LEYDEN — The officer in charge of the Leyden Police Department attended Monday’s Selectboard meeting to report problems his squad has dealt with, perhaps most notably the issue of someone — possibly a Selectboard member — illegally opening the department’s mail.
Lt. Mike Aiken, who took over command of the department following Chief Dan Galvis’ sudden retirement in late October, read a prepared statement at Town Hall during which he noted his department’s phone lines and fax machine were also temporarily disabled.
Aiken indicated he believes a Selectboard member has been illegally opening and inspecting his department’s mail, which he said is privileged and confidential material. It is a federal crime for someone to, without permission, open mail that is not addressed to them.
“It looks like there’s going to be a further investigation from … the Police Department,” Selectboard Chair Jeffrey Neipp told the Greenfield Recorder on Tuesday.
In front of nearly 60 meeting attendees, some of whom applauded when he finished his remarks, Aiken reported that the station’s phone and fax lines were temporarily shut down, initiating a “recording saying, ‘This number is no longer in service.’” He said any voicemails the department may have received were subsequently lost.
“Our fax machine, which we rely on, was also adversely affected and disabled for a couple of weeks,” Aiken read. “Before this happened, I was told by the Selectboard that the department would be losing the phone lines because we did not need them. At the time I said I did not agree with disabling the lines.”
It turns out Selectboard Vice Chair Erica Jensen, as liaison to the Police Department, believed she had the authority to suggest Verizon disconnect some obsolete phone lines, but the telecommunications company “went beyond what they should have done,” Jensen explained.
On Tuesday, Jensen told the Recorder she had been under the belief that she had certain authority as Police Department liaison that enabled her to make the decision to tell Verizon to disconnect some phone lines.
“But, obviously, that was not appreciated by the chair, which I respect,” she said. She told the Recorder this was a mistake and the problem was rectified within 24 hours of the Selectboard being notified.
Aiken said the station now has one phone line and one fax line. The department can be reached at 413-772-2369.
Aiken also addressed Jensen’s previous request for Galvis, who is expected to remain emergency management director until June, to disclose the passwords to the Police Department’s computers. He said he was troubled to learn a Selectboard member would try to access the computer system without informing him.
“I can tell you the security of this system is significant,” he said, adding that he does not understand why anyone on the Selectboard would need to access the department’s computers without consent.
In response, Jensen said at Monday’s meeting that obtaining the passwords is necessary to reset them.
Neipp told the Recorder he has been assured the passwords have already been reset.
“If they were, that’s not what I was ever told,” Jensen said when informed of this by the Recorder. “And if they have been, great. That’s good news.”
Galvis and his wife, Capt. Gilda Galvis, retired in October, days after the Selectboard shared the results of an Oct. 18 executive session meeting with Dan Galvis to review racist, misogynistic and xenophobic content from emails he shared with fellow town employees and officers between 2015 and 2016.
In his prepared statement, Aiken also expressed his dismay over having to provide the Selectboard with a key to an office that houses sensitive and confidential information. He said it was inexplicable having “to supply the Selectboard with a community key for our Police Department,” and that it violates state and federal law.
“I ask you to reconsider this policy,” Aiken read.
Jensen responded that the key Aiken referred to “is under lock and key.” She told the Recorder that John Wood, a compliance officer with the state Department of Fire Services, said it is required to have a key made available to the Fire Department in case of an emergency.
But Neipp told the Recorder the office has been breached and said he called a locksmith Tuesday to inquire about having the doors re-keyed “because I don’t know who has keys out there.”
“I, as chair of the Selectboard, have an obligation to keep people’s … private information secured,” he said.
Reach Domenic Poli at dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 262.