“This Police administration has claimed to be fair and transparent since they came into office yet they hold the officers of the Mount Vernon Police Department to a different set of standards than they expect of themselves,” Mount Vernon PBA President Nicholas Mastrogiorgio shared with Black Westchester. “Ernest Morales consistently fails to negotiate in good faith on disciplinary charges, he continues to punish officers after deals are reached with them, and he threatens officers that leave by telling them they won’t be welcome back if they try to return, all while he himself is trying to leave and he himself has been the subject of over 20 disciplinary investigations. The hypocrisy is sickening, by his own standard, he should be fired.”
In a meeting with the Commissioner about a person they are seeking disciplinary charges against, Mastrogiorgio made the argument that other than this one allegation, the Officer has not had any other disciplinary charges against him or any civilian complaints. The same argument Police Commissioner Glenn Scott made to Black Westchester when questioned about Deputy Morales having 20 NYC CCRB complaints against him.
Deputy Commissioner Morales responded that the Officer in question had TWO previous civilian complaints that were unsubstantiated. Mastrogiorgio went on to make an argument that unsubstantiated claims are claims that weren’t proven and should not be held against that officer and was subsequently told that even thought the claims were unsubstantiated, they showed a pattern of inappropriate behavior.
“Well after a little research I discovered that our very own “Dean of Discipline”, First Deputy Commissioner Ernest Morales, has a pattern of inappropriate behavior throughout his career as well,” Mastrogiorgio shared with Black Westchester.
A simple search of New York City Police Department CCRB records shows that holier than thou Deputy Commissioner Morales has no less than 28 allegations against him.
One case was SUBSTANTIATED
He was EXONERATED on 16 cases
The victim was uncooperative on 2 cases
There were 7 UNSUBSTANTIATED cases
And 2 UNFOUNDED case.This is the disciplinarian that the City hired to keep the MVPD in check. By this police administration’s own standard he should have been fired for his pattern of “inappropriate behavior”. I guess there is a different set of standards in which the Commissioners are judged by.
I see a clear PATTERN of “Abuse of Authority” allegations which apparently continues to this day as he unfairly punishes Officers who have done little if anything wrong. Even after dishing out lengthy punishments, he continues to harass certain Officers in different ways. In one case, after an Officer served lengthy punishment and agreed to accept charges he felt were not justified, the Officer was placed on assignments The Deputy Commissioner knew he didn’t want despite the Officers direct supervisor’s objections and the Officer’s own seniority.
All this CCRB information can be verified at the following website:
https://www1.nyc.gov/site/ccrb/policy/MOS-records.page
When you check, be sure and Look him up under ACTIVE Officers because apparently, he is still employed and paid by the NYPD
I discussed the matter with Commissioner Scott who texted me late Thursday night when he heard I was working on a story. I followed up Friday night and he called me to discuss the matter. I gave him an opportunity to send me an official quote by this morning when I told him I was going to press. Even though he defended Morales on the phone, informing me Morales was thoroughly vetted, I did not receive an official statement. Commissioner Scott told me over the phone that over a 30 year career, even though there were up to 20 complaints to the NYC Civilian Complaint Review Board, only one was substantiated.
PBA President Mastrogiorgio tried to make the case that the officer in question had two previous civilian complaints that were unsubstantiated. If that shows a pattern of inappropriate behavior, by First Deputy Commissioner Ernest Morales own standards he too should be fired because in his own words, ‘even thought the claims were unsubstantiated, they showed a pattern of inappropriate behavior.’ Morales has at least one that was substantiated among 20 claims. I reminded Commissioner Scott that we all know even though a claim against an officer is unsubstantiated, it does not mean that officer is innocent of the claims. It doesn’t mean he is guilty either but I pointed out the double standard, made public in Mastrogiorgio’s statement.
It leads to one asking the questions just how well was Morales vetted and how he can lead by a different standard then he himself received. We welcome Commissioner Scott and Deputy Commissioner Morales to contact us to give their side of the story. Stay tuned to Black Westchester I am sure this will not be the last we hear of this story!
