DRACUT — Police Chief Peter Bartlett returned to duty late last week after seven months off the job due to a work-related injury.
His return to the police department comes even as controversy stalked him while he was on injured reserve and subsequently on paid administrative leave.
His return also comes after the town’s two police unions in mid-November sent a letter to Town Manager Ann Vandal that praised Acting Police Chief Stephen Chaput’s work. The police unions in May had registered a vote of no confidence in Bartlett just before he announced he was going on injured reserve.
In a statement prepared with help from John Guilfoil Public Relations that was posted on the police department website announcing his return, Bartlett said he is pleased to be coming back to work.
“I sincerely regret that there was some miscommunication regarding my return date,” he said in the statement.
Bartlett’s return has at least one town official worried about morale in the police department. The unions’ no-confidence vote was spurred by low morale among patrolmen and officers working under Bartlett.
Selectman Chairman Jesse Forcier said he is worried that if Bartlett’s return does not go well “we’ll have a lot of them jumping ship.” And he is also concerned about the town’s ability to retain Chaput.
Chaput, however, said, “I will continue to do my very best for the men and women of the police force and for the town of Dracut.”
The police unions took a strong stand about Chaput, particularly citing “a change in management that has provided the members of the Dracut Police Department with the anticipation of a positive future where personnel and management can work together in providing the best services to the Town of Dracut.”
Bartlett’s prior tenure was marked by a decline in police morale that led to the May vote of no confidence from 90% of the town’s two police unions. Bartlett’s contract was up for renewal at the time of the vote, but selectmen voted to delay its renewal.
The day after the selectmen’s vote to delay, Bartlett announced he was going on injured reserve because of an injury to his shoulder due to a slip in the snow in February. Bartlett was to let the town manager know of his return-to-work on Oct. 2. However, it was several days later that she finally heard from him, but he did not have word from his doctor on a return date.
Earlier this month, the town learned Bartlett had passed a physical, so Vandal was going to direct him to return to work. Meanwhile, his attorney was meeting with a town attorney and presented the town with an offer to leave the force that was apparently far too much money for the town to spend, sources have told The Sun.
The Link LonkDecember 14, 2020 at 07:28AM
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Prodigal Dracut Police chief returns to work - Lowell Sun
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