$700G deal in Blue bias
Black cops’ suit over promotions
Three black detectives who said they were discriminated against in the NYPD’s elite Intel Division have received a $700,000 settlement.
The detectives — Jon McCollum, Theodore Coleman and Roland Stephens — had blamed the division’s commanding officer, Chief Thomas Galati, for systematically discriminating against them while promoting less-qualified white colleagues. Galati’s predecessor, now-retired Deputy Commissioner David Cohen, was also named in the suit. Galati and Cohen are white.
“In spite of their proven track records of achievement and strong recommendations from their direct supervisors, they were repeatedly passed up for promotion due to their race. More than one supervisor who recommended them said that if they had been white then they would have been promoted,” read the suit, which was filed in 2017 and settled last week.
Their claims were backed up by an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission finding. The 2016 report, which came after a five-year probe, described a ”wholly subjective and secret process (that) operates without any structured guidelines.” The Department of Justice declined to sue the NYPD over the finding that black Intel detectives weren’t treated equally, but it was a critical piece of evidence in the lawsuit.
Coleman, who has died, was represented by his wife, Sara Coleman. McCollum and Stephens are retired.
“The NYPD, as well as DOJ, over the course of years, carefully reviewed statistical and other evidence on promotions and diversity within the Intelligence Bureau. Race discrimination is not a factor in the promotional process,” an NYPD spokeswoman said. “Discretionary promotions are based on a number of considerations which may include time, grade and performance. The city made a practical decision to settle this case with no admission of wrongdoing on the part of the NYPD, and with claims against all NYPD officials dismissed.”
A source within the Intel Division said the settlement was the result of an ongoing unfair system overseen by Galati.
“They all worked for Galati, who promoted everyone else except them because they weren’t ‘friends of Galati,’ ” the source said, using a phrase commonly referred to by its acronym, FOG.
“If you’re not a ‘friend of Galati’s,’ he doesn’t take care of you.”
Disgruntled members of the division say almost all “FOGs” are white.
“The detectives are happy with the result, which finally recognized their years of exemplary service at the NYPD,” attorney Elizabeth Saylor said. “They are disappointed that the NYPD still refuses to reform its secret, standardless promotions process.”
There are around 600 employees in the Intel Division, including around 280 detectives, according to the lawsuit.
The settlement includes back pay and damages to cover loss of reputation. The agreement could factor in lawsuits brought by six disgruntled members of Mayor de Blasio’s executive protection unit.
The officers, most of whom are detectives, alleged they were passed over for promotions due to race, age and ethnicity. All the cops have been transferred from the mayor’s detail since filing suit. Some were promoted after they sued. The executive protection unit is part of the Intel Division.
“(Promotions) are hard to understand in terms of what the criteria are,” said Marshall Bellovin, an attorney for the protection unit officers. “The criteria aren’t published.”
McCollum, Coleman and Stephens alleged in their Manhattan Federal Court suit that black detectives in the Intel Division were often posted in the “rap unit,” which was dedicated to working undercover at concerts and monitoring hip-hop beefs, among other operations. It was a dead-end gig within a division focused primarily on preventing terrorist attacks, the suit said.
The complaint noted that in 2011 blacks made up 18% of all police officers and 16% of detectives. However, in the Intel Division, just 6% were black. The figures were more skewed in the upper ranks of the division, where there were no black officers above the rank of sergeant. More recent statistics were not available.
“I did everything I could to get promoted,” McCollum previously told the Daily News. “I watched countless white detectives from my class move up in rank, but not me. Multiple supervisors told me if I were white I would have been promoted.”