THE THIN BLUE LINE
The first incident happened on Nov. 17, 2021, at the Cincinnati Police Department’s Real Time Crime Center (RTCC), according to the internal investigation. Drach reportedly made a habit of picking up calls from telemarketers and arguing with them. During this particular call, the report says she called the person on the line a “sand n—–.”
An RTCC senior crime analyst with family from Iran overheard Drach and confronted her about it. “What the fuck, Kelly?” the employee asked in shock, according to the internal report. Drach apologized, though the analyst told investigators the apology did not feel as sincere as she’d hoped.
About a week later, Drach used the slur once again in front of her colleagues during another heated argument with a telemarketer.
“I heard a girl in there yelling n—– in there two times. I have to sit right next to [their] door and they should not be saying this word,” an employee wrote in an anonymous letter to human resources. “Someone who uses this word should not work for my city. I hope you do something about this.”
The Cincinnati PD did not comment.
Drach admitted to her use of the slur during the CPD’s ensuing internal review. During her disciplinary hearing, Drach attributed her decision to use the slur to multiple issues:
- personal stress emanating from the pandemic
- health issues with her father
- the loss of two children
- her husband losing his job
- her eldest son suffering from mental health issues
She said she had been working with a therapist for several years to address the stress.
Cincinnati’s Fraternal Order of Police president Sergeant Dan Hils spoke on Drach’s behalf at the hearing, highlighting her lack of disciplinary history and positive performance evaluations. Drach’s personnel file shows a history of high marks for exceeding expectations during performance reviews.
Drach ultimately was suspended for seven days without pay, which she served in May. According to the report, District Four commander Mark Burns made the recommendation based on the fact Drach repeated the slur weeks later.
❋Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval said the punishment was too light.
❋“Shameful, racist statements like these have no place in our police department. CPD is an organization sworn to serve our residents, and actions like this are a betrayal of that mission. I want to be clear that this officer should have been fired, because our City should have a zero tolerance policy,” Pureval says.
Last week on a News Views discussion, another Cincinnati officer, Rose Valentino, was caught on her body cam yelling “Oh, I f****** hate them so much. F****** God. I hate this f****** world. F****** hate it , F****** n******s. I f****** hate them.”
Valentino was suspended until further notice and is still awaiting disciplinary action. Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval signaled he doesn’t want to see her return to her post.
Officer Valentino, like Officer Kelly Drach, claims to have mental issues.
Thanks to stingray68 for today’s The Thin Blue Line news tip.
