Police Chief Mark Newport in contract talks with Portsmouth after pursuing Nantucket job

PORTSMOUTH — The Portsmouth Police Commission is working to extend city police Chief Mark Newport’s contract, which set to expire on Jan. 31, according to Stefany Shaheen, who chairs the commission.

Shaheen said Tuesday contract negotiations between Newport, the department’s 31st chief, and the commission are ongoing and began in the summer. Newport applied earlier this year to become police chief in Nantucket, an island community off Cape Cod in Massachusetts. He was one named one of the finalists for that job in early October.

The first Black police chief in Portsmouth history, Newport has a three-year contract that began in 2021. For a few months prior to that deal, he was the department’s interim chief, following the retirement of former Chief Robert Merner.

Shaheen said the city Police Commission “is committed to renewing the chief’s contract.” A new agreement would require the City Council’s approval.

“Our goal is to get the chief’s contract renewed as soon as possible,” Shaheen said. “It’s my understanding that the chief remains committed to leading the department in Portsmouth.”

Newport did not answer questions for this story Tuesday.

News reports state Newport did not get job in Nantucket

In early October, Newport was named one of five finalists for the police chief role in Nantucket to replace retiring Chief William Pittman, though two removed themselves from consideration.

The island town first received over 40 applicants, with Newport, Northampton, Massachusetts police Chief Jody Kasper and Arlington, Massachusetts police Capt. Richard Flynn making it to the assessment center evaluation stage.

“Out of respect for the selection process with the town of Nantucket and in fairness to the city of Portsmouth, I am respectfully withholding making any comments until after the town of Nantucket has made its final decision,” Newport told Seacoast Media Group on Oct. 12, when asked about his status as a finalist.

Multiple media outlets recently reported Kasper has been offered the Nantucket police chief role, citing an anonymous source with familiarity of the hiring process.

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Nantucket Town Manager Libby Gibson did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. Last Monday, Oct. 16, Gibson shared a statement about the town’s search for a new police chief.

“The process to select the Town’s new police chief is in fact, not concluded. There are still outstanding steps that have not been completed yet, such as the Town Charter-required 15-day notification of a pending department head appointment to the Select Board, the requisite background check, the employment medical exam, the employment contract,” the statement read. “Until those are final, I can neither confirm nor deny whether or not an offer has been extended to a candidate or whether or not a candidate has accepted an offer.”

Newport's years of service appear to make him eligible for NH pension

Vested state law enforcement officials hired before 2012 with at least a decade of service are eligible to collect a pension at a minimum retirement age of 45, though only if they’ve completed 20 years of service, according to the New Hampshire Retirement System. Retired New Hampshire law enforcement personnel under the same criteria are otherwise eligible for a pension upon turning 60 years old.

Newport’s entire law enforcement career has been spent in Portsmouth. In 1995, he took a job as a police officer in the department. Over the years, he served as a drug liaison detective, general investigator, sergeant, patrol lieutenant, detective lieutenant, and captain of the department’s administrative division before being named interim chief in October 2020.

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Newport’s current contract called for him to be paid an annual base salary of $148,557.55 with cost-of-living adjustments ranging from 2% to 5% in effect each year. Last year, the chief was paid $163,622, according to the city’s wages report.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Police Chief Mark Newport in contract talks to stay in Portsmouth NH