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Staff Writer

Hooksett Police Chief Stephen Agrafiotis is on paid administrative leave while an outside investigation is being performed. The investigation was spurred by a personnel complaint form filed with the police commission by police department employees.

The commission declined further comment on the nature of the complaint, only saying that Agrafiotis will remain on paid administrative leave until the commission reviews the results of the investigation and decides what course of action to pursue.

Captain Jon Daigle, who has been with the Hooksett Police Department since 1986, will be the interim chief, according to the Hooksett Police Commission. When asked if he was going to be the interim chief as the commission reported, Daigle said only, “If that’s what they said, then yes. I really have no comment.”

Agrafiotis took the position as Hooksett police chief in 1999 and faced problems with employees almost immediately. In late 2000, employee discontent and low morale forced Agrafiotis into a series of meetings with disgruntled employees and the police commission. No action was taken at that time.

Not the first investigation
Agrafiotis isn’t the first town official to come under investigation in recent years, either. Agrafiotis attended an inquiry about allegations of abuse by Fire Chief Mike Howard in late 2002. Administrative assistant of the fire department at the time, Sue LaBonville, claimed she let the chief “degrade me as a woman,” after an investigation into overspending and high turnover in the fire department began. Howard stepped down in late 2003 after about four years as chief and the investigation fizzled out without conclusive findings.

Town Administrator at the time, Michael Farrell, conducted the investigation on Howard. A short time later, after constant clashes with the town council and a passed vote aimed at reigning in his power, Farrell stepped down in what councilors called a “separation.”

Current Town Administrator Moni Sharma said he knows little about the investigation into Agrafiotis and he had only read about it in the newspaper. When asked if he was concerned about the amount of town-official turmoil in recent years, he said, “I wasn’t here. I don’t know how to react. When people start to complain about me, I’ll worry.”

Agrafiotis could not be reached for comment.