Public Safety and Security Secretary Terrence Reidy, who has overseen the state’s public safety efforts since Gov. Charlie Baker elevated him to the position in 2021, is retiring from state government and an interim secretary will be in place effective Wednesday, Gov. Maura Healey announced Tuesday afternoon.
Starting Wednesday, the state’s second-largest secretariat will be led by Susan Terrey, currently the deputy secretary and homeland security undersecretary at the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security. She joined EOPSS in 2019 as general counsel.
In a statement, Healey said that Reidy’s tenure as secretary was “defined by strong leadership, integrity, and devotion to supporting our public safety personnel.”
“It’s why I first hired him in the Attorney General’s Office, and why I asked him to stay on as Public Safety and Security Secretary,” the governor said. “From pioneering a national model for active shooter response, to advancing criminal justice and police reforms, modernizing data systems and expanding workforce opportunities, his contributions have transformed the public safety landscape and made Massachusetts safer and more resilient.”
Reidy worked as an assistant district attorney in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office, point prosecutor for the Safe Neighborhood Initiative in Bowdoin and Chelsea, chief of the gang unit in the Worcester District Attorney’s Office and, during Healey’s time as attorney general, as chief of the Enterprise and Major Crimes Division of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office. He joined EOPSS as undersecretary for law enforcement in early 2019. Baker appointed him secretary in 2021 and Healey reappointed him when she took office in 2023.
In her current role, Terrey oversees the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, Department of Fire Services, Massachusetts National Guard, and the Homeland Division of the Office of Grants and Research. The governor’s office said she is responsible for “aligning each agency’s priorities to the state’s overarching homeland security strategy,” and managing budget matters.
The Reidy departure continues a streak of departures from Healey’s Cabinet this year.
Economic Development Secretary Yvonne Hao left at the end of April, Health and Human Services Kate Walsh stepped down in July, and Veterans Services Secretary Jon Santiago announced plans to leave his post this fall. Transportation Secretary Gina Fiandaca was the first to break from Healey’s Cabinet, making a September 2023 exit.
— Colin A. Young / State House News Service