Ashland police chief, who was on leave, to be reinstated
Faced an inquiry by oversight panel
Cara Rossi will return to her duties as chief of the Ashland Police Department on Tuesday morning, said Town Manager Michael Herbert. Rossi had been on paid administrative leave while facing a state oversight panel hearing on her handling of a dispatcher’s sexual assault complaint against a male officer in 2020 while Rossi was a Natick police lieutenant. Deputy Chief Michael Vinciulla has led the department temporarily since late January.
“Chief Rossi was placed on administrative leave in order to let me look further into information that I became aware of,” Herbert said in an email statement to the Globe. “Having done that, and being satisfied with the answers and information that I received, I see no reason to keep Chief Rossi out on leave and therefore she will resume her duties on April 2.”
Rossi testified before the Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission in a hearing last month, in which she expressed regret for her handling of the sexual assault complaint four years ago.
Prosecutors have accused Rossi of failing to adequately investigate the dispatcher’s claims despite receiving reliable information from colleagues. They also pointed to a confrontation with a current Natick lieutenant in June 2023 as an example of a pattern of “unprofessional conduct,” said attorney Shaun Martinez, who represents the POST Commission.
In a March 31 email to the Police Department obtained by the Globe, Herbert, the town manager, said Rossi’s administrative leave was his decision, not the POST Commission’s, although “the issues are intertwined.”
“Administrative leave is utilized oftentimes in order to look deeper into circumstances and information,” Herbert said in the email.
The sexual assault perpetrator, James Quilty, has since pleaded guilty to indecent assault and battery, and is decertified and resigned from the Natick Police Department. Rossi, meanwhile, was given a fiveday suspension, which was shortened to two days because of her otherwise clean record since starting as a patrol officer in Natick in 1994.
She also attended two days of training.
In her testimony before the POST Commission, Rossi said she “sufficiently learned” from the suspension and training.
Rossi and the town of Ashland are still awaiting a verdict from the POST Commission hearing on her conduct, which could result in more training, suspension, or revocation of Rossi’s certification.
Lawyers representing Rossi and the POST Commission will submit written arguments by April 10, after which the hearing officer will issue a ruling.