12/19/15, 5:04 PMCanterbury criticizes, looks to improve police department | Concord Monitor

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Canterbury criticizes, looks toimprove police department

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Canterbury Country Store owner Joe Halla brings a petition with 106 signatures calling for the disbandment of the town police

department to the selectmen's meeting Monday.

(ELODIE REED / Monitor staff)

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12/19/15, 5:04 PMCanterbury criticizes, looks to improve police department | Concord Monitor

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By ELODIE REED

Monitor staffTuesday, December 8, 2015

(Published in print: Tuesday, December 8, 2015)

Canterbury’s problems seem to have begun with one police chief and may only end with

another one.

That was the main message of a jam-packed two-hour discussion during Monday night’s

selectmen’s meeting. About 70 people squeezed into the Canterbury Meeting House to

complain about police incompetency and unprofessionalism and to demand that selectmen

do something to fix it.

The conversation began months ago, after Canterbury police Chief John Laroche was

arrested in August following accusations that he forced a young female cadet to perform

sexual acts on him more than a decade ago while he served with the Boscawen Police

Department. He was indicted in October by a grand jury on four charges of felonious

aggravated sexual assault charges.

Currently, at his request, Laroche is on unpaid leave.

Canterbury Store owner Joe Halla said that during this period and even before, he began

noticing a pattern in what customers were telling him regarding the police. “Any number of

people have come in the store with concerns and problems in the police department,” he

said. “The subject then came up . . . to put a petition together. Somebody did that and put it

on the counter – there it sat, and people signed it.”

A total of 106 signatures filled the

petition’s six pages. Above them was this

request: “The Citizens of Canterbury who

have signed below request that the Board

of Selectmen dissolve the Canterbury

Police Department as it is unnecessary

and police protection can be provided by

the State Police and/or the Merrimack

County Sheriff Department.”

On Monday, Halla put a sign on his door

reading “Store will be closed at 6:15

tonight” and showed up to the selectmen’s

meeting for his scheduled time on the

agenda that night. Sitting before the board with rows of people behind him, Halla asked

whether the petition’s suggestion was possible – to which selectmen Chairman Bob Steenson

said it was not.

“It’s probably not within the authority of the selectmen to dissolve the police department –

that would be a town meeting thing,” said Steenson. He added that the department did have

standard operating procedures that it was supposed to follow, and that, from his view, “a

police department is very necessary in this day and age.”

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12/19/15, 5:04 PMCanterbury criticizes, looks to improve police department | Concord Monitor

Page 3 of 7http://www.concordmonitor.com/home/19922424-95/canterbury-criticizes-looks-to-improve-police-department

Regardless, Halla said, he wanted to explain what he understood was the problem. He

shared anecdotes told to him by customers: police suggesting the victim of a theft ask the

suspected thief to meet with an officer; police telling a woman she had been “watching too

much CSI” when she asked whether fingerprints could be taken from a rock that was thrown

through her windshield; police asking a person whether she really wanted them to look for

her stolen car, which was an “older model.”

“Some of this stuff embarrasses me,” Halla said.

Over the next two hours, dozens of audience members added in their bad experiences with

the four officers that comprise Canterbury’s Police Department.

One of them, Doug Carson, submitted a letter to selectmen. He described its contents last

night.

“Basically about a year and a half ago, I was coming to the town fair. There was a black

pickup in front of me,” Carson said. Leaning into the window was a man wearing shorts,

tennis shoes and a yellow safety vest, he said, and after a few moments of waiting behind

the truck, Carson said he pulled up and beeped once.

“This person looked over his shoulder and said, ‘Just a g--damn minute,’ ” said Carson. “He

told me to get back into my effing car or he would arrest me or Tase me. This person actually

had his hand on his gun and his Taser.”

Another resident, 87-year-old Willie Nelson, described being held up for two hours waiting

for New Hampshire State Police after accidentally taking off the side mirror of a Canterbury

cruiser. “They wanted to put me in handcuffs,” he said.

Shortly after, Officer Randy DiFruscio stood up to point out that it’s the law to call state police

anytime someone damages a cruiser.

DiFruscio was the only Canterbury officer who spoke during the meeting. His son Kyle sat

quietly behind him, and Sgt. Ernie Beaulieu Jr., who has taken a leadership role in Laroche’s

absence, stood silent in the dark corridor attached to the room.

While many audience members pointed to specific instances of slow response time, rude

conduct or laziness by specific officers, others said there was a broader problem to be

handled. The general consensus was that the police department should remain in

Canterbury but be fundamentally changed.

Resident Keith Brown said: “It takes a lot in any town to stand up and complain about your

police department. G--damn, it’s our money – we need our police and we need to trust them.

We just want management.”

Selectmen received their fair share of criticism at Monday’s meeting for not taking

complaints about the police seriously and for not holding officers accountable.

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12/19/15, 5:04 PMCanterbury criticizes, looks to improve police department | Concord Monitor

Page 4 of 7http://www.concordmonitor.com/home/19922424-95/canterbury-criticizes-looks-to-improve-police-department

Brown directly addressed the board and

said, “This is anger. I support the police –

you guys need to fix it. Get busy.”

Others in the audience pushed for specific

ways selectmen will move the issue

forward. Nancy Fifield asked that police

incident reports be posted on the town

website, and Oliver Fifield suggested an

advisory board made up of town residents

and an outside consultant be formed to

review the Canterbury Police Department.

More people felt the hiring process for a

police chief needed to be improved.

Selectmen agreed with those suggestions

as places to start. Planning board member

Tyson Miller said the board was “crippled”

in any action it took, however, as long as

Laroche was still chief of the department.

Resident Diana Scott asked, “Can’t we just

ask him to resign?”

Steenson responded, “We tried that.”

Retired Concord police officer Jim Berry

repeated, however, that the problem for

the Canterbury Police Department seems

to start at the top – with the chief – and

will most likely end there.

“It sounds like nothing but a lack of supervision,” Berry said, referring to the instances of

unprofessionalism or sloppiness cited Monday night.

Steenson agreed, and said the selectmen were already making another attempt to remove

Laroche and start fresh.

“We’re making a renewed effort to see if we can move on and resolve the issue,” said

Steenson. “John Laroche needs to do the right thing and resign for this community.”

(Elodie Reed can be reached at 369-3306, ereed@cmonitor.com or on Twitter

@elodie_reed.)

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