Chairman says Town Council will stay out of police business

DERRY | The chairman of the Town Council said he has no plans to follow up on a request by Town Councilor Kevin Coyle to look into the issue of low morale in the Police Department.

Coyle asked the council Tuesday night to look into the issue of low morale in the department, and said the following day he was hopeful Chairman Craig Bulkley would put it on the agenda.

But Bulkley said he has no plans to do so.

"The Derry Town Council is a legislative body," Bulkley said "We do not inject ourselves into the day-to-day operations of the town, and that includes, especially, personnel matters."

He added, "I put my full faith and trust in our acting Town Administrator John Moody to be able to deal with any personnel issue that we have in town."

Coyle said he became concerned about morale after three veteran police officers indicated last week they would be retiring in May. The president of the patrolman's union said he thinks at least one of them might have been forced out.

"There are issues beyond normal work day issues," Coyle said Tuesday night, asking the council to consider the matter at a future meeting.

He said he wanted it on the agenda," "To talk about it and try to resolve it. It's not going away."

Sgt. Daniel Pelletier, Lt. Steven Inserra and Lt. Vincent Byron have all said they will retire in May, police Capt. Vernon Thomas said. Pelletier has been with the department for 24 years, Inserra for 22 years and Byron for 28 years. Thomas would not say why the three officers are leaving.

Coyle said the Police Department's morale has been low for the last year, and the council has neglected to discuss the issue.

Councilor Janet Fairbanks agreed morale has been low in the department and said she brought it to the attention of then-Chairman Brian Chirichiello last year but it was never discussed by the council.

Councilor Brent Carney agreed the council needs to look into the issue, while Councilor Beverly Ferrante said she was unaware of the situation.

Coyle had first said last week he would ask the council to have the town administrator and the human resources director interview the retiring officers to find out what happened.

"Three retirements in a week should sort of set off bells in people's heads," he said.

Michael Houle, president of the Derry Police Patrolman's Association, said Pelletier was not ready to leave and was retiring in reaction to being told he was being demoted from the detective unit to the patrolmen's unit. Houle said he did not know if Inserra and Byron were leaving for similar reasons.

"I know for a fact Dan Pelletier was not ready to leave," Houle said. "By moving Dan Pelletier out of detectives, they've taken a huge step backward. What an asset he is."