WOONSOCKET — Five police officers from the Woonsocket Police Department have been given disciplinary actions that range from two-month suspensions without pay to a letter of reprimand for their failure to properly search a woman who was able to smuggle a gun into a jail cell where she was held overnight Nov. 7.

The police discovered the gun the next day, when Warwick resident Anne Sullivan, 49, was boarding a van to be taken to District Court in Providence for arraignment on a charge of possession of cocaine. A Colt .380 automatic allegedly fell out of her pants. She faces additional charges of possession of a firearm by a convict in a crime of violence and failure to have a license or permit for a firearm.

The Police Department conducted an internal investigation and, based on conclusions, Police Chief Michael Houle reprimanded the officers who took part in processing Sullivan, Major Richard Dubois said. The officers were given reprimands based on their involvement, Dubois said. Two officers received two months without pay for disciplinary charges of unsatisfactory performance and lack of knowledge of police directives. One officer received a two-day suspension without pay for unsatisfactory performance and lack of knowledge of police directives and another received a letter of reprimand for unsatisfactory performance. Another officer received a four-day suspension without pay.

The incident prompted the Police Department to order all its officers to receive retraining in search and seizure procedures as well as procedures for custody and control of prisoners, Dubois said. Representatives from the sheriff’s department and the ACI will work with the Woonsocket officers, Dubois said.

“They were trained properly how to do it. There’s a hundred people here and some of them have gotten complacent,” Dubois said. “Complacency is the worse thing you can do. It could have easily led to the death of an officer.”

The incident is the latest in a slew of suspensions and investigations in the Police Department, which have raised questions about the department’s leadership. In the past couple of months an officer in the department was charged with tampering with a computer in the department; Houle was suspended two days for improperly destroying drug evidence; two officers were suspended for investigating the officer illegally accessing a department computer.

Detective Sgt. John Scully III, the president of the police union, said, “I would rather see a reprimand than go to a funeral. “They do this day in and day out. The minute you let your guard down, something like this happens.”

Council President Leo Fontaine said that he had received notice that the administration wants to have a work session with the council about police personnel matters. He believed it pertains to the latest incident.

“There’s been great concern on the council’s part over many things in the Police Department and this is one of those things that needs to be looked into. At this point, we will be looking forward to a study of the department,” Fontaine said.

tpina@projo.com