Red Bank police union accuses chief of inappropriate behavior; chief fires back

RED BANK — Outgoing Police Chief Darren McConnell has been serving as borough manager. Local police union leaders strongly expressed last week that they would not like that to continue.

They did so by putting McConnell’s love life up for public debate.

Last Thursday, Red Bank Patrolman’s Benevolent Association President Michael Zadlock alleged that McConnell, who is the current interim municipal manager, had engaged in multiple inappropriate relationships with subordinates while working for the department. He said the union took a no-confidence vote for McConnell, a first for the local PBA, alleging his actions have destroyed the morale of the department.

McConnell fired back and leaned in, providing details of two relationships as well as the page in the Red Bank employee handbook that notes such relationships are allowed under certain conditions.

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At the core of the dispute is the technically vacant municipal manager position.

The borough has struggled to find a new manager since Ziad Shehady resigned in April 2021. One of the top priorities of the borough’s new council, which took office in early July, is to find a permanent replacement.

McConnell has held the position while the search continues. He was also scheduled to retire from his police post at the end of July.  That has not occurred and it is unclear why.

“There exists a possibility that he may subsequently return as the borough city manager at some point in the future,” Zadlock said. “As illustrated by the no-confidence vote, our membership is adamantly opposed to any such appointment. Giving McConnell the entire executive power vested in that position to appoint, hire or promote whomever he chooses, causes a major conflict of interest.”

Here’s what we know about the situation:

Relationships

Zadlock said “an overwhelming number of members approved” of a no-confidence vote on Monday, July 10. He has not responded to follow-up questions and did not enumerate the percentage of no-confidence voters in relationship to the entire police department. But during public comments, six police officers stood in solidarity in the back of the council chambers while he spoke. According to pension data, there are 36 individuals who are actively contributing to the Police and Firemen's Retirement System in Red Bank.

He alleged that his police chief engaged in “numerous inappropriate and questionable sexual relationships with PBA members' significant others” and “destroyed the morale of this once proud and distinct agency.”

In a statement, McConnell clarified his conduct.

“I would like to address the allegation that I have had numerous relationships, plural, with the significant others of members of the PBA,” he wrote. “I had one, one, relationship that would fall into this category and it occurred years ago and became a long-term and publicly known relationship, not a hidden secret. To say that I never regretted that decision and never showed remorse is completely untrue, though the PBA as a whole would not know that as they were not a party to that situation in any way. That relationship was something that hurt someone who I had been friends with and I fully accept responsibility for that, and have for years.”

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He categorized his current marriage to Patrolwoman Kristin Altimari as “not a scandal.”

He wrote that Altimari and he had a “brief relationship approximately eight or nine years ago but then moved on with our lives.”

He said Altimari was in a relationship with a member of the PBA before it ended in 2020.

“In the latter part of 2021, Kristin and I got back together, a year after her other relationship had ended.  We became engaged about a year later and were married in July of this year,” he wrote.

McConnell stated that the borough does not prohibit relationships between its employees.

In an emailed scan from a handbook, the employee’s dating policy states that, “The Borough of Red Bank recognizes the right of employees to engage in social relationships with each other, including relationships of a romantic or intimate nature. However, the municipality also recognizes that such relationships can be a problem in the workplace.”

It states that the borough’s policy on “superior/subordinate dating,” is that the couple must report their relationship to their immediate supervisor or human resources.

McConnell said he and his wife went through the proper channels before engaging in their relationship.

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Zadlock also alleged that McConnell was “selectively enforcing borough and police department policies, causing a problem in the workplace” and that he engaged in “favoritism, nepotism and unfair treatment.” Zadlock did not expand upon those allegations.

McConnell stated in an email that he is not going to comment on “personnel matters.”

In the statement, he wrote, “While I cannot and will not discuss any ongoing investigation or any personnel matters, this clearly has become more about personal issues than professional ones.”

Investigations

In the public statement, Zadlock said, “McConnell’s actions have led to the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office to look at how he handled internal affairs complaints regarding his current wife and subordinate that resulted in the prosecutor’s office coming out with a directive February 24, 2023. That directive has not been distributed out to our department, but has been made public to other agencies.”

He also said, “A complaint has also been filed against McConnell with the New Jersey Attorney General’s office which has delayed his retirement, not an unspecified pension issue.”

In an email, Janine N. DeLucia, assistant prosecutor with the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office’s records department, wrote, that the directive in question was a memorandum.

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She wrote, “this memorandum was not formulated as a reaction to any one specific matter, but rather to serve as guidelines intended to improve the fashion in which internal affairs investigations are conducted countywide while providing integrity to such investigations.”

The memorandum dated February 24, 2023 is titled “Internal Affairs Investigations Involving Family Members of Police Chiefs.” It states that complaints directed at family members of police chiefs should be handled by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office unless the agency can handle the investigation without causing concerns.

McConnell wrote in an email that, “the statement by the PBA that the memo was a result of mishandling of internal investigations in the RBPD is a misrepresentation of the facts.”

He wrote, "Typically, when the Prosecutor's Office wants something shared with members of the departments, they indicate such in the memo or email, they made no such request in this instance, and I did not distribute it to anyone other than our Internal Affairs Commander."

The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office wrote in an email that the office “confirm or deny the existence of investigations, and no further information is available at this time.”

Borough manager

Representing the police union, Zadlock spoke in opposition against McConnell holding an executive position in the borough.

In an email, McConnell wrote, “I have not made any decision on (applying for Municipal Manager), and in fact had not made any decision regarding potentially applying for that position even before the PBA's allegations.”

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In the statement, McConnell wrote, “the timing of this action by the PBA is suspect considering that Kristin and I have been very clearly together for approximately two years, and this was undertaken and publicized only as I am about to retire. In fact, in their statement they indicated that their concern was that I could potentially apply to return as the new manager, which appears to me to be an attempt to dictate who the town does or does not hire as the new manager, clearly overstepping the role of a labor union.”

Zadlock ended his comments asking the borough council to meet with the union to discuss “current department’s moral issues, deficiencies and work place conditions that have been caused by McConnell. … We are simply here in an effort to make the newly appointed council aware of the ongoing issues with the police department and to open dialogue. We can work together to solve these issues.”

Olivia Liu is a reporter covering transportation, Red Bank and western Monmouth County. She can be reached at oliu@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Red Bank police union, chief quarrel over workplace relationships