By Ryan Spencer
THE KEENE SENTINEL
WINCHESTER — The selectboard voted unanimously during a nonpublic session Wednesday to accept Police Chief Erik Josephson’s resignation effective Aug. 20, according to Chairwoman Lindseigh Picard.
Picard declined to comment on the reason Josephson is resigning. She said in an interview after the selectboard meeting at town hall that he explains his departure well in his own words in a resignation letter he submitted to the board.
The Sentinel submitted a right-to-know request seeking a copy of that letter after the chief’s resignation was announced at last week’s selectboard meeting. Picard declined to make a copy of the letter immediately available on Wednesday. The letter did not specify whether he had taken a position elsewhere, she said.
Josephson did not return a phone message left at the police department Wednesday morning.
Picard said the board hopes to get the search for a new chief underway as soon as possible and will talk about next steps at its meeting next week. The board has yet to discuss who will be in charge of the department when Josephson leaves, but hopes to have the position filled in time to have “a nice transition,” she said.
Aside from Josephson, the Winchester Police Department currently has one part-time and two full-time officers, Picard said last week. Josephson said in January that the department is authorized to have seven full-time and three part-time officers.
His resignation comes just eight months into his tenure, the same duration of time that the town went without a police chief following the departure of Mike Tollett, who left the post in January 2021 after the selectboard decided not to renew his contract. (The selectboard at the time declined to tell The Sentinel why, citing advice from the town attorney, and Tollett has said he wasn’t given a reason.)
Since arriving in Winchester, Josephson has sought to fire two police officers. In January, the selectboard terminated one of them, Sgt. Kristopher Fox, who failed to appear to testify at three criminal trials late last year. Fox had argued he was never subpoenaed for one of those trials and was on unpaid administrative leave pending a medical evaluation during the other two.
Less than three weeks later, Josephson recommended the board fire Lt. James Fisher, who had led the department in the interim between Tollett and Josephson. During two separate public hearings, spanning a combined five hours on Feb. 10 and 24, testimony centered on the alleged misconduct of another officer, how much information Fisher should have given the selectboard and town administrator about it and whether he lied to them.
That officer, Joshua Edson, surrendered his New Hampshire police certification and left the department in February. The N.H. Attorney General’s Office said it had been been investigating Edson for alleged sexual activity with someone he arrested and whose case was still pending, prior to Josephson’s arrival as chief. Despite finding probable cause to charge Edson with witness tampering, the AG’s Office announced Feb. 25 that he would not face charges, since prosecutors concluded they would have difficulty prevailing in a trial.
The following week, the Winchester selectboard deadlocked on whether to fire Fisher, who has since returned to work for the department.
Josephson took the reins as Winchester police chief in October 2021 with more than three decades of law enforcement experience, according to Town Administrator Karey Miner. He had most recently served as police chief in Egremont, Mass., for 15 months before retiring in 2019.
During closing remarks at last week’s meeting, selectboard member Natalie Quevedo thanked the police chief for his service.
“I would just like to commend the chief of police on the things that he did do while he was employed by us,” she said, according to a video recording of the meeting. “I would personally like to wish him the best of luck on his next endeavor.”
Ryan Spencer can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1412, or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @rspencerKS
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