Woodstock police chief on leave with pay amid VSP investigation

Woodstock Police Chief Joseph Swanson is on administrative leave from his job, with pay. Vermont State Police are investigating whether or not he was involved in an unspecified incident from this past Sunday, October 13.

Municipal Manager Eric Duffy reached out to VSP on Monday, requesting that the agency look into the alleged incident. Duffy then placed Chief Swanson on leave Tuesday morning. VSP has assigned a detective from outside of the Woodstock area to look into the matter, and Duffy has pledged the full cooperation of local leaders.

According to freelance journalist Mike Donoghue at Vermont News First , the Sunday report originated from a motor vehicle incident involving the chief's husband. However, neither Woodstock officials nor state police have confirmed that information.

Public records available online show that Chief Swanson was once the chair of the Woodstock Selectboard before resigning in July of last year upon being promoted to chief. He is also the son of the late Philip Swanson , the longtime former municipal manager after whom Woodstock's emergency services building is named .

In a statement, Duffy wrote in part:

"The Town and Village of Woodstock is committed to ensuring that complaints regarding our police officers are addressed in an appropriate fashion."

VSP public information office Adam Silverman said, in part:

"It is important to note that, generally speaking, just because an investigation involves a specific individual, that does not necessarily mean the individual is a target of the investigation."

Among many other attempts to gather information for this story, a home phone number for Chief Swanson listed online was disconnected Thursday evening. Woodstock Police Sgt. Christopher O'Keeffe, serving as acting chief, had gone home for the day prior to an attempt to reach him. After a failed attempt to transfer the call to Sgt. O'Keeffe's voice mail, the department suggested calling again on Friday.