By Sunayana Prabhu and Stephen Appezzato
RED BANK – Accusations of unethical conduct by the leader of the Red Bank Police Department were made public at the Aug. 10 council meeting.
The borough’s police union made several allegations against police chief and interim borough administrator Darren McConnell, citing conduct that has “destroyed the morale” of the agency, according to the statement read by Michael Zadlock, president of the Red Bank Police Benevolent Association (PBA) Local 39, at the meeting.
Responding later in an emailed statement to The Two River Times, McConnell refuted the PBA’s assertions as a “false and defamatory narrative.”
Zadlock, accompanied by members of the executive board of PBA Local 39, accused McConnell of “numerous inappropriate and questionable sexual relationships with PBA members’ significant others” and “selectively influencing borough and police department policies, causing a problem in the workplace,” in addition to “favoritism, nepotism and unfair treatment.” Zadlock told the council these issues “have created friction among coworkers, which has brought us to this vote.”
Early in the public comment, Mayor Billy Portman interrupted Zadlock, saying he would prefer to hear the statement “in a closed executive session,” as he claimed it was a personnel item. Zadlock insisted it was a matter of public concern.
“McConnell has shown he only cares about himself, disregarding any concern for the havoc that he has caused,” Zadlock read.
Local 39 had a special meeting July 10 during which an “overwhelming number of members” approved the vote of no confidence. The “vast majority” of union members “do not have confidence in McConnell,” Zadlock said, “not only as head of our police department but also the borough’s interim municipal manager.”
Although McConnell said in a statement Aug. 12 that he cannot discuss any ongoing investigation or any personnel matter, he did say, “This clearly has become more about personal issues than professional ones.”
Addressing the allegations in the PBA statement, McConnell stressed that “despite the picture being painted that I have engaged in numerous inappropriate relationships, that is not the truth.” He admitted to one relationship within the department with Patrol Officer Kristin Altimari which “occurred years ago and became a long-term and publicly known relationship, not a hidden secret,” he said. McConnell married Altimari in July this year.
“While those who want to damage my reputation and that of my wife would categorize that as a scandal, it is not,” McConnell said about his marriage.
“Kristin and I had a brief relationship approximately eight or nine years ago but then moved on with our lives,” McConnell explained in the statement. “Kristin subsequently became involved in a new relationship with another member of the PBA, which lasted until 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. That is not a scandal, it is a relationship and part of life.”
Workplace relationships are “extremely common in law enforcement,” McConnell asserted, and noted neither the borough nor the police department “prohibits such relationships.” He said the department “simply requires that they be made known through proper channels and be addressed appropriately. I satisfied that requirement upon engaging in our relationship.”
According to the police union, the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office has been investigating how McConnell “handled internal affairs complaints regarding his current wife and subordinate.”
McConnell announced his retirement as police chief and interim borough administrator effective July 31 but cited “pension issues” for a delay which has kept him in both jobs. He also expressed interest in the municipal manager position created when Red Bank’s new government took effect July 1, if it is still available after his initial 90-day separation period per state pension rules.
During the meeting, Zadlock told the council McConnell’s retirement has been put “on hold” because of a complaint filed against him with the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, “not an unspecified pension issue.”
These allegations came at a meeting that included agenda items authorizing the posting of the new municipal manager position as well as a resolution appointing McConnell as interim municipal manager which the Local 39 membership is “adamantly opposed to,” Zadlock said, advising the council that “giving McConnell the entire executive power vested in that position to appoint, hire or promote whomever he chooses causes a major conflict of interest.”
The union has demanded McConnell be placed on “administrative leave immediately until further notice.”
McConnell said he believes the timing of this action by the PBA “is suspect,” indicating in his statement that “this (vote of no confidence) was undertaken and publicized only as I am about to retire.” He further stated that the fact that the PBA was “concerned” about his continuing as municipal manager is “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 told the council the previous governing body was made aware of the allegations but “inexplicably failed to take any corrective action” against McConnell. The union most recently reached out to the new council in a letter dated July 13 to “discuss the current department’s morale issues, deficiencies and workplace conditions that had been caused by McConnell,” said Zadlock. The PBA leadership was going to meet with Mayor Billy Portman about their concerns at Thursday’s non-public executive meeting but since McConnell is still currently employed by the borough, the meeting was canceled. Zadlock said Portman “did not feel that it was a meeting to take place until the new police chief is appointed.”
During the public meeting, council member David Cassidy expressed the “utmost confidence in the professionalism” of the police department regardless of their “disagreement” within.
“I want to make a point that at this table,” Cassidy said. “I’ve seen nothing but professionalism from everybody.”
The article originally appeared in the August 17 – 23, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
