Strafford County's acting sheriff looks to rebuild after Brave's exit: 'Tension was high'

DOVER — Chief Deputy Joseph McGivern, who is taking over the Strafford County sheriff's office on an interim basis at a time of great strife, is vowing to rebuild morale and trust.

McGivern, the acting sheriff, and Maj. Steven Bourque, now second in command, sat down for a conversation with Foster's Daily Democrat about the current state of the department and their hopes to keep it on track.

McGivern said he believes changes in the department happened in the nick of time last week, when elected Sheriff Mark Brave agreed to take paid administrative leave. He said the department would have "imploded" if change had not happened.

McGivern assumed the leadership role of the department after Brave agreed under pressure to step away. Brave is facing eight felony charges from the New Hampshire attorney general alleging he misused county money to fund trips, airfare, hotels and restaurants in connection with numerous extramarital affairs. This included travel with a woman who working for the sheriff's office.

"When he (Brave) decided to accept taking paid leave, there were some changes I cannot really be more specific about, but changes he planned, that would have caused problems across the board," McGivern said. "I was afraid we would have lost most of this department. They would have resigned, and that was not an idle threat. He had plans that Friday that would have taken effect the following Monday, and if they did, most of the office would have been gone by Wednesday. We have no relationship with Mark Brave right now, as we are prohibited by court order from talking about the specifics, but people here were aware of what was going on, that there was an investigation and tension was very high."

More: Investigation details Sheriff Mark Brave's alleged lies about affairs, hotels and trips

Bourque said morale in the department was extremely low. Both he and McGivern said Brave needed to step down, and they are grateful for the dedicated staff who stuck with the department.

"Had (Brave) stayed, there is no way he could have been effective here," Bourque said. "He has no-contact orders, and they go both ways. I sense a change already. People knew about this, and as law enforcement they understand it is a lengthy process. But I sense a change already. I feel we have now crossed a threshold."

Brave turned himself in to New Hampshire State Police Aug. 17. He was charged with eight felonies: theft by deception for using about $19,000 in county funds by seeking reimbursement for personal expenses with false justifications, two counts of falsifying physical evidence and five counts of perjury for lying to a Stafford County grand jury, according to state Attorney General John Formella. Brave could face 31½ to 64 years in prison and fines of up to $32,000 if convicted on all counts, according to Formella. Brave has denied the allegations.

McGivern, Bourque believe morale is improving

McGivern said his goals are to make sure the department returns to the efficiency it has always had. He said they are meeting daily with staff to keep morale up and to return to normalcy.

"I believe communication is the key here," he said. "I believe our biggest need now is to restore trust, and for that, communication is the most important thing. We are all working together and supporting each other."

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Asked if any of the sheriff's office staff are expressing support for Brave, McGivern said he doesn't know, and he has not heard anything outright. He said he has not asked, either.

"Things are going incredibly well, considering what is going on," he said. "Any allegations against the sheriff are not associated with a high percentage of our department. We have a dedicated, honest staff who do their job on a daily basis. We have a lot of good people here who are choosing to stick it out. We will continue to do our jobs. The retention of personnel is really important to me right now. This is a problem for law enforcement across the country. I am aware that they could get jobs anywhere else, and that some have been offered jobs because of their certifications, so I want work to make sure they want to stay here. Considering the situation, I feel our retention is pretty high. We had a couple of resignations, which I cannot detail because of personnel policy, but even they may stay on a per diem basis."

Bourque said they have seen a huge rise in morale. He said people are feeling comfortable again, or at least starting to feel that way.

"We have a lot of responsibilities here," McGivern said. "We have a civil side and an investigative side, both with supervisors who are watching very closely. We work closely with the jail for transports of people in custody (medical and to court dates here and out of state). We have federal partnerships with the U.S. marshals and with ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement). People in many areas of law enforcement rely on us."

McGivern said the sheriff's office staff has received a lot of support from their partners and from other local law enforcement. He said they are hearing from rank and file, straight through to chief executive officers in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont and Maine, all offering support.

"They have gone out of their way to reach out to us," Bourque said.

McGivern sees himself as short-term leader of sheriff's office

McGivern has a long career in law enforcement. He retired as a lieutenant from the Dover Police Department after serving for 22 years.

"I came to the sheriff's office and did some per diem work," he said. "I did a little construction work. Then, in 2010, Sheriff Wayne Estes offered me a 32-hour position, which was the maximum I could do as a retired law enforcement officer. When Estes was done here, Sheriff David Dubois was here for eight years. In 2015, I was a captain and when the Barrington police chief retired, I served for a time as interim chief, returning here after the town hired a permanent chief. Sheriff Dubois promoted me to chief deputy."

Asked if he is considering running for sheriff in the 2024 election, McGivern, 68, laughed.

"I will have aged out of the office," he said. "The position caps out at age 70, so no. That was an easy answer."

For now, McGivern said he is not planning any sweeping changes. He wants to assure the public the staff will continue to be there, doing the job at a high level.

"I just want to support all the fine people who work here," he said. "Morale is getting better again, and we will continue to strive to keep improving our department. I have seen a lot of challenges in my time in law enforcement, like what we faced during the pandemic, the possibility of losing deputies to layoffs because courts didn't want us in there. Cases were very backed up. But this, this situation, was a rapid-fire event, things hitting one after the other. But I believe in the process. I know it will take time, but we are going to be OK."

This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat: Strafford County sheriff's office rebuilds after Mark Brave exits