Former head of drug task force looking forward to more normal hours after retirement

After more than 20 years with the Sheriff's Office, Sgt. Steve Mullen, head of the Local Drug Enforcement Task Force, retired Friday.

Sheriff Gary Maha announced the retirement today.

Mullen has taken a job as a private investigator.

For nearly two years, Mullen has been talking about retirement. As one of the department's lead investigators, Mullen worked cases day and night, weekdays and weekends.

"I'm looking forward to a more routine schedule," Mullen said. "I will have more time to spend with my wife and kids.

"I'm just excited to get into something different," Mullen added.

At the supervisor level within the Sheriff's Office, turn over is traditionally low and Mullen said he also wanted to step aside and give an opportunity for somebody to move up.

"There's a lot of good people in the department who deserve the opportunity," Mullen said.

Maha has not yet announced a replacement or how a promotion would be handled.

Typically, the head of the task force is somebody who is a supervisor within the Sheriff's Office. The task force is comprised of members of law enforcement from the Sheriff's Office, Batavia PD and Le Roy PD.

Mullen has been lead investigator on some of the county's biggest drug cases over the past few years, including a series of meth lab busts from 2009 until 2011, and the arrest of Carlos Torres as well as a number of small-time drug dealers. All of Mullen's arrests during that time have stood up in court.

Mullen also handled other major felony investigations and some fatal accident investigations.

One of the biggest cases under Mullen's supervision was the arrest of two city firefighters and a state employee for allegedly operating a sports book. That case is still pending and the defendants are scheduled to appear in Batavia City Court this afternoon.