Internal candidates to be interviewed for Fall River police chief

FALL RIVER — Mayor Paul Coogan Wednesday identified the three internal candidates vying for the position of chief of police, and announced the creation of a seven-member advisory committee that will interview the candidates during a forum that will be closed to the public.

The candidates are Capt. Michael Duarte, Capt. Jeffrey Cardoza and Deputy Chief of Administration Charles Cullen, who is serving as interim chief, Coogan said.

A few external candidates also applied for the position but will not be interviewed by the advisory committee during the forum scheduled for Thursday, according to the mayor, who said he values internal applicants' familiarity with the department and the city.

“Knowing the community, knowing the guys on the force and knowing what the local issues are for policing is not a negative,” he said. “If one of the local applicants doesn’t have what we think he should we’ll talk to the external candidates.”

Coogan did not identify the members of the advisory committee Wednesday. According to a press release his office issued the same day, the committee represents a “cross-section of the community” whose members include individuals who work in law enforcement, healthcare as well as neighborhood and faith leaders.”

The press release indicated that the advisory committee interviews will be closed to the public “so as to adhere to the COVID-19 protocol for social distancing.”

However, Coogan said in an interview with The Herald News that he did not immediately identify the members of the advisory committee to prevent individuals in the community who support one candidate over another from attempting to influence the committee’s recommendation.

“I did not want them [advisory committee members] being lobbied or questioned, or given bad information or good information. I wanted them to make their decision based on their interactions with candidates, and the questions and how they answered,” the mayor said.

The advisory committee interviews will be conducted Thursday at Holy Trinity Parish.

Coogan said the committee will rank the candidates in terms of their preferred first, second and third picks. Coogan's appointment must then be approved by the City Council.

“I want people to talk candidly,” Coogan said of Thursday’s candidate interviews. “It’s an advisory committee to me. They’ll make the recommendation but it’s still going to be the mayor’s choice, with the council’s vote.”

Interviews for the Fall River Police Department’s top official come approximately two months after Albert Dupere stepped down from the position.

Dupere opted to return to the position of deputy police chief after Coogan told him his employment contract would not be renewed. According to the contract, Dupere was “entitled to be immediately reinstated into the position and rank as a permanent full time civil service Deputy Chief of Police in the Fall River Police Department.”

The shakeup came after secretly recorded video shot by Providence TV news station WPRI that reportedly showed Dupere and other police officers drinking at St. James Irish Pub in Fall River on multiple days this past winter was shown to Coogan.

Dupere denied he was at the bar during working hours, and said the visits happened during late lunches or on time off he had accumulated during the week. Dupere, who acknowledged he had traveled to and from the bar in police department-issued unmarked vehicles, said he never drove while intoxicated.

Sources with connections to the police department who asked not to be named said Dupere was placed on unpaid leave the week of March 9, then resumed duties as deputy chief.

Former Mayor Jasiel Correia II appointed Dupere to the position of acting chief in October 2016 after Daniel Racine retired from the department due to a health condition. About one year later, the City Council approved a three-year contract making Dupere chief.