WOONSOCKET — About 25 police officers, including the head of the police union, attended the City Council meeting Monday night to voice their frustration with the operation of the Police Department and to ask when the department review will occur.

They also wanted to dispel comments by Mayor Susan D. Menard that they are complaining because they do not have a contract.

The police union, Local 404, gave Police Chief Michael Houle a vote of no confidence at the end of December. Sgt. John Scully, the union president, said that police officers are concerned with Houle’s lack of communication with command staff, rash decisions and favoritism.

“There is no communication with the command staff. He makes irrational decisions at whim. Stuff like that hurts the whole department when others are not part of the decision-making,” Scully said.

Scully used the example of the man who last month hanged himself in a jail cell at police headquarters. Normally after such an incident a chief would sit down with the department heads and talk about what actually happened and review the videotape, Scully said. “There was no meeting at all. There was no command staff. The chief says once he has command staff meetings it’s leaked out to the press.”

During the past year, various police officers have been accused of misconduct. Last spring, Houle was suspended for improperly destroying drug-case evidence. After that an officer was charged with computer tampering, and a captain and lieutenant suspended for their involvement in the investigation of the case won their case in court. Last month, five officers were suspended after a woman who spent the night in the lockup was able to smuggle a gun into her cell.

Menard said yesterday that the officers’ complaints stem from frustration at not being able to reach a contract agreement. The union has been without a contract since June 2005 and has been following its old contract. “That is the issue as far as I’m concerned. I was very willing to sit down but they wouldn’t do that. We are going to arbitration,” she said. During negotiations, Menard has asked for the captains not to be part of the union, mandatory drug and alcohol testing and for the special squad to have more flexible hours. “I want more flexibility with the drug squad. They are only obligated to work certain hours. They work during the day and some of the problems with drug dealers happen at night,” she said.

Menard said that the real reason the union doesn’t like the chief is “[he] won’t let them run the police station. As long as I’m mayor, that is not going to happen. I’ve got to find three-quarters of a million dollars for the city [cut by the state]. I’m making that a priority not the silliness that is going on down in the police station,” Menard said.

The union has lobbied for a team of outside experts to evaluate the management of the department while Houle and Menard have set their sights on an accreditation process that would align the department with a set of standards and in the process address any internal problems.

Council President Leo Fontaine said that the city has received eight bids from companies vying to review the Police Department. The bids range from $34,000 to $185,000.

tpina@projo.com