Communication Breakdown Between Mayor, Police Chief

There's an interesting story this morning in the New Hampshire Union Leader by reporter Nancy West, running down the most recent evidence of a professional rift between Mayor Donnalee Lozeau and Police Chief John Seusing.

An ongoing breakdown in communication between the city's top executive and the police department's top cop was reinforced two weeks ago when reporters contacted Lozeau for comment on a double homicide on Newbury Street, discovered June 17. Lozeau told reporters, including Nashua Patch, that she could not comment because she had not yet heard about the incident from Seusing. 

A similar response came from Lozeau after the news July 23 that Deputy Police Chief Scott Howe had been suspended during a June 21 Police Commission meeting, due to an investigation by the NH Attorney General's office. 

When contacted for comment June 23 by Nashua Patch, Lozeau said she was just hearing about the suspension from media reports.

The Union Leader story gets into some of the history and politics involved between the city and the police department. You can read it here.