Mayor Paul Coogan defends city actions after council seeks outside probe into search warrant

Mayor Paul Coogan and the city’s corporation counsel, Alan Rumsey, said the administration followed legal process after a search warrant that led to the identification of an anonymous Facebook poster, and they rejected a city council effort to retain outside counsel to investigate police conduct.

Coogan told reporters the dispute began after a March 20 social-media post alleging the Fall River Police Department misused a search warrant to reveal criticism of the police chief’s son. "I do not believe there's any basis to investigate the conduct of any policeman in the city of Fall River involved with this," Coogan said, while adding that he nonetheless asked the Massachusetts attorney general to review the matter to remove public suspicion.

Rumsey, the city’s corporation counsel, said the legal question centers on whether the city council has authority to hire outside lawyers to investigate police officers. "When I read [the…