[mcdude]

From the Baysider....

ALTON — It may be hard to swallow, but town residents might never know why selectmen voted unanimously on Nov. 27 to suspend Police Chief Kevin Iwans, Lieutenant Ed Correia, and Captain Charles Anderson.

That being said, Town Attorney James Sessler provided further details about the preliminary investigation that led to the trio's suspension, and the investigation that Sessler and Town Administrator Russ Bailey have been conducting subsequent to Nov. 27.

Speaking during the selectmen's meeting on Dec. 4, Sessler described how the bevy of policies that the selectmen passed in September struck a chord with a member of the police department. As readers may recall, Selectmen Cris Blackstone, Steve McMahon, and Pete Shibley passed nine policies at a meeting when Selectmen Alan Sherwood and Pat Fuller were absent. The policies, aimed at restricting the power and authority of Iwans and the police department, have since been ruled inert, as the board hadn't followed proper protocol that is usually followed in the adoption of town policy, such as posting the policy as part of the agenda, and holding public hearings on the proposed policies.

While the policies didn't have their intended effect, they certainly had an important effect, as Sessler described.

Following the board's actions in September, and the vigorous public debate that followed, Sessler said he received a telephone call in early October from a local attorney representing an Alton police officer. The message, Sessler said, was: "The selectmen were onto something, and not to let them give up."

After granting anonymity to the officer, Sessler listened to the officer's description of "alleged behavior that in my opinion warranted further investigation."

Sessler corroborated the allegations by contacting two other members of the department, who were also granted anonymity.

Since that early October beginning of the investigation, Sessler said only he and Town Administrator Russ Bailey knew anything about the investigation, even the fact that the investigation existed. "There was no direct or indirect involvement by the board or individual members of the board until last Monday evening (Nov. 27)," he said.

In fact, the town selectmen are prohibited by Sessler from visiting the police department or having any direct contact or communication with the members of the department.

Only Sessler knew the identities of the three informing officers until the Nov. 27 meeting. The selectmen and the town administrator now know the officers' identities, but all three are protected under the state "Whistleblower law," which protects them from discharge, harassment, or any other form of punishment for raising concerns about the department's administrators.

After the selectmen made the decision to suspend the officers, Sessler said he went down himself to break the news to Iwans.

Since then, Sessler said he either visits or calls the department every day, and he said, "My opinion is that the morale is very good."

As far as the investigation goes, he said "It's proceeding toward an end point very fast," at which point the town will release a statement, although it likely won't contain any juicy details.

Because it's a personnel matter, the town could be opening itself up to a lawsuit if it releases the cause for any disciplinary action that the board might – or might not – decide to pursue. Those actions could be anywhere from no action taken, to suspension without pay, to discharge.

If the officers decide to resign, or if they quietly accept any action the board of selectmen takes, then the town would be restricted from releasing the subject of the investigation.

However, if any of the officers choose to appeal an action of the board, that appeal would be heard in Belknap County Superior Court, and all the proceedings and details would be a matter of public record.

When asked whether or not the alleged behavior was criminal in nature, Sessler replied, "I'm not a criminal investigator." Sessler had already said there were no outside agencies involved, such as the Belknap County Sheriff's office or the state police, which would be the agencies to investigate allegations of illegal behavior within a town department.

That isn't to say that the allegations don't go there; Sessler said in this case it wouldn't be in the best interest of the town to investigate criminal allegations.

While the investigation is under way, Sessler cautioned against speculation, and reminded those present that the investigation was without a foregone conclusion – it could all turn out that the allegations of wrongdoing are unfounded.