Selectmen Upset Over Delayed Notification in Attempted Police Murder Case

On the morning of Jan. 4, a press release was issued by the Milford Police Department announcing the arrest of a Hudson man who was charged with attempting to murder a police officer.

About 45 minutes later, the selectmen received the release from the town, not fast enough according to some board members.

At the end of Monday’s meeting, Selectman William Buckley asked the board to send a letter to Police Chief Thomas O’Loughlin to notify the board faster.

“I’m a little troubled by the release we received because it didn’t leave me to understand if he was on life support or the extent of his injuries or if he was still in the hospital,” Buckley said. “I expect this board to be updated through the town administrator and the police chief earlier if we’re dealing with these types of injuries and charges.”

Chairman Brian Murray disagreed Buckley, arguing that building a case against the suspect is more important than notifying the selectmen.

“I’m not an essential item in this process. You’re not an important item to this process,” Murray said.

While not asking to be notified before the public, Selectman William Kingkade made the point that he saw the release on the Milford Police Department Facebook page and was receiving phone calls before the town sent him an update.

“To sit here and listen you two stay heads or tails, I’d rather say there was a difference, we can be notified,” Kingkade said “Whatever the reason is, I don’t mind one selectman being asked to be notified at the same time as everyone else, not before, at the same time.”

By the end of the discussion, Murray said he would notify the police chief to send releases to board members earlier.