Deputy Haverhill Police Chief Stephen J. Doherty Jr. will voluntarily leave the department next spring after reaching agreement with the city.
The agreement and investigation findings were released Tuesday by Mayor Melinda E. Barrett after more than a year of department turmoil that last October saw three police chiefs in a week. Doherty signed the agreement July 17 and Barrett July 27 and it calls for Doherty to continue taking his regular salary of $4,566 a week through next March. The deputy will then receive $171,879 in various sick and vacation pay buybacks, time due and other contractual leaves. Of that amount, the city will deduct $55,704 for “valid setoff” under state wage law.
“He is receiving less than if we kept him to the end of his contract,” Barrett told WHAV.
As part of the agreement, Doherty signed a separate letter, submitting his “intent to resign or retire” as of March 27, 2027. He was promoted from captain to deputy in 2021 by former Mayor James J. Fiorentini. In a separate, prepared statement, Barrett called the agreement “an important step forward in resolving management matters within the police department.”
“With Chief Tracy’s appointment as permanent police chief last month, we can now finalize the department’s leadership team and continue with the excellent progress and stability the department has achieved over the past eight-plus months,” she said.
The settlement comes as an outside investigation by Regina M. Ryan of Discrimination and Harassment Solutions of Boston concludes that while Doherty may have been insensitive toward rank-and-file officers, no policies were violated. The $21,000 investigation focused on department conduct and policies in the aftermath of the death of Francis P. Gigliotti II while in police custody a little more than a year ago and unrelated, sudden death of Patrolman Katelyn M. Tully last September.
While Doherty will be paid through next spring, the agreement allows Barrett to fill the position of deputy police chief now held on an acting basis by Meaghan Paré. Barrett said separately the job will be advertised, as required, and applications accepted. Paré told WHAV she will be a contender and welcomes an opportunity to serve on a permanent basis.
Ryan’s heavily blacked out report centered on four allegations against now-retired former Police Chief Robert P. Pistone Jr. and Doherty. These claim they “lacked support/empathy” for seven suspended officers involved in taking Gigliotti into custody, made “false claims” the mayor and/or Essex County District Attorney Paul F. Tucker prevented them from supporting the officers, retaliated against officers for “challenging their decisions” and made “inappropriate and/or offensive comments to the officers.”
“Whatever shortcomings are attributable to Chief Pistone (and, to a lesser degree, Deputy Chief Doherty) represent lapses in professional judgement, not policy violations,” Ryan concluded.
This is a developing story. Stay with WHAV for more information.