N.H. Cop Involved in Ridiculous and Deadly Drug Bust Could Get Job Back Despite Being Fired for Pattern of Misconduct

Last
year, Officer Joseph Kelley of the Weare Police Department in New
Hampshire supervised a drug bust where cops lured a man high on
cocaine and heroin to the main thoroughway in town to bust him
buying drugs, and then shot and killed him when, they say, he sped
his car toward them.

Earlier this year the attorney general’s office in New Hampshire
decided it
did not have enough evidence to prosecute anyone involved in
the shooting—among the office’s complaints were that cops provided
conflicting testimony.

Nevertheless, the attorney general’s office and the Weare police
chief criticized Kelley for the poor judgment in setting up the
drug bust. Kelley went on medical leave for stress related to the
shooting. Kelley was fired a few months later after a separate
investigation found him lying on time cards, writing bad checks,
and getting co-workers to lie, but now, the Concord
Monitor reports, Kelley could get
his job back after the city decided to rescind his termination
by the police chief:

Tom Clow, chairman of the Weare Board of Selectmen, declined to
comment on the decision. He said Sunday that the board planned to
meet with Broth last night, at which time Kelley’s name “may or may
not” come up.

The town, which has struggled for months to rebuild the image of
its beleaguered police force, is also dealing with domestic
violence allegations against its police chief, John Velleca.
Velleca, who was hired last fall and who requested Kelley’s
termination in November, has been placed on paid administrative
leave.

It’s not clear whether the timing of those claims played any
part in the decision to rescind Kelley’s termination.

Broth’s letter was sent to King and Erin DeRenzis, assistant
general counsel for AFSCME Council 93, which represents Weare
police officers. In it, he states that the board continues to
“expressly” deny any wrongdoing, and that its decision was made “to
avoid the time, expense and inconvenience that arise from an
arbitration hearing.”

Kelley may no get his job back. While the city awarded his back
pay (based on him being on worker’s compensation for the stress)
and rescinded his termination, the city indicated if he returned to
work the police department would re-open the internal investigation
into the fatal drug bust.

Kelley was
previously involved in a case that reached the First Circuit
Court of Appeals, after he arrested Carla Gericke for, among other
things, recording him (with a camera that didn’t work). Prosecutors
dropped charges against Gericke but she sued for retaliatory
prosecution and violation of her First Amendment rights. The court
ruled Kelley couldn’t do what he did. That incident was in
2010.