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BETHEL – Police Chief Darren M. Tripp may be facing “serious disciplinary action” again, according to a letter to the editor written by his wife.

Haley Tripp’s letter appeared in the Bethel Citizen Thursday, along with a front-page story about a letter from Town Manager Scott Cole regarding Chief Tripp’s behavior surrounding the Dec. 2 armed robbery at the Big Apple Store on Railroad Street.

Haley Tripp stated that her husband had received a “Concern for Job Performance” letter on Jan. 5 that claims the chief failed to respond within a 12-minute period to an Oxford County dispatcher’s attempts to alert the chief about the robbery that had just occurred.

She said Cole, Chief Tripp’s supervisor, gave her husband until Friday, Jan. 16, to respond in writing to the letter’s concern.

“There is going to be serious disciplinary action taken against Darren on Jan. 16 for the incidents that occurred on Dec. 2, 2003,” Haley Tripp stated.

Cole said he had not released such a letter.

“I can’t speculate as to from where a given newspaper derives its source material,” he said Friday morning. “Nothing has been released at this office, and it’s not our business to release private records. But the town is concerned about personal records that have been released.”

Darren Tripp declined to comment on the matter Friday.

In her letter to the editor, Haley Tripp said that prior to the robbery, her husband had notified the county dispatcher in Paris that he would be in his office.

The police station and town office are located in the same Cole Block building on Upper Main Street.

After the robbery occurred, Haley Tripp stated that the dispatch office “attempted to contact Darren at the office and they received no answer on the telephone.”

She said the answering machine did not pick up, nor did anyone answer that telephone.

“The dispatch office then attempted to contact Darren on the radio several times while another dispatcher was calling the office telephone, our home phone, Darren’s pager and cell phone,” she said.

A dispatcher then contacted the town office, requesting that a staff member enter the chief’s office and tell him to call dispatch, Haley Tripp said.

“They stated that they knew Darren was in the office, because they had seen his car parked out front,” she added.

Alluding to possible reasons why Chief Tripp didn’t respond initially, Haley Tripp said her husband had been at Rumford District Court on the morning of Dec. 2, and had turned off his pager, cell phone and radio. He then performed a traffic stop and returned to the office to complete paperwork.

“When Darren informed me of the incident, he was upset that the dispatch office was unable to reach him, and he was concerned that there was something wrong with the telephones in the office or that the answering machine was broken, and, therefore, that was the reason the dispatchers were not getting an answer,” Haley Tripp stated.

Cole declined to respond to Haley Tripp’s allegations that the town manager was engaging in a “personal vendetta” against her husband and that town selectmen were “allowing him to do whatever he wants, because they simply don’t care to deal with personnel issue.”

“Haley’s letter is an example of free speech, and free speech is a great thing, and the ability for people to write letters to the editor is a great thing,” Cole said.

“Being able to write letters to the editor is one of the best things about being in America,” he added.

When contacted Friday, Haley Tripp declined further comment.

Bethel Citizen editor Michael Daniels said the paper is standing by its story that claims Cole said – in a letter informing Darren Tripp of possible disciplinary action – that county dispatch had been unable to contact the chief “for a crucial 12-minute period after the robbery was called in.”

Another point the story makes is that Cole’s letter to Tripp was dated Jan. 5, the same day that the town manager released courtesy copies of Tripp’s active lawsuit against Cole and the town to selectmen at a board meeting that night.

The federal court filing of the tort on Dec. 3 in U.S. District Court in Portland, rendered the extensive suit documents public record.

Less than a year ago, Cole suspended Tripp on March 17 for 33 days of paid administrative leave in a disciplinary action related to alleged job performance deficiencies.

Tripp joined the police department in 1989 and became chief in 1998. Until the March 17 suspension, he had never been subject to a disciplinary action.

Cole was hired as town manager in 1999.

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