Former Sgt. Robert Forrest, a 31-year police force veteran, will have his city pension reduced after the Metro Benefits Board recalculated his earnings. It’s one of the punishments that has been finalized following the extramarital affair between Nashville’s former mayor and the head of her security detail.
The board chose not to move to revoke Forrest’s entire pension, which is based on his five highest-earning years. From that total amount, members subtracted $10,780 in overtime that Forrest improperly earned guarding the mayor.
That means a cut of more than $1,000 to Forrest’s annual pension — which will likely end up around $73,000. That’s according to a prior analysis, with slightly different figures, that was run by the Metro Auditor. A final tabulation was not immediately available after the board’s vote.
Following city code, the benefits board also made its adjustment retroactive, meaning that Forrest would have to return any overpayments since he retired this year.
The board’s decision closes one of several investigations into the use of public funds during the affair with former Mayor Megan Barry. The city auditor finished
a somewhat inconclusive accounting in August, finding some problematic overtime hours but no examples of the couple taking completely personal trips at taxpayer expense.
Meanwhile, the city council’s Board of Ethical Conduct is still moving toward a
hearing on whether the relationship influenced the mayor’s decision-making on several controversial police policies.
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