Last night, the Fall River city council again took up the appointment of Interim Chief Kelly Furtado as the full-time leader of the police department. The body used a procedural move to postpone a vote to its next meeting.
The debate ended when councilors Shawn Cadime and Cliff Ponte objected to the vote, delaying the appointment to the council’s next meeting on May 13.
Two weeks ago, the council, on a 5 to 4 vote, rejected Furtado’s appointment and recommended that Mayor Paul Coogan begin the search process for a new chief.
Councilor Ponte said that with the mayor not conducting a new search for a chief, he circumvented the opinion of the council and those within the community who sought a transparent process to select a new chief.
Councilors were still questioning Chief Furtado’s appointment following the circumstances around the firing of former Chief Paul Gauvin last month. Gauvin resigned in the fall as chief and had sought to return to the rank of captain, An investigation alleged that Chief Gauvin had stored three firearms not registered to him in his station locker and left items that were deemed a threat to Chief Furtado.
Councilor Brad Kilby supported Chief Furtado two weeks ago and plans to do so again, based on support from the department’s rank-and-file officers.
Mayor Paul Coogan said he resubmitted Chief Furtado’s appointment confident that the vote would be different than the one taken two weeks ago.
Earlier in the day, a local media report called into question the qualifications of Councilor Laura Sampson to participate in the vote for police chief, citing her brother John Ferreira’s role as president of the police department’s patrolmen’s association as a conflict of interest. The publication also asserted that members of the FRFD were receiving services at Councilor Sampson’s behavioral health center, We Care Health and Wellness. Councilor Sampson called the allegations a danger to her clients and staff.
With Councilor Sampson’s resignation, Rick Tith, the 10th-place finisher in the 2023 municipal election, has been appointed to the seat on the council.
