I-Team: Abrupt State Police Retirements Net $465K In Unused Vacation, Sick Time

BOSTON (CBS) - The abrupt retirements of four high-ranking leaders with the Massachusetts State Police will cost taxpayers about $465,000 for unused vacation and sick time, the WBZ I-Team has learned.

Information provided to the I-Team through a public records request shows that former Lt. Col. Daniel Risteen is receiving a payout of $106,908.01, while former Maj. Susan Anderson will get $66,502.54.

Risteen and Anderson retired in February in the wake of the "Troopergate" scandal, which revolves around the edited police report of a judge's daughter.

Risteen was also connected to a separate state police controversy involving a trooper in the K-9 unit who testified under oath that she used and sold drugs. The trooper was an ex-girlfriend of Risteen, and it's alleged she received preferential treatment and was given favorable assignments within the department because of the relationship.

Both incidents remain under investigation. The edited arrest report is also the subject of a federal lawsuit.

Here is the breakdown for Risteen and Anderson:

Those payouts follow the abrupt retirements in November of former Col. Richard McKeon and former Dep. Supt. Francis Hughes, who received nearly $300,000 for unused vacation and sick time, as the I-Team first reported in December.

The top two commanders of the state police were also implicated in the Troopergate scandal.

McKeon received a payout of $161,688.26 and Hughes collected $130,368.84.

Recent efforts to reign in sick time payouts have stalled on Beacon Hill. Gov. Charlie Baker pushed for a cap of 1,000 hours (about six months of work), but it was not included in the current state budget.

Rep. Colleen Garry, a Democrat from Dracut, proposed limiting retirement payouts to 15 percent of a state employee's salary. However, that idea met stiff resistance from public sector unions.

Ryan Kath can be reached at rkath@cbs.com. You can also follow him on Twitter or connect on Facebook.