North Andover police chief granted paid administrative leave after no confidence vote

Local News

Chief Charles Gray, who has led the department since 2016, requested to be put on paid administrative leave Thursday evening.

Kelsey Fitzsimmons testified Wednesday. Screenshot/NBC10 Boston

In the wake of Kelsey Fitzsimmons’s acquittal and the police unions’ no confidence vote, North Andover police chief has been placed on paid administrative leave, per his own request, town officials said.

Chief Charles Gray, who has led the department since 2016, requested to be put on paid administrative leave Thursday evening, North Andover Town Manager Melissa Murphy-Rodrigues told Boston.com.

Essex DA Paul Tucker with North Andover police chief Charles Gray. *(Camilo Fonseca/Globe Staff)*

His request came after more than 90 percent of the members of both the North Andover Patrol Officers Union and the Sergeants Union called for “the immediate removal” of Gray last week. The union specifically pointed to “low morale and broken trust,” “administrative incompetence,” and a “lack of accountability … while officers face public scrutiny.”

Controversy has surrounded the department since Fitzsimmons, a former North Andover police officer, was shot by a colleague, Officer Patrick Noonan, at her home last summer after she allegedly pointed a gun at him as officers attempted to serve a restraining order against her. She was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, but her defense claimed she only pointed the gun at her own head in a suicide attempt.

Fitzsimmons was acquitted late last month, and the fact that North Andover police officers do not wear body cameras was a central part of the case, the judge said. The unions blamed Gray’s “outright inaction” to address the need for body-worn cameras, which the unions have spent years advocating for, they said.

The unions pointed to more of Gray’s so-called “failures,” including not approving a “comprehensive Officer-involved Shooting policy” for more than a year because Gray apparently said it was “too wordy.” This was particularly troubling, the unions said, pointing to an April 2024 incident where an officer was injured during a stand-off when gunfire hit a police cruiser. Metal shards from the car struck the officer in the head.

Gray did not return a request for comment last week or Thursday evening.

Fitzsimmons is now planning to file a civil lawsuit against town officials.

Molly Farrar is a general assignment reporter for Boston.com, focusing on education, politics, crime, and more.

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