville—work begun before he took the job here.
“Joe brings a great deal of experience,” Chief McCrum said. “I feel very comfortable stepping down. The village has some dedicated, hard-working people here.”
Deputy Chief Mazzone worked for the City of Schenectady and Town of Guilderland Police Departments for more than a dozen years before moving to the New York State Department of Education, where he’d worked as an investigator since 2019.
Mayor Stanton-Terk thanked Chief McCrum for his “leadership and dedication” and stepping into stepping into disarray.
“He came to us knowing the difficulty ahead,” she said, praising his sense of humor and work ethic—even at 3am, when he got a call from Codes or during the day, when he “wasn’t above writing parking tickets.”
“I’m totally opposed,” she joked about his resignation.
He’ll remain as a part-time police officer at $35/hour; he was hired at $117,500/year as police chief.