{"id":2043,"date":"2020-11-06T18:00:21","date_gmt":"2020-11-06T18:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/council.nyc.gov\/press\/?p=2043"},"modified":"2020-11-06T18:00:21","modified_gmt":"2020-11-06T18:00:21","slug":"speaker-corey-johnson-and-oversight-and-investigations-chair-ritchie-torres-announce-report-on-nypd-official-inappropriate-online-behavior","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/council.nyc.gov\/press\/2020\/11\/06\/2043\/","title":{"rendered":"Speaker Corey Johnson and Oversight and Investigations Chair Ritchie Torres Announce Report on NYPD Official Inappropriate Online Behavior"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York\u202f\u2013\u202f<\/strong>New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and Oversight and Investigations\u00a0Committee\u00a0Chair Ritchie Torres today\u00a0released a\u00a0Council\u00a0Oversight and Investigations report\u00a0containing substantial evidence pointing to\u00a0the identity of an anonymous online persona responsible for numerous and repeated\u00a0unacceptable\u00a0and disgusting\u00a0online posts. The\u00a0evidence reveals that the\u00a0anonymous poster, who\u00a0went by the name \u201cClouseau\u201d\u00a0on the vitriolic public online message board known as \u201cLaw Enforcement Rant,\u201d\u00a0appears\u00a0to be Deputy Inspector James Francis Kobel.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Deputy Inspector Kobel\u00a0was\u00a0the\u00a0commanding officer of the NYPD\u2019s Office\u00a0of Equal Employment Opportunity\u00a0(EEO), which is a sub-unit of the NYPD\u2019s Office of Equity and Inclusion (OEI).\u00a0\u00a0This division\u00a0of the NYPD is responsible for promoting \u201ca fair, safe, inclusive and\u00a0accommodating\u00a0work environment for all members of the [NYPD]\u201d and\u00a0\u201cfor ensuring [the NYPD\u2019s] employees are treated with dignity and respect in the workplace…and promoting a fair and inclusive workplace that is free from discrimination and harassment,\u201d according to the office\u2019s website.\u00a0He has held this position since May of this year. His previous role was to serve as the executive officer (second in command) of the EEO for at least four years.\u00a0Deputy Inspector Kobel\u00a0has been relieved of his command and placed on modified assignment after the Council\u2019s findings were shared with the NYPD.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Speaker Johnson and Chair Torres also announced that the Council will hold a public hearing on this matter\u00a0in the coming weeks.\u00a0The entire report is\u00a0available here<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe abhorrent racist, misogynist,\u00a0and homophobic messages,\u00a0which our evidence reveals was\u00a0posted by\u00a0NYPD Deputy Inspector James\u00a0Francis Kobel,\u00a0are\u00a0deplorable\u00a0and intolerable. It is outrageous that any\u00a0public servant\u00a0– let alone the\u00a0person in charge of\u00a0handling\u00a0harassment\u00a0and equal opportunity\u00a0at the department\u00a0–\u00a0would behave in this reprehensible and unprofessional manner.\u00a0This Council\u00a0will\u00a0take immediate action to find out how this could have happened,\u00a0what steps are needed to make sure someone like this is never empowered again in the NYPD,\u00a0and to investigate the work this officer and his office has done in the past, all of which has been called into question by this investigation.\u00a0I commend the work of Council Member Ritchie Torres\u00a0and the staff of the Oversight and Investigations Committee\u00a0for\u00a0their vital work on this investigation,\u201d said Council Speaker Corey Johnson.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe virulent bigotry of Deputy Inspector James Francis Kobel has no place in the NYPD, much less in the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity. The shocking nature\u00a0of the\u00a0misconduct\u00a0revealed in this report\u00a0would call\u00a0for nothing less than termination,\u201d said Oversight and Investigations Committee Chair Ritchie Torres.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

###<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New York\u202f\u2013\u202f<\/strong>New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and Oversight and Investigations\u00a0Committee\u00a0Chair Ritchie Torres today\u00a0released a\u00a0Council\u00a0Oversight and Investigations report\u00a0containing substantial evidence pointing to\u00a0the identity of an anonymous online persona responsible for numerous and repeated\u00a0unacceptable\u00a0and disgusting\u00a0online posts. The\u00a0evidence reveals that the\u00a0anonymous poster, who\u00a0went by the name \u201cClouseau\u201d\u00a0on the vitriolic public online message board known as \u201cLaw Enforcement Rant,\u201d\u00a0appears\u00a0to be Deputy Inspector James Francis Kobel.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

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