A St. Thomas University criminologist says the Fredericton Police Force should be more open about its investigation into allegations of wrongdoing by some of its members after a bar fight.

An anonymous email was distributed last week to media outlets, the police and city officials, alleging that two off-duty police officers assaulted a CFB Gagetown soldier in the downtown bar district.

The email claimed that when an on-duty police officer arrived, he arrested the alleged victim and let go his off-duty colleagues.

In an interview with CBC News on Thursday, Leanne Fitch, the deputy police chief in Fredericton, said the matter is under investigation and no other information can be released.

Michael Boudreau, a professor at St. Thomas University, said these issues "cry out for transparency."

The criminologist said the Fredericton police should not just acknowledge an investigation is underway, but instead should be outlining all of the steps being taken to probe the complaint.

"At least inform [the public] of what's the next stage, and the next stage. I think it behooves the police to always let the public know what's happening," Boudreau said.

"And rather than being prompted by the media to say 'Oh yes, there is an investigation,' that's troubling as well, that it took prompting to get them to even admit that 'Yes, we are investigating this.'"

Boudreau said the allegations in the email could be false, but unless police are open about their investigation, the public will remain suspicious about what really happened.