Crime & Safety

Police Lieutenant Turns in Brass After 'Distinguished' 42 Years

Francis Mott, who will retire, at the end of the month had longest career in the department.

When Lt. Francis Mott handed in his letter of intent to retire, he said, "I can't remember a bad day."

Mott recalled that his threshold for calling it quits was when he didn't like going to work anymore. After 42.5 years, he said, "I haven't reach that point. I still love doing this job."

However, he's ready for another chapter in life. Ending what called a distinguished career -- and the longest of anyone ever on the force -- Mott will retire at the end of the month.

Find out what's happening in East Hamptonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

While he isn't exactly sure what will come next, he's a new grandfather to 1 year old Lillian and with his wife, Wendy, of 34 years, he said, "It's time to kick back a little and enjoy life."

Mott joined the police department in 1969, at 17, a week after graduating and rose through the ranks from directing traffic to becoming commander in Montauk in 2010.

Find out what's happening in East Hamptonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

According to Ecker, Mott was a driving force behind the department's emergency service team, otherwise known as SWAT. Perhaps the biggest mark he's left on the department is the formation of the police dive team in 1980.

"He was unbelievable when it came to handling major scenes," former town police chief Todd Sarris said, pointing to three or four days of diving Mott led after three people were killed in a plane crash in Montauk's Big Reed Pond in 2003.

Service, from military to police, runs in the family. His uncle Tom Mott was a officer and his father, a civil engineer at the airbase in Montauk, also worked for police on security detail. Later his younger brother Bobby Mott joined the village police, retiring as a sergeant a few years ago. Their nephew Gregory Martin is a town officer. Looking back, Mott said he never really considered going into law enforcement at all. "I kind of just fell into it and loved it."

At 19, he was drafted to the Army and spent two years working as Military Police at Fort Dix during Vietnam. He was kept stateside because his older brother -- a longtime East Hampton Town Trustee who ran for town board this fall -- was already serving overseas in the Navy, he said.

Four decades on the job brings tremendous change; when he started there were 18 to 20 people total working in the department, a number that is now tripled. Headquarters was located in the old town hall building with two rooms, two cells and a bathroom in the hallway.

"The pay was terrible," he recalled of the $6,400 a year, but police "had a good retirement and had good benefits," he said.

A 34 year member of the , Mott was chief from 1999 to 2001. He joined in his late 20s, after thinking, "I don’t make enough money to make contributions to the town, but I should give back to the community somehow."

In the police department, he rose through the ranks, making detective in 1983 sergeant three years later and lieutenant in 2004. As a detective, he worked major cases, among them the disappearance and murder of 19-year-old Tracy Herrlin, who was strangled on New Year's Day 1985.

Sarris, who worked with since 1975, said Mott is a mainstay. "He is absolute with the nuts and bolts of police work," Sarris said.

"You always hope to leave the department better than you found it," Mott said, adding that he hopes his career his judged on how well the younger officers serve and the effort they put forth. "That's all a reflection of how you taught them," he said. "That's the legacy you hope to leave."


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.