WOONSOCKET — A city police officer is alleging that the police chief and deputy chief changed test results and corrected a test in-house to change the rankings of police recruits.

Sgt. John Scully, the president of the Woonsocket police union, notified Mayor Susan D. Menard of the allegations in a letter dated yesterday. In the letter, he says that an officer told him that Chief Michael Houle and Deputy Chief Richard Dubois violated testing procedures.

“An assertion has been made by an officer that certain testing procedures have been violated by the Deputy Chief and Chief. Specifically, I have been told that test results have been changed and a test was corrected in house by the Deputy Chief in order to change the ranking of police recruits. I have memorialized my conversations with all involved parties and stand ready to offer testimony to any investigatory body or commission that you may convene. I do not undertake this correspondence lightly; these charges are serious in nature and it is my duty to report any allegations of wrong doing on the part of any officer of the Woonsocket Police Department,” Scully wrote in his letter.

Scully said that police exams are normally sent to the exam company for correction because it is an independent source. He said the allegations refer to tests taken in summer 2004.

He said in the letter that allegations may or may not be criminal in nature but that he notified Menard, in her capacity as public safety director, because he does not have the authority to investigate his supervisors. Menard said “I have no response at this time. When I have had an opportunity to digest the letter, I will, right now I’m auditing and budgeting.” Neither Houle nor Dubois returned calls for comment.

Scully said that Menard launched an internal investigation yesterday and that he was questioned by Lt. Marc Turcotte from the Police Department’s internal affairs division. He questioned why the investigation would not be done by an independent department such as the state police.

Scully would not divulge the name of the officer who told him about Houle and Dubois.

The allegations are connected to the impending resignation of Marsha Bish, the former wife of Chief Houle. Scully confirmed that Bish had filed resignation papers but she had not signed them, and she is still part of the union. Bish had been on a two-month suspension without pay from the Police Department along with four other officers for their failure to notice that a woman prisoner smuggled a gun into her jail cell over night.

Scully said Bish was ready to come back to work when she was accused of other offenses, which he would not specify. A packet of information regarding Bish was sent to the attorney general’s office. Special Assistant Attorney General Paul A.Carnes concluded that there was insufficient evidence to charge Bish with any criminal offense.

Asked if she had told Scully about Houle and Dubois, Bish said, “I can’t comment. I went to an outside agency that will further investigate this [the allegations against Houle and Dubois].”

Bish said that she had not filled out her resignation papers yet. “I might fight them now. They are telling a lot of … lies. They lie to scare the … out of you. I don’t have any further comment.”

Councilman John Ward said that the council is working toward initiating a management study and investigation of the Police Department and that the latest allegations about the chief and deputy chief are among the things that will be investigated by the company the council picks. In the meantime, it’s the mayor’s job to initiate an investigation, he said.

tpina@projo.com