Westbrook Police Chief Paul McCarthy’s 35 years of service to the city in a variety of law-enforcement positions have come to the end as he steps down for retirement Thursday.

Employees are planning to take him to lunch as a not-quite-final farewell. On Aug. 17, an all-out retirement party is planned.

The city is currently in the second stage interview process for hiring a new chief. The open position has pulled in dozens of applications, both internal and external, according to City Administrator Jerre Bryant. Bryant hopes the new police chief will be announced by Aug. 3, though Bryant said that timeline is tight.

Wanda Martin, Westbrook’s public safety secretary, said the office has been busy and the realization that it was McCarthy’s last week just hit her on Tuesday, even though she’s been watching him take things out to his car.

Martin joked that she gave the chief a hard time for not working the whole week, instead leaving on a Thursday. Martin said there is a sense of sadness around the office, as well as a sense of apprehension of what a new, unknown police chief will bring to the office.

McCarthy joined the force in September 1972 as a patrolman, and in the following eight years, he also served as an evidence technician and on the detective bureau for a brief time.

He was promoted to patrol sergeant, serving in that position from 1980 to 1984, and then was promoted to deputy chief, a post he held until 1996, when he retired for the first time. That retirement was a brief one, as he was immediately rehired.

In 2002, with the departure of former Chief Steven Roberts, McCarthy stepped in as acting chief. He was named chief in 2003.

Chief ends 35-year career