By Nicholas Brown
Staff Writer

The Hooksett Police Commission and Police Chief Steven Agrafiotis have been peppered at recent commission meetings with questions about high turnover rates of police officers and the perception of low department morale.

The department leadership has been repeatedly criticized since Agrafiotis was given the chief’s post in 1999, though police officials have said criticisms are being propagated by a small group of disgruntled officers.

“I believe you’re getting half truths, and the other half we’re not at liberty to divulge,” Police Commission Chairman Dave Gagnon told residents gathered at the commission’s June 20 meeting.

Police commissioners and Agrafiotis have stressed that many of the questions they’ve heard involve personnel issues that can’t be discussed publicly.

At a May 25 meeting, when asked about the department’s high turnover rate, Agrafiotis said, “The idea that things were improper, that’s going to float around. But the records prove different.”

Police officials have even urged inquisitive residents to join the police commission if they wish to be privy to the department’s personnel files.

“I’d love to give them out, I would just love to give them out,” Agrafiotis said at an April 18 commission meeting, “But I can’t, that’s what New Hampshire law is.”

Agrafiotis said the department has had a higher turnover rate than other New Hampshire police departments in recent years, but said much of the turnover is caused by officers opting for higher paying jobs at larger departments ­ with more resources ­ like Manchester.

At the April meeting, Agrafiotis said officers have come to him and told him two or three members of the department are deliberately causing problems.

Yet Hooksett resident and school board member Maura Ouellette, who’s been one of the regular visitors to commission’s meetings in recent months, said her concerns come from conversations she’s had with nine or 10 officers.

“(Police officials) keep saying it’s two or three officers and it just isn’t,” she said. “I’ve heard a lot of negative things about the police department and I’m curious about what’s going on.”

Resident Dana Argo, who’s one of several citizens interested in a seat that’s soon to open on the three-member commission, asked officials in April about department morale.

“I have about 100 people reporting to me right now and I know when I’ve got morale problems, I’ve got budget problems and I’ve got productivity problems,” he said.

Gagnon responded that morale problems typically start with one or two people starting rumors.

“A small majority can fester a problem real fast by saying, ‘They’re all against us, they’re all against us,’” he said.

Argo also listed a number of common complaints he’s heard from informal conversations with Hooksett police officers. The complaints included involved the department’s scheduling system and some uniform and equipment issues.

“These things are not being brought to me,” said Agrafiotis.

Police officials have also suggested that officers have been airing their complaints through improper channels, such as letters to the editor.

The police department holds internal meetings every four months, which officials have said could be an avenue for officers to air any grievances. No patrol officers attended the last meeting, Agrafiotis said.

“If I had a real issue, I think I could find a half an hour of my day to get there,” Gagnon said of the regular department meetings.

Gagnon also said, of unionized officers, “Maybe they should use their union, but they don’t.”

At the most recent meeting, Police Commissioner Judith Hess said, “From my perspective, they’re police officers. They should have some bravery to go through the chain of command.”