MINEOLA, N.Y. (WCBS 880) — A coalition of civil rights groups and police fraternal organizations on Friday again called for the resignation of Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder over comments he made regarding minority police recruits.
Late last month, Ryder in an interview with Newsday said the reason why many Black candidates do not show up for the police exam is because they “come from broken homes.”
“These kids struggle in these communities because they don’t have both parents around. They don’t have a family history of law enforcement. They’re at a disadvantage starting off. And we have to recognize it and it’s true. I can’t fix the family home, but I can fix the kid,” the police commissioner said during the interview.
Immediately following the comments, the police commissioner faced intense backlash with groups and lawmakers demanding Nassau County Executive Laura Curran remove Ryder from his position.
Curran refused and Ryder issued a public apology. The county also formed a committee to improve diversity hiring, but activists say it’s not enough.
“Those statements smack of racial insensitivity and those statements smack of a whole lack of understanding,” said attorney Fred Brewington, with Long Island Advocates for Police Accountability.
The attorney says Ryder’s comments prove he is unable to lead the police force.
“This is a commissioner who has shown over and over again that he cannot appropriately address the needs of diversity and race in the county of Nassau, as the leader of the Nassau County Police Department,” he said.
Retired NYPD Detective Dennis Jones agreed and said Ryder needs to resign or should be fired.
“This is a leader that we were expecting to foster in improvements in policing in Nassau? There's no way that he can do that,” Jones said.
The calls came shortly after new recruits were sworn in on Friday as police officers in Nassau County. Most of the new police officers, however, are white.
“[Out of the] 500 African Americans applying to be police officers and in Suffolk and Nassau County, and only 67 being hired – that's 1%,” Brewington said.
Brewington notes that racial issues have been prevalent on Long Island for years, and Ryder has continuously failed to address them.
“Dealing with the inequities in racial disparities of arrests of African Americans in Nassau, and the numbers with regard to use of force – three times more for African Americans,” the attorney said.
Curran previously said she has no plans to remove Ryder from his position.
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