Lt. Murphy of city force opts to retire

A 23-year veteran of the Watertown Police Department retired Tuesday, Chief Joseph J. Goss said.

Lt. Alfred F. Murphy had been with the department since July 21, 1986, starting out with patrol duties on several shifts. In the early 1990s, he was assigned as an identification officer and was trained in processing crime scenes and fingerprints and in evidence retention.

Lt. Murphy was promoted to investigator and assigned to the Metro-Jeff Drug Task Force in 1993. During his time on the force, he worked many high-profile drug cases and received citations from the Jefferson County district attorney, the federal Drug Enforcement Agency and his own department for excellent job performance.

Lt. Murphy also spent time as a detective in the city police's general crimes unit before being promoted to sergeant in August 2000. As Sgt. Murphy, he was assigned to the "A" platoon and later became the department's training sergeant, where he assisted running the police academy in 2005.

In July 2006, he was promoted to lieutenant and was assigned as platoon commander on both the "A" and "B" platoons, where he remained until his retirement.

Lt. Murphy was a youth baseball and softball coach and a hockey coach.

Members of the city Police Department honored Lt. Murphy with a luncheon Monday.