“I’ve been a very, very lucky guy,” Michael Tracey, the outgoing East Hampton Village police chief, said in a meeting room in the village’s Emergency Services Building on Monday morning. “Very lucky, yep.”
Chief Tracey joined the force 40 years ago. “There was one cop on the road in the village and a dispatcher, that’s it. You were alone and had to make decisions,” he said. He was made provisional chief in 2017.
On Sept. 1, he will walk out of his office for the last time, trading in his badge and uniform for farm boots and a tractor. In a real plot twist, Chief Tracey plans to grow flowers with his wife, Maryann, at Sleeping Bee, their new farm on Pantigo Road in East Hampton — “She has 2,000 dahlias in the ground right now” — and produce and sell his Bonac Hot Sauce.
“I have a little tractor. I’m going to get a bigger tractor,” he said.
In short, he’s going from being the village’s top cop to living the dream life of a Brooklyn hipster.
At Friday’s village board meeting, he was roasted by Mayor Jerry Larsen and Hugh King, the village historian. He was also awarded a proclamation from the village and given a round of applause when he entered the meeting and a standing ovation later.
He won’t always be in a farm field though. He plans to stay on the town’s Anti-Bias Task Force and he will continue to be the village’s representative to East Hampton Volunteer Ocean Rescue. Looking back at his earlier days, he said, “I was not a very good landscaper or roofer. I was a decent lifeguard.”
After decades of work, there wasn’t one single rewarding moment that stood out to Chief Tracey, but rather a patchwork of seemingly small moments that together created great meaning for him in a job that can be stressful and uniquely impactful on those you’re called to help.
“Maybe you’re there to perform CPR and you can save someone. That’s wonderful if you’re fortunate enough to be there, but overall, that’s not what sticks. It’s when someone is having a bad day. It comes out of nowhere. Someone is at their wits’ end, maybe something insurmountable is in their path and you’re able to move it. It’s the little things. Maybe you pull someone over and they’re scared to death, their hands are shaking, and you can put them at ease. You have to be willing, and awake, and paying attention, to see the opportunity to make a difference. The men and women in this job know what I’m talking about,” he said, trailing off.
Chief Tracey said the police force is in good shape. Jeff Erikson, at present a captain in the department, will be named acting chief in September. In February, when Chief Tracey’s accumulated sick leave and vacation time are used up, Captain Erikson will become provisional chief. New York State gives the chief’s Civil Service exam once a year, in March. Should Captain Erikson pass it, he will officially become chief of the department. “The mayor appoints him. To be a village chief you have to take and pass the chief’s test, but the municipality chooses who gets to take that test.”
However, passing a test doesn’t get at what makes a good police chief. “Having good interpersonal skills and a sense of humor are a huge part of this job. Those that are best at communicating should rise to the top. It’s all in how you treat people and how they view you. It’s not an overly complicated job, though sometimes it’s made so.”
“Knowing where someone is, if you’re lucky enough, knowing where someone is coming from is a huge help. It helps you shift the way you’re going to act. Being able to put yourself in someone else’s position, having that ability is important. When it slips away from you, you can screw up. It’s hard to verbalize. Making it work, it’s all communication. How you deal with situations. Trying not to make them worse, bigger than it is, whatever it is, if that makes sense. Never think you’re better than anyone else. That can ooze off a cop.”
It is not violent crime, or crime at all, that Chief Tracey sees as the greatest challenge for village police moving forward. Instead, he sees the biggest problems coming from gaps in critical infrastructure and traffic.
“There are times when it’s almost impossible to get out of here in a timely fashion,” he said. “Gridlock at the wrong time could cost someone their life.” A satellite hospital being built on Pantigo Road has great potential to have a positive impact in that regard, he said. “We have to make sure that’s done right.”
“We’re considered a relatively well-off area, so how is it possible you can’t talk on a cellphone in many parts of the community? Our infrastructure is strained.” More investment, too, is needed for mental health and wellness in underserved parts of the community, particularly for the elderly. “That constantly has to be one of the front-burner items. Making sure that we have enough services available to reach everyone is a constant battle, and one that has been acknowledged by our political leaders.”
“Slowly we’ve seen improvement. If someone has cancer, they no longer need to go to the city for treatment. It’s one of the biggest areas of progress we’ve seen in the last 10 years, but we still need to do more.
At last week’s village board meeting, Chief Tracey thanked his past bosses and family. On Monday morning, his family, again, was foremost in his mind.
“My wife has one hell of a sense of humor, and she’s stuck by my side. Being married to me is a challenge, and probably not too much fun for my kids. You’re not the police chief when you pull in that driveway at the end of the day, and sometimes that’s not easy for family members. You have a tendency to always want to take charge. It’s great in an emergency, but there comes a time when you have to shut up and listen. I’m still working on that.”