Boston police lieutenant on leave during attendance probe

A Boston police lieutenant has been placed on paid leave amid an Internal Affairs investigation into his attendance record, authorities said Tuesday.

Lieutenant Robert A. Dwan, a 26-year veteran of the force, went on leave on Sept. 18, police said. The department would not elaborate, but a law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation said police are looking into Dwan’s time and attendance issues. The official requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the case.

A call to a number listed for Dwan, 51, of Westwood, was not returned Tuesday night. He earned $266,502.85 last year, including $57,980.17 in overtime and $43,548 in details, city payroll records show.

In 2011, Dwan served with the US Army National Guard as a garrison commander in the New Kabul Compound, the sprawling US headquarters in Afghanistan. “It’s dangerous everywhere,’’ he told the Globe by phone during his deployment. “But this is what you train for.’’

In addition, Dwan had previously led a National Guard platoon during Operation Desert Storm and received accolades for his service.

His new troubles, however, are not the first time he has clashed with Police Department brass.

Dwan was placed on leave in 1998 in connection with the Jan. 25, 1995, beating of plainclothes officer Michael Cox, who was mistaken for a suspect. Dwan remained on leave for about 15 months and was reinstated after passing a polygraph exam, according to court records.

“They just walked in and ripped my heart out,'' he told the Globe shortly after his suspension in 1998. “I didn't see who did it. I don't know who did it. And I wasn't in the location where they said it happened.”

He also lamented the toll that the Cox case had taken on his reputation.

“No matter what they do, they can never make this right,” Dwan said at the time. “People were looking at me as if I were an animal.”