By DON STINE
Asbury Park Police Chief Mark Kinmon will not be staying in his position past Dec. 31 as was erroneously reported recently in various media sources.
“I am sticking with my retirement plan and information out there is totally inaccurate,” he said.
Kinmon said that there was some discussion about him remaining in his position as chief, but that it was only a discussion, not a commitment.
It was first reported in The Coaster three months ago that Kinmon planned to retire at the end of this year.
“I still plan to retire. I was just reconsidering staying on and that option would be my decision. I didn’t plan for any of this to be made public. It was something that was in the works and just talked about. The option to stay would be my decision but premature statements were made to the (media),” he said.
“I didn’t intend for these discussions to be made public. It got blown way out of proportion as far as I am concerned,” he said.
Kinmon said retiring effective Jan. 1, 2014 was a decision he reached the beginning of this year in consultation with his wife.
“The truth and facts are that I was considering retirement since January this year so, in June, so I submitted my application. It had nothing to do with any issues in the city. It was a personal decision I have been considering for some time and has nothing to do with anything else,” he said.
Kinmon said many people asked him to stay, including some City Council members.
“As a courtesy I told the entire council I was reconsidering but that was contingent on a few things taking place,” he said.
Kinmon declined to discuss any of those contingencies.
He has been on the police force for 26 years, with about six of those as chief. He previously worked for two years with the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office.
