BRADENTON BEACH – Lt. John Cosby is now the acting chief of the Bradenton Beach Police Department.
The “acting” designation will be removed from Cosby’s title in early October when current Police Chief Sam Speciale’s 35 years of service come to an official end.
Cosby was appointed acting police chief during the Thursday, Sept. 2 city commission meeting. He now carries all duties, responsibilities and authority given to the city’s police chief. Cosby joined the police department in 1988 and has long served as Speciale’s second in command.
When Speciale tendered his resignation to the city commission last October, he said his final day would be Oct. 9, 2021 – a date that marks 35 years to the day since Speciale joined the department.
Because he accrued so much vacation time and other paid time off during his 3 1/2 decades with the city, Speciale recently decided he would discontinue his active police duties as he waits for his retirement to become official in October.
Earlier this year, Speciale sold his home in Bradenton Beach. He now lives in Bradenton and he and his wife, MaryAnn, now spend much of their free time at their cabin in Georgia.
When proposing Cosby’s appointment as acting chief, Mayor John Chappie suggested Cosby’s salary be immediately increased to the current salary earned by Speciale. According to City Treasurer Shayne Thompson, Speciale’s current annual salary is $109,054 and was to increase to $114,507 when the new fiscal year begins on Oct. 1.
“He’s doing the work, he’s done the time, it’s only fair,” Chappie said, noting that he spoke to Speciale about the transition taking place.
Chappie also proposed giving Cosby a $2,500 bonus as compensation for the additional work he’s done during the transition period leading up to Speciale’s pending retirement. The rest of the commission supported the proposed salary increase and the bonus.
Cosby said he appreciated the immediate salary increase offer, but declined to take it because he does not want to impact the final remaining weeks of the police department’s current fiscal year budget. Cosby said he has some departmental expenditures he would rather spend that money on instead.
Cosby said he would accept the mayor and commission’s offer of a $2,500 bonus. Chappie then suggested, and the commission agreed, to increase the bonus by an additional $2,500 using Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) funds in appreciation of all the extra work Cosby has done regarding CRA projects and in the CRA district as a whole. The CRA portion of the $5,000 bonus is still contingent on final approval by the seven-member CRA board that includes all five city commission members.
The commission also approved Cosby’s request that he be allowed to reserve his right to work special duty shifts that include marine patrols of the anchorage south of the Bridge Street Pier and other policing duties. Cosby will also continue his long-held role as the city’s emergency operations manager.
Chappie and the commission praised Cosby and Speciale for their many years of service to the city.
“I’ve known the lieutenant and I’ve known the chief for a long, long time. I know that they work together as a team to make this place what we’ve got right now. I want to thank you and him (Speciale),” Commissioner Ralph Cole said.
“You look at our community and the amount of crime and they’ve done an excellent job. My dad was mayor when Chief Sam came in. A lot of good things happened. These guys put us where we’re at right now. They’ve done an extremely great job. John deserves everything that we can give him. I know how hard you work. I’ve watched you work over the years. You should get everything you deserve,” Cole said.
When discussing a brief potential pre-retirement return to the police department headquarters by Speciale before his retirement becomes official, Cosby jokingly said, “He better come back at some point because he left a lot of stuff in the office that has to go.”
After the meeting ended, Cosby shared some additional thoughts on his new role as chief and the chief’s duties he’s been performing during the transition period.
“Sam’s been semi-retired and working off his paid time. There will be some changes with the police department – stuff that Sam and I have talked about in the past – that are now going to come to fruition,” Cosby said.
Cosby was asked if he plans to appoint someone to serve as his second in command, similar to the role he served under Speciale for many years.
“Yes, I’ll make that announcement in October. I’m going to promote somebody from within,” Cosby said, noting the officer who gets promoted will hold the rank of lieutenant that he himself held for many years.
“We’re lucky to have you,” Commissioner Marilyn Maro said to Cosby as she exited city hall.
