Chief Darren McConnell in 2022, when he also served as interim borough manager. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
This post has been updated since it was first published.
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank Chief Darren McConnell engaged in “unethical behavior” that “has clearly been detrimental to the operations and morale” of the police department, an investigation by the New Jersey Attorney General has concluded.
A damning report by the NJAG’s Special Investigations Unit found that McConnell violated borough policy when he used his position to influence internal affairs probes “involving a subordinate officer… with whom he has a personal/ romantic relationship” and recommends he be “terminated” and not allowed to work for the town “in any capacity.”
The redacted report, provided Friday to redbankgreen by the NJAG upon request, repeatedly blacked out the subordinate’s name. But a conversion of the document by redbankgreen to text format revealed that she is Patrolwoman Kristin Altimari, who married McConnell last summer.
Chief Darren McConnell and his wife, Patrolwoman Kristin Altimari, at a public library event in November. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
The seven-page report from the office of the state’s highest-ranking law enforcement official says that “Given the seriousness of the sustained charges, the Office of the Attorney General recommends that Chief McConnell be terminated and not continue in any capacity with the Borough after retirement, including Business Administrator.”
McConnell’s previously announced plan to retire from the post has been on hold for months because of the pending investigation.
Among the findings of the report by by Investigator Brian Melnick:
• McConnell “failed to conduct business according to the highest ethical standards of public service, in violation of the borough’s Employee Policies and Procedures Conflict of Interest Policy.”
• McConnell failed to report his supervisor/ subordinate dating relationship, also in violation of the policy.
The report also referred to an “unsustained finding” “with regard to [McConnell’s] own family member, also a patrol officer at RBPD,” who is not named. McConnell’s son, also named Darren McConnell, works in the department.
Here’s the full report: NJAG McConnell 021624
McConnell declined comment on the report Friday afternoon, and referred redbankgreen to his attorney, Anthony J. Iacullo, who provided the following prepared statement:
In an email, Mayor Billy Portman told redbankgreen he had not seen the report.
“This matter is being handled by our attorneys and our borough manager,” he wrote. “What I can say is what I have said in the past. I was waiting for the attorney general’s report before the borough took any action. Now that the report has been issued, we will proceed to the next step. At the council meeting last night, we agreed to hire a hearing officer. Chief Mcconnell will have a hearing, as is his right, and we will wait for the report of the hearing officer. ”
Borough Manager Jim Gant sent the following:
“The Borough has relied upon the findings of the Attorney General’s office and took immediate action, placing Chief McConnell on leave. The Borough found the allegations and findings to be concerning but respect the Chief’s right to due process. The Borough has obtained a hearing officer in this matter and will proceed through the process of a disciplinary hearing. The information referred to in the report that was provided to you is the same information that the Borough relied upon which was provided during the day of February 28th. Chief McConnell was subsequently placed on leave later that afternoon. I respect the process that is in motion to handle this matter. In the last two weeks I have met with Captain Frazee, the commanding officer of the Police Department and feel confident that his leadership is what is right for our officers and the community at this time.”
Deputy Mayor/Councilwoman Kate Triggiano, who has served as police commissioner in recent years, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a prepared statement that accompanied the release of the report, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said:
Those in supervisory roles at law enforcement agencies in New Jersey are called upon to conduct themselves according to the highest ethical standards, and to abide by department policies that they enforce. It is critical that those leaders serve as positive role models for the officers under their command, exhibit fairness and a lack of favoritism in dealing with subordinates, and avoid misusing their influence to benefit themselves and those with whom they have personal connections. When undisclosed conflicts of interest lead to questionable personnel decisions, and when they hinder full and fair internal affairs investigations, it compromises the quality of policing as well as the safety and well-being of officers and the public. Supervisors who lack transparency and even-handedness, and who fail to recuse themselves in the face of clear conflicts of interest, damage the operations and morale of police agencies, and they will be held accountable.
The report says Policemen’s Benevolent Association Local 39 President Mike Zadlock filed a complaint with the NJAG last April alleging in part that McConnell “failed to recuse himself” from “approximately fourteen” internal affairs complaints about Altimari during her eight years with the department.
