Groton— The union for the City of Groton Police Department Thursday took a vote of “no confidence” in their deputy chief, who is currently on administrative leave.
Deputy Chief Patrick McMahon was escorted from police department headquarters last week after an officer filed a complaint about him with the police union, according to sources within the department.
Officers said McMahon told a joke at police headquarters Oct. 4, and that the joke offended a police officer, who then filed a complaint. The incident was said to have been caught on tape.
McMahon did not return several calls seeking comment this week.
According to a press release, faxed to The Day from the union's executive board, union members alleged Thursday that McMahon had harassed union members, contributed to ethnic harassment in the workplace, threatened other workers, and retaliated against members of the police department during his tenure in the city.
Detective Dave Thomas, president of the union, said the union would have no additional comments Thursday.
This is the second time McMahon has received a vote of no confidence. In 2004, most union members voted no confidence in police Chief Bruno L. Giulini along with McMahon, who at the time had been on the job just 18 months.
McMahon was also the subject of a complaint in 2003, shortly after he began at the department, when an officer accused McMahon of threatening to “go postal” if McMahon ever accidentally sipped from a cup that the officer had used as a spittoon.
At Thursday's union meeting, according to the press release, 19 union members voted that they had no confidence in McMahon, while six members voted in his favor and two union members did not vote.
The vote represents a union opinion and does not imply anything else, according to police.
Thomas said the matter is being handled by the city's attorney and human resources department.
Neither the chief of police nor the mayor returned calls Thursday night asking for comment.
j.wernau@theday.com