Haverhill police chief put on leave amid multiple tragedies and outrage from families of officers

Haverhill Police Chief Robert Pistone has been placed on leave, according to multiple reports. The development is the latest in a string of incidents to roil the city’s police department in recent months. 

The news of Pistone being placed on leave was first reported Wednesday night by WHAV. Deputy Chief Stephen Doherty is currently in charge of the department, Mayor Melinda Barrett told the station. She did not give an explanation for why Pistone was placed on leave. 

Barrett, Doherty, and other representatives from the mayor’s office and the HPD did not respond to requests for comment Thursday morning. Pistone could not be reached for comment. 

Pistone was placed on leave just days after an anonymous letter purportedly written by family members of HPD officers was posted online that sharply criticized him. Pistone faced increased scrutiny from members of his department after the death of Officer Katelyn Tully on Sept. 26. 

Tensions had already been high within the department after a man died while being restrained by HPD officers in July. Francis Gigliotti’s death was deemed to be a matter of homicide, and was attributed to an abnormal heartbeat caused by cocaine and alcohol intoxication and efforts by police to restrain him, according to Essex County District Attorney Paul F. Tucker office. His office is investigating “whether the actions of the police officers were justified.”

Seven HPD officers were put on paid leave following Gigliotti’s death. Those with knowledge of the situation say that Tully was one of those officers. Her father confirmed that to The Eagle-Tribune this week. He believes that his daughter died of a stress-induced heart attack in her home on Bartlett Avenue. 

The Haverhill Police Patrolman’s Association posted a message honoring Tully on Oct. 4 on Facebook. In response to one comment claiming that Tully was “one of the seven people that were laid off for killing Francis,” the HPPA said that it supports its officers, “not made up false statements or narratives.”

The next day, the anonymous letter to Pistone was posted by the Lawrence Patrolmen’s Association and shared by the HPPA. The writers of the letter accused Pistone of lacking experience, of retaliation, and of failing to support his officers. 

“Every action since Officer Tully’s death has been transparent in its desperation to preserve your own power,” the letter reads. “You have not stood before your officers at roll call, not spoken to them in their grief, not asked how they are enduring. You calculate how to save face while those you command drown in grief. That blindness, that self-absorption, has become your legacy. The death of Officer Tully shook this department to its core. That you cannot even comprehend the depth of this wound reveals how unfit you are to lead.”

The letter went on to accuse Pistone of intimidating others behind closed doors, causing officers to avoid speaking their minds out of fear of being “targeted.” Those behind the letter claim that they are supported by hundreds of people related to HPD officers. 

“We write this anonymously not out of fear for ourselves, but to protect the officers we love from the retaliation that has become your hallmark. Let it be known — there are hundreds of us. And if the public wishes to hear from us, we will step forward, together and unafraid,” the letter reads. 

After Tully’s death, Pistone did post a statement online mourning her passing. 

“She served our community with grace, compassion, kindness, and professionalism, and will be deeply missed. I extend my deepest and heartfelt condolences to the officer’s family and friends, and the men and women of the Haverhill Police department,” he wrote. Pistone did not name Tully directly in that statement, citing “respect for the officer’s family and their privacy.”

Tully’s father, a retired Lawrence police officer himself, told the Eagle-Tribune that he will not be satisfied until Pistone resigns or is otherwise completely ousted from the department.