The chief of the Haverhill Police Division is on go away as officers beneath him query his management following the demise of an officer and the demise of a person whereas in police custody.
Haverhill Mayor Melinda E. Barrett confirmed to media that Chief Robert Pistone Jr. was on go away as of Wednesday and that deputy chief Stephen Doherty Jr. is in cost.
The transfer comes days after the Lawrence police union shared an nameless letter condemning Pistone’s management which was in flip shared by the Haverhill police union the identical day.
“You hold the (title) of ‘Chief’ only because politics handed you the title,” the letter, purportedly written by a member of the family of a Haverhill police officer, begins. “Titles can be given. Respect must be earned. And you have not earned it.”
The letter talked about the sudden demise of 32-year-old Haverhill Police Officer Katelyn Tully on Sept. 26 and Pistone’s alleged habits surrounding it as the most recent trigger for concern.
“Every action since Officer Tully’s death has been transparent in its desperation to preserve your own power,” the letter states. “You have not stood before your officers at roll call, not spoken to them in their grief, not asked how they are enduring. You calculate how to save face while those you command drown in grief. That blindness, that self-absorption, has become your legacy. The death of Officer Tully shook this department to its core. That you cannot even comprehend the depth of this wound reveals how unfit you are to lead.”
The letter says that Pistone was not a part of a memorial ceremony to honor Tully and that the creator admires Tully’s household for excluding him.
“One truth became undeniable: you are not wanted. Not in our homes. Not at our tables,” the letter states. “You are not welcome at the funerals of our fallen. This is not the will of a single family, but of many. Your condolences are hollow. Your presence, an insult.”
Tully, a 2012 graduate of Methuen Excessive College, served in Afghanistan with the US. Military Nationwide Guard earlier than returning dwelling and becoming a member of the Haverhill Police Division, in accordance with her obituary. The division described her as an officer who “approached each challenge with grace and resilience, never backing down when others needed her most,” in accordance with the obituary.
On Sept. 27, Pistone made an official assertion on Tully’s demise, although it didn’t title her as a result of privateness issues. The assertion praised her as an officer who “served our community with grace, compassion, kindness, and professionalism, and will be deeply missed.” The put up additionally known as her passing an “unattended death.”
The division has additionally been beneath hearth for the July 11 demise of 43-year-old Francis Gigliotti following an encounter with Haverhill cops. The seven cops concerned had been positioned on administrative go away because the Haverhill Police Division and the Essex District Legal professional’s workplace examine the circumstances, the Herald reported.
