Fall River Police Superior Officers Association overwhelmingly votes “No Confidence” in Chief Paul Gauvin

Fall River Police Department Sergeant Keith Strong has sent an email to members of the Fall River Police Superior Officers Association (FRPSOA) in regard to the recent vote taken by his organization. Strong is the President of the FRPSOA.

Both the FRPOSA and the Fall River Patrolman’s Association were taking a vote of confidence/no confidence in Police Chief Paul Gauvin. The polling of members of both unions began last week.

The email, sent by Strong to members on Saturday and obtained by Fall River Reporter, gives insight into the recent polling of department members of the FRPSOA in regard to Chief Paul Gauvin. Strong states that he has personally gone to each member of the association that is in good standing to “poll” membership for a vote of either “confidence”, “no confidence” or “abstention” in Gauvin. Strong stated that the reason for the face-to-face polling was to “ensure that 100% of our body in good standing was afforded the opportunity to participate anonymously without fear of retaliation.”

Strong writes that an open forum vote would put members in “unnecessary risk of falling victim to subterfuge” and that face-to-face vote gave members the opportunity to discuss issues that lead to their decision.

In closing, Strong states that the poll concluded that an “OVERWHELMING” majority of members voted for “no confidence” in Gauvin. There are 48 members of the FRPSOA.

The email from Strong was in response to an email sent yesterday afternoon to members of the FRPSOA by Sergeant Moses Pereira of the Professional Standards Division of the Fall River Police Department. Fall River Reporter has obtained a copy of that email as well.

Pereira shared that he was approached and asked to participate in a “no confidence” vote and that he was aware other members of their union were asked the same. Pereira was asked to circle one of the three options on a sheet of paper but that there was no additional information on what lead to the vote being taken.

Pereira told members that he felt the “manner in which the ‘no confidence’ vote was handled lacked transparency” and felt members should have been allowed to hear about what led to the E-Board’s decision to hold the vote to begin with. Pereira said the vote, if taken, should have been administered in the traditional manner of which voting takes place.

Pereira goes on to ask members to support his formal petition to hold a special meeting of the FRPSOA, which would require one-third of the membership to be in favor of the petition to be approved. Pereira also asked for the E-Board to wait to tally the votes they obtained in their face-to-face vote.

The Fall River Patrolman’s Association is conducting it’s own vote of confidence/no confidence and according to President Jonathan Ferreira, that vote is also being conducted face-to-face and has not concluded.

Gauvin was named Chief in 2022 after being appointed interim Chief by Mayor Paul Coogan. Gauvin replaced Chief Jeffrey Cardoza and has been a member of the city police department since 1997.

Speaking with Fall River Reporter last week after the polling began, Gauvin said that he loves his job and the city of Fall River and has no plans to step down. Gauvin had no statement today concerning the email from Strong but said he will give a statement once an official final vote is determined.

This is a developing story.