By Phil Demers, Berkshire Eagle
Staff
HINSDALE -- Suspended Police
Chief Nancy Daniels could be reinstated if the town submits to the state a
more-detailed request for a training waiver, according to her attorney.
In a presentation to the
Hinsdale Select Board on Wednesday, attorney Mark T. Brennan said that Daniels
and Selectman Bruce Marshall attended the Massachusetts Municipal Police
Training Committee's meeting last month to make the case for Daniels' waiver.
What they found, Brennan said,
is that the committee rejected the initial request submitted by the Select
Board in November because it was insufficient in detail.
"My request would be
another letter requesting a [270-day] waiver," Brennan said. "This
would just contain a little bit more information [about the medical reasons
for] the delay."
Daniels, a former part-time
officer who was appointed chief last January, was placed on paid administrative
leave in November because she has not completed the six-month Municipal Police
Training Academy course that is mandated for full-time officers in the state.
She failed her first attempt and was unable to retake the course last summer
due to an ankle injury and other medical issues.
Responding to repeated requests
by Daniels and her supporters, Hinsdale Select Board Chairwoman Bonnie Conner
submitted a letter in November requesting a waiver for Daniels.
When that request was rejected,
Conner and Select Board member William Goddard Jr. put Daniels on leave, saying
the town faced liabilities by keeping Daniels on because her police powers had
expired absent the training.
But the attorney said Conner composed
the letter alone and, despite his requests, neither he nor Marshall nor Goddard
reviewed its contents prior to it being sent.
Brennan, citing the MPTC's
November minutes, said Conner's letter contained no mention of Daniels' medical
issues last summer. The committee ultimately rejected the request after
concluding that she had missed two additional opportunities to take the test.
If Conner's letter had been
more thorough, Brennan said he was told, the vote would have gone differently.
During the December meeting, he
said, "the [committee] basically stated that the letter -- that was sent
without my review -- was inadequete to explain why Chief Daniels was requesting
it."
The Eagle has requested a copy
of Conner's letter from the MPTC.
In the meantime, Brennan said,
the town needs an active police chief to approve firearms licenses, register
sex offenders and testify in court cases.
"[Daniels] has not been
able to testify in various court cases due to orders of the Select Board,"
he said. "Those court cases have allowed a couple of second-offense drunk
drivers to walk free. Speaking as a defense lawyer, that's a dream. But I don't
think it's good news for the town."
Residents who possess a license
to carry require Daniels' check-off this year or they'll need go through
firearms safety training again, Brennan and Marshall pointed out.
Goddard and Conner opposed a
motion from Marshall to draft new letter to the MPTC, each wanting to see the
minutes from the MPTC's December meeting before making a decision.
Conner also wanted town
counsel's opinion on discussing Daniels' medical issues in a letter to the
MPTC.
"I will contact legal
[Thursday] and ask their opinion," Conner said. "I want to talk to
legal first."
Brennan told the Select Board
he'd be available on Friday to help draft the letter.
Marshall said the MPTC also
suggested, as many others have, that there is a simple way to circumvent the
state requirement.
"I would say the easiest
way to put this whole thing to bed is let her work 32 hours per week,"
Marshall said.