NEWS > 26 October 2006

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The Republican - Springfield,M
26 October 2006

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Police chief reinstated

BELCHERTOWN - Selectmen reinstated Francis R. Fox Jr. as police chief yesterday after five months of paid administrative leave but voted to place a letter of reprimand in his file, spelling out what he did wrong when he ran self defense courses in town buildings.

Fox, who has been a Belchertown police officer nearly 20 years, said last night he will be on the job again this morning.

"I am ready. The uniform is pressed," he said after the 90-minute open hearing ended.

"I have a lot of things I want to accomplish. I want to get started," he said.

The charges selectmen brought against Fox were related to a Rape Aggression Defense course he taught and oversaw on a few occasions the past three years.

The program, which taught self defense to dozens of women each year, was advertised as a Police Department function and operated in town buildings.

Selectmen had concerns about course participants paying fees for the instruction directly to Fox and had questions about whether Fox was still working full time as chief when the courses were in progress.

At a September hearing on this issue, Marc L. Terry, the selectmen's lawyer through this process, had accused Fox of not being truthful, benefiting financially from the program and said it "looks an awful lot like public corruption."

But lawyer Anthony T. Rice, who was hired by the town to investigate the charges and conduct hearings in the case, issued a 21-page report last week saying Fox never made any profit from the course and lost money each year.

Fox told selectmen he processed the checks from course participants through his personal bank accounts because, when he was told there could be no revolving account, he thought that was the only way to proceed with what he still believes was a valuable community service.

Rice found Fox had violated state law by not filling out a financial disclosure statement related to the course and suggested Fox should have more aggressively pursued establishing a revolving account for the program after the town accountant had said it could not be done that way.

Rice wrote in his report that "the chief has engaged in certain behavior that is less than what the town could reasonably expect from him as its chief law enforcement officer," but also wrote Fox did not attempt to profit at town expense.

Rice had been asked to consider penalties up to termination, but his report said, "I do not recommend termination of the chief's employment. I do recommend that the chief receive a lesser sanction, possibly in the nature of a formal letter of reprimand."

About a dozen police chiefs from neighboring communities attended last night's hearing to show support for Fox, as did some Belchertown police officers and Fox's wife and children.

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Article sourced from

The Republican - Springfield,M26 October 2006

Police chief reinstated

EiP Comments:

The Republican - Springfield,M
26 October 2006