STOUGHTON – The town’s police unions harshly criticized the chief and her deputy in a letter to the town manager last week for an “utter failure” to protect the department’s rank and file from the coronavirus, which has now infected at least two police officers and left several more in self-quarantine.

The letter was dated March 26, the same day as Town Manager Robin Muksian Grimm’s announcement of the cases within the department.

For some officers, Grimm’s announcement was the first they’d heard of the highly contagious disease making landfall within the police station, creating what union leaders in their letter called “a profound sense of confusion and abandonment by their leaders during this critical time.”

The letter, signed by the presidents of the two unions representing Stoughton’s police officers and supervisors and later obtained by The Enterprise, alleged that Chief Donna McNamara and Deputy Chief Brian Holmes had “done almost nothing to protect us,” and that they had ignored a letter sent to the chief three days earlier that raised concerns about officer safety during the spread of the coronavirus.

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The unions called for swift changes to the department’s safety protocols, with a close eye toward staffing decisions that union leaders say would limit the number of officers who could be exposed to the virus at one time.

“For weeks, while other agencies have reduced staffing and modified scheduling so that only the absolutely necessary number of officers are working at any one time, it has been business as usual at the Stoughton Police Department,” the letter said.

In a public statement issued Monday, March 30, the presidents of the two police unions said they are “currently engaged in discussions with the town and are hopeful” they will be able to “come to a suitable resolution in due course.”

Union leaders Matthew Farwell, a patrolman, and Lt. Daniel Carmichael alleged in the March 26 letter that their bosses “did, however, use this as an opportunity to modify their own work schedules.”

“This unprecedented crisis calls for bold action and strong leadership. Chief McNamara and Deputy Chief Holmes have utterly failed in both regards,” they said. “There has been no effective communication, no transparency, and seemingly no plan.”

McNamara responded a day later with a letter detailing the safety measures she’s put in place at the department.

Some went into effect as early as March 13, according to a special order that detailed how social distancing protocols and sanitizing should play out within the police station.

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McNamara also mentioned several safety measures that weren’t included in the special order. On March 23, three days before Stoughton’s police unions contacted the town manager, McNamara said the department secured hotel rooms in case officers who are exposed to a known COVID-19 patient while on duty need to self-quarantine. On March 24, McNamara said the department put a thermometer station in place at the police station’s employee entrance, where employees now check their temperatures before entering the building.

The letter stated that Stoughton’s fire and police departments have secured more than 2,000 surgical and N95 masks for their employees, and that the police station and cruisers have been disinfected on a regular basis by an outside cleaning specialist.

“The safety and well-being of the employees of this department are of the utmost importance to me,” McNamara said, concluding her letter. “At the same time, I must also take into account the public safety needs of the community at large. While I understand that the union may disagree with some of the staffing and other decisions that I have made during this difficult period, these decision are being made after careful consideration of what are sometimes competing interests and are not decisions that I have made lightly.”

Grimm stood by police brass in a statement released Monday.

Grimm said the chief came to her “relatively early in this crisis” with a contingency plan for “how to respond if department staffing was to be compromised,” in addition to the March 13 special order regarding social distancing.

“Chief McNamara followed all DPH guidelines as shared by our Director of Public Health in handling the situations where we had positive tests,” Grimm said. “That being said, it has always been my practice to meet with union leadership when they express concerns and am willing to do so this time as well.”

In their public statement issued March 30, the presidents of the two police unions condemned the leak of their March 26 letter, calling its “unauthorized” release by an anonymous source “counterproductive.”

“We recognize that tensions and uncertainty are high at this time,” the statement said. “We have an obligation to our members and their families to strongly advocate for them; however, no disagreement between the Unions and the Town will stand in the way of continuing to provide exceptional service to the citizens of Stoughton.”

Staff writer Ben Berke can be reached at bberke@enterprisenews.com