Hearing the news that you have lost your job can be a traumatic experience. And it can certainly bring on some bizarre behavior.
However, if that job involves a uniform, even the most upset employees will usually wait until they have a change of clothes nearby before handing over their old work garb.
But not a disgruntled police chief from a small town in New Hampshire, Fox News reported.
Richard Lee, who was the police chief and only officer in the town of Croydon, was less than happy to hear this week that he had been fired. He immediately stripped to just his underwear and boots before handing over his police uniform, badge and weapon to the bureaucrats who had just given him the bad news.
The chief was fired at a meeting of the Croydon Selectboard and promptly began to disrobe.
Lee, who has worked part time as the sole member of the department for nearly 20 years and attended the regularly scheduled board meeting as he usually does, said he was caught off guard by the vote.
The three-member board voted unanimously to abolish the police department, which they have “issues with” and rely instead on coverage from the New Hampshire State Police, according to meeting minutes.
Lee told local newspapers that he had had tensions with the Selectboard in the past, especially following a proposal last year to dissolve the department, which was defeated by voters in May.
But this time, Lee said, there was no indication that the board would vote on whether to abolish the department.
The outgoing chief said Chairman Russell Edwards told him to turn over all police items including his badges, the keys to his police cruiser and his uniform “immediately.”
Following the meeting, Lee said he took off his uniform and started the 7-mile walk home to Newport.
Lee said that as he was undressing, Edwards told him to turn in his uniform on a later day, but he declined.
The chief added that he walked a little less than a mile in 26-degree temperatures until his wife picked him up.
 | CROYDON, NEW HAMPSHIRE |
|---|---|
| Location: | Approximately 112 miles northwest of Boston |
| Population: | 764 |
| Median Household Income: | $49,688 |
| Quirky Fact: | Named after a suburb of London, England, Croydon is home to Corbin Park, one of the largest private game reserves in New England, with 24,000 acres of bison, European boar and elk |