The actions of Nashua police commissioner Thomas Pappas after state Rep. David Campbell ran over a handful of ducks at the Crowne Plaza Hotel last month give residents just cause to question whether justice is on the level in Nashua.

The state representative killed the ducks outside the Crowne Plaza on the night of Dec. 23 and called the police commissioner after being informed that police had been called. Campbell then left the hotel and went to his law office, where Pappas picked him up and gave him a ride.

Both men are lawyers and have been acquainted for more than 30 years, and Pappas has represented Campbell on occasion.

Pappas, however, says he makes it a policy not to represent clients who are involved with the Nashua Police Department because of the potential for a conflict of interest. Pappas has a direct influence on department policy, personnel and the budget, which makes him a mighty influential person in the eyes of city police.

Shortly after midnight – by now early in the morning of Dec. 24 – influential citizen Pappas put in a call to Nashua police, asking if they were looking for Rep. Campbell.

They were, a police supervisor told him.

Pappas said in an interview with The Telegraph that he offered to have Campbell come down to the station to speak with police that very night, but an audio recording of Pappas’ phone call supports the police account that Pappas suggested to police that Campbell talk with them in the morning.

There are several things about this incident that are troubling.

First, Commissioner Pappas’ claim that he didn’t know police were involved when he picked up Campbell may be true, strictly speaking, but does he really expect us to believe that the thought never crossed his mind? He must have had at least an inkling that something was up when Campbell called him late at night. That it might ultimately become a police matter was, at the least, an entirely foreseeable possibility that Pappas should have anticipated when his phone rang. A more ethical commissioner never would have started the car for the ride to pick up his client, but would have properly advised Campbell to call another attorney.

As a police commissioner, Pappas failed miserably to safeguard his position from the perception that he was serving two masters in conflict and was in the favor business. He also exposed the integrity of the police department itself to second-guessing. Having a police commissioner in the mix puts investigators in an awkward position. Do they zealously pursue the interests of justice, or do they tread lightly so as not to alienate a commissioner who has much to say about the department’s budget and operations?

Pappas insists that he stopped representing Campbell after the initial call to police, but by the time he “unrepresented” himself, damage to the process had been done. His call signaled police that this case was on the radar of the powerful commission chairman.

There’s no evidence to suggest Campbell received more lenient treatment than he otherwise might have – if anything, his penalty for killing the ducks was probably harsher than most would have received. In fact, it was probably in Campbell’s political best interests that police took a hard line, given the flogging the representative was taking in the realm of public opinion to that point.

But we think Campbell was treated differently, too, and are disturbed that Pappas ran interference for a state representative who may have been eager to avoid police after he hit the ducks, given questions that were raised at the scene about Campbell’s alcohol intake that night. (The initial call to police from the hotel manager stated that the driver of the car that hit the ducks was drunk, as did one witness; even Campbell admitted, later, that he had been drinking, though he maintains he was not impaired.)

We think police conducted themselves admirably under the circumstances, but for most people in a similar position without a police commissioner guarding their back, it’s not hard to think that police might have pushed harder for an immediate interview and a sobriety test.

That’s the problem that plagues this case – the appearance that Commissioner Pappas intervened to help Rep. Campbell avoid closer police scrutiny immediately after the incident.

Pappas knows better and the public has a right to expect a higher ethical standard from him.

Gov. Maggie Hassan has left it to Attorney General Joseph Foster to determine whether Pappas did anything wrong. To some extent, public confidence in Nashua’s police structure rests in Foster’s hands. He should approach the case with a critical eye and let the chips fall where they may.

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