FALL RIVER, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Fall River's Mayor said the city's Police Chief Albert Dupere has stepped down from his position.
The announcement comes after undercover video was shown to the Mayor, allegedly showing the police chief drinking alcohol with subordinate officers during work hours.
According to The Herald News, Mayor Paul Coogan confirmed he met with Chief Dupere on Friday to inform him that his contract would not be renewed when it expires later this year.
(Fall River PD/Twitter)
While the Mayor did not say why he chose not to renew Dupere's contact, he said last week he had watched some of the secretly-recorded video, which was filmed by a Rhode Island TV station, and reportedly showed Dupere drinking at St. James Irish Pub with other officers on several occasions.
Dupere admitted to visiting the pub multiple times before the end of the business day with other officers, but he denied drinking alcohol on duty. He also said some Friday afternoons he and other officers would take a lunch break at 3 p.m., and admitted that on some Friday afternoons he drove his police cruiser to Purchase Street bar.
After Dupere reviewed some of the video footage, he chose to exercise a clause in his contract that would allow him to return to the position of deputy chief, for which he was appointed in November 2017 by former Mayor Jaisel Correia. Mayor Coogan said Dupere is expected to return to the lower position on Monday.
According to WPRI, the TV station that filmed Dupere allegedly drinking on the job, it "recorded extensive undercover video of the chief and other Fall River police officers as part of an ongoing investigation that is slated to air in the coming weeks. Dupere has denied he was ever drinking on the clock, but apologized for his behavior during an interview."
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