66°F clear sky

RED BANK: MCPO WEIGHS IN ON PBA CLAIM

Chief Darren McConnell speaking at an event in 2021. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topicThe Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office amended its policy on internal-affairs investigations into matters involving relatives of local police chiefs in February, the agency told redbankgreen Monday.

But the changes were “not formulated as a reaction to any one specific matter,” the MCPO said in a statement that appeared to contradict an assertion made last week by Red Bank’s police union about borough police Chief Darren McConnell.

McConnell said the statement bares “another misrepresentation of the facts by the PBA.”

More →

RED BANK: McCONNELL REBUTS ALLEGATIONS

red bank darren mcconnellChief Darren McConnell at the police station in 2020. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topicRed Bank police Chief Darren McConnell acknowledged Saturday that he’d had a relationship with a former “significant other” of a department employee “years ago,” but none since.

The admission came two days after the police union accused McConnell of engaging in “numerous inappropriate and questionable sexual relationships with the significant others'” of department personnel, as well as alleged ethical lapses that led to “no confidence” vote by local members last month.

More →

RED BANK: PBA BLASTS McCONNELL’S ‘ETHICS’

PBA president Mike Zadlock, at table, addressing the council while the union’s executive committee members stood. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

[See CLARIFICATION below]

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topicRed Bank’s police union accused Chief Darren McConnell of “numerous inappropriate and questionable sexual relationships” with employees and other alleged ethical lapses Thursday night.

The allegations, aired during a council meeting, came a month after a previously undisclosed “no confidence” vote by Police Benevolent Local 39, and almost two weeks after McConnell had been expected to retire.

More →