08/21/2026
Police Chief Brandon M. Esip has been suspended without pay as of Thursday, August 20, following an investigation regarding leaving his weapon unattended in the police station lobby.
Town Administrator Marlene V. McCollem said that after the findings of the investigation, she decided to issue a five-day suspension due to the violation, with three of the days to be served on August 20, 21 and 24 and two days to be held in abeyance.
An investigation report dated August 3 said that on June 9, Esip returned from range training and entered the Bourne Police Headquarters in civilian clothes “carrying his service belt in his hands.”
“His service weapon was in a holster on the belt. Upon entering the building, Chief Esip reported noticing there were boxes left in the lobby for a delivery to the Department. He started moving the boxes to get them out of the lobby area, entering the elevator located in the lobby. Before he started to move the boxes, he set his service belt down on a bench in the lobby and left it unattended while he started to move the boxes,” the factual findings of the report read.
The weapon was unarmed and the service belt did not contain ammunition, the report reads.
The report continues, stating that one of the officers in the dispatch center noticed the service belt with a weapon in the holster and “immediately went out to the lobby to retrieve it, whereupon she encountered Esip returning to the lobby from moving the boxes and returned it to him when he asked if he had left it in the lobby and acknowledged that it was his service belt.”
The report indicates video footage from the dispatch area shows that Esip placed the service belt on a bench in the lobby at approximately 2:27 PM, and the officer from the dispatch area secured the weapon at approximately 2:30 PM.
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