Me & my bigot mouth!
Racial flaps for cop review head
THE FRESHLY MINTED head of the watchdog group that investigates police misconduct was once accused of making racist remarks about black and Latino employees — and blurting out inappropriate comments about a worker’s behind.
Civilian Complaint Review Board Executive Director Jonathan Darche, 44, called a section of agency office cubicles where Latino employees usually sat as “el barrio,” according to a confidential report obtained by The Associated Press. And Darche, who is white, once told a black employee that she should give her children “black names” so they could get into college, according to the report.
Darche, who was named executive director of the CCRB last week, was accused of making the remarks in 2013 when he was a deputy supervisor in one of the agency’s prosecution units, the AP reported. The complaints involving race were both substantiated.
He was also accused of grabbing or trying to grope an employee’s butt in an elevator. Instead of owning up to the crude act, he asked a woman, “Why did you grab his a--?”
The CCRB boss couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday.
Darche was docked four vacation days and ordered to undergo management training.
The revelations make up the most recent chapter in a book of questionable behavior involving the leadership of the CCRB. Darche is the CCRB’s third boss in four years.
Last year, former board Chairman Richard Emery was forced to resign after then Executive Director Mina Malik sued him for calling her and another woman co-worker “p-----s.” Malik ultimately dropped the lawsuit and left the CCRB in November to take a teaching job at Harvard Law School.
Darche, who was Malik’s second in command, was officially named her replacement on May 15, officials said. He had been acting executive director since her departure.
The former Queens assistant district attorney had been officially running the agency for eight days before the troubling allegations were made public.
Darche was also accused of making a crude sexual remark when asked why he was wearing a softball T-shirt to work, according to the AP report.
No formal complaints were ever made, but a senior administrator started the investigation and put together the nine-page Equal Employment Opportunity report after hearing about them, officials said.
Darche has since apologized for the “el barrio” remark and the college comment. Nicole Junior, the black employee he made the college comment to, has since forgiven him, officials said.
“Mr. Darche took responsibility, was held accountable, and has demonstrated his commitment to our policies and staff,” CCRB Chairwoman Maya Wiley said in a statement.
Mayor de Blasio lauded Darche as “a key ally in this administration’s effort to promote police accountability” when he was selected for the $195,000-ayear post.