Chief says town must move on

The police chief's office in Stoughton technically still belongs to Manuel J. Cachopa, yet Christopher Ciampa claims the office, too. It says so on his new business cards. He's even hung a few pictures of his own.

But being the acting police chief has proved much harder than decorating the office and passing out business cards. Times have been tumultuous, and Ciampa is struggling to lead and restore faith in the department since the indictment of three officers and the controversy that followed.

The officers were charged with misusing their police powers and, in one case, of filing a false report. Cachopa, the former chief now on leave, is expected to go on trial next month; former sergeant David M. Cohen was convicted in July and is in jail. Another officer was acquitted.

Ciampa supported Cachopa and Cohen. But now he's trying to move forward, he said, and he's asking the community to do the same.

"I'm trying to focus this department on police work," he said. "I'm tired of this. This has been going on for three years. Everyone's tired of this."

To reach out to the community, Ciampa has held a series of recent "Chat with the Chief" sessions at the police station. The results have been mixed.

Only three people attended the first session, and they asked about routine business such as planned construction work. In the second, discussion was dominated by supporters of Cohen. That was not the group that Ciampa was hoping to reach.

"There's a group that supports Cohen all heart and soul, and there's a group that despises Cohen and is happy he's in jail - and then there's everyone in the middle," the chief said "It's the people in the middle I'm trying to reach out to."

It turned out that at least a few of those in the middle did take heed of Ciampa's efforts.

"That's what made me come here to night," said Beverly Harris, 62, who moved to town two years ago but has read much about the original investigation. She said she wanted to hear from the acting chief directly, so she attended the second of the six scheduled sessions, along with about eight other citizens.

After listening quietly from the back of the room, she said she left feeling comforted. "As a newcomer, I have to feel I can trust" an officer, she said.

The town has been divided since 2003, when an investigation into Cohen's alleged abuse of power first began. Cachopa was later accused of trying to cover up the complaint against Cohen, and both officers were indicted in 2005. A third officer was also indicted, but was acquitted after a jury trial in July.

The indictments caused division between residents who support the department, and those who have called for reform. Two selectmen who had criticized the department were ousted in a recall election and replaced by two police supporters.

The shift in government had ripple effects in the Police Department as well. Officers who were placed on administrative leave during the investigation were ordered reinstated when the new selectmen took office. Cachopa, who had been demoted, was reinstated, only to be placed on administrative leave after he was indicted.

And that's when Ciampa, whom Cachopa handpicked as his executive officer, climbed the ranks to police chief - satisfying those who supported him, Cohen and Cachopa, while at the same time outraging critics who called him a product of a dysfunctional department.

"This has been a police department with absolutely zero credibility," said Dick Murphy, a critic of the department who runs his own cable-access and radio programs.

Murphy said he's heard from other residents who have no faith in the chat sessions, explaining why few have attended. Others, he said, argue that the chief should hold the sessions in a neutral place instead of the police station.

Ciampa said he's heard complaints before, and puts little stock in what Murphy and other critics are saying. Ciampa has been at the opposite end of the spectrum - he once ran a cable-access program called "Enough is Enough" meant to counter what Murphy was saying on his show.

But just as the acting chief is trying to reach out to citizens - four more Tuesday sessions remain on his chat schedule - he has tried to reach out to his own officers, too. He's greeted each shift since Cohen was convicted, and has asked them to keep focused on their jobs.

Some Stoughton officers testified against Cohen, and have complained of a hostile work environment because of their cooperation. Some are Cohen supporters who attended the trial, and grew emotional after the conviction. At least two have been accused of causing a disturbance in the courtroom after Cohen was sentenced.

Ciampa never attended Cohen's trial or the sentencing hearing. He says he wishes his officers hadn't either. It's too much of a roller coaster for them, he said.

He knows they have a right to attend, but said he will request that they not attend Cochopa's coming trial.

"I'm hoping people follow my lead, which is to get over it," he said. "I'm trying to focus this department on police work, and that's what we do."

Milton J. Valencia can be reached at Valencia@globe.com.