NEWTON, Mass. (AP) — Officials in a Boston suburb are investigating a former city employee who they believe shut down the police website during a pay dispute.
Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller said the former employee, who was the police department’s chief information officer, took down the department’s website in late June and July. The website instead directed visitors to a message urging them to contact Fuller and ask the mayor to restore him, The Boston Globe reported Friday.
Fuller said the employee controls access to the site and has not turned it over to the city. Newton created a new police department website in its place. The old site was no longer active on Sunday.
Fuller told the Globe that the employee shut down “a vital resource for the town of Newton.” The employee notified city officials in March that he was quitting his job, The Globe reported. The newspaper reported that the employee estimated he owed $137,000 in time off when he shut down the website, the newspaper reported.
The employee said in a statement that he was “disheartened by the city’s representation of the facts in this matter” and would work with the city to resolve the issue.
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