As a result, Altimari has received “severely light to no discipline at all” because of the relationship conflict,” Zadlock alleged.
According to Melnick, Zadlock and a PBA attorney separately brought conflict-of-interest allegations, and claims of a “toxic work environment” created by McConnell, to Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office in a meeting in November, 2022. But, Zadlock told Melnick, “he was informed Chief McConnell’s actions did not constitute a crime and he should present his complaint to the Red Bank Mayor and Council.”
McConnell’s then-role as interim borough manager, a position he held for two and half years, “compounded the problem,” Zadlock told Melnick.
“According to Mr. Zadlock Chief McConnell’s favoritism and selective enforcement of department policies that involve Officer Altimari have been detrimental to the safety and well-being of the officers of the Red Bank Police Department,” the report said.
The report alleges McConnell gave Altimari preferential treatment in a “serious matter involving an improper strip search” of an unidentified person.
From the report:
Chief McConnell decided that instead of a one-day suspension as recommended by the investigator, Patrolwoman Altimari would be sent for remedial training in “search and seizures”. Further inquiry revealed no such training took place until years later, and only after Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office (MCPO) met with RBPD concerning the handling of Patrolwoman Altimari’s internal affairs matters, that she attended a minimal 3-hour training coordinated by MCPO.
Melnick’s findings, dated February 16, were released less than two weeks after Gant placed McConnell on administrative leave, following Gant’s own receipt of the report.
McConnell had announced his plan to retire last August when Zadlock, a patrolman, went public with bombshell allegations accusing McConnell of mismanagement and nepotism, among other issues. The PBA local had endorsed a “no confidence” vote on McConnell’s leadership in July, he said at a council meeting.
In a rebuttal to he PBA’s allegations shortly afterward, McConnell wrote that “while those who want to damage my reputation and that of my wife would categorize [their relationship] as a scandal, it is not.”
Such relationships are common in police work, he wrote, and not prohibited by borough policy, which “simply requires that they be made known through proper channels and be addressed appropriately. I satisfied that requirement upon engaging in our relationship.”
The NJAG investigation, however, found that McConnell “self-disclosed” his relationship with Altimari electronically to his own personnel file on September 28, 2021, and “there is no other independent evidence that he made anyone aware.”
“When asked if he made anyone else at the Borough aware, McConnell said he may have told the previous Mayor or Police Commissioner. However, he wasn’t able to confidently say that he made any notification to anyone else at all,” the report states.
According to the report, McConnell and Altimari, in separate interviews, “described an intimate/personal relationship that began shortly after she was hired in 2014.”
From the report:
Patrolwoman Altimari related that she had a relationship with another member of the department,
a patrolman, whom she began dating in 2016. They “married” in 2019 in a non- binding
commitment ceremony in June of 2019 and ended their relationship of 2020. She related in her
statement that during that time she remained emotionally tied to Chief McConnell. Further, she
acknowledged the intensity of her relationship with Chief McConnell continued during that time
period with sexual encounters up to her engagement and marriage to Chief McConnell earlier
this year. Patrolman Altimari related they did not keep their relationship a secret and the
department members were aware.
Altimari did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
Speaking for Local 39’s executive committee earlier this week, Zadlock told redbankgreen that “all we’ve been asking for is for someone to listen to us and take us seriously, and no one ever did.”
Police Captain Mike Frazee now leads he 39-officer police department in McConnell’s absence, and has been designated by the council to become the next chief upon McConnell’s retirement.
A borough employee since 1988, McConnell has said in the past that state pension rules prevented him from retiring as chief while the PBA’s allegations were pending.
On Thursday, without discussion, the council authorized retired New Jersey Superior Court Judge Deborah Gramiccioni, of the law firm of Kingston Coventry, to serve as the hearing officer in an unspecified matter regarding an unnamed “police officer,” according to a resolution on the agenda.
The officer has been advised borough’s “intention to discipline the employee,” it says, and “the employee has invoked the provisions of N.J.S.A. 40A:1-147, which requires an internal hearing before discipline is imposed against a police officer.”
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