Bi Cop’s Harassment Suit Triggers Investigation
Westchester’s Greenburgh Police Department accused of sexual harassment
BY TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
The Greenburgh Police
Department in
Westchester County is
under investigation after
a bisexual police offi cer there fi led
a lawsuit alleging ongoing sexual
harassment from within the force.
According to News 12, two members
of the Greenburgh Police Department
have already resigned as
part of an independent probe commissioned
by the town of Greenburgh
in response to a 42-page
complaint fi led in the US District
Court for the Southern District of
New York. Greenburgh Police Offi
cer Kristin Stein said she faced
a spate of sexual harassment that
boiled over during roll call in 2019
when Greenburgh Police Offi cer
Jeff Cerone allegedly “pushed his
genital area into her buttocks, toppling
over her and ramming himself
into her.”
According to body camera footage
of the incident obtained by Gay City
News, offi cers are seen laughing
while another offi cer slaps his knee
in response to the incident by Cerone.
In another video, offi cers confi
rmed that Stein was tossed during
the incident, and one offi cer says, “I
think he has a crush on her.”
“He tries to assert his dominance
to show that he has the penis
in the relationship,” another
offi cer said, according to the body
camera footage.
According to the complaint, an internal
investigation into Stein’s sexual
assault allegations led to offi cer
Cerone being “lightly reprimanded,”
which included a reduction in his
vacation time and his removal from
the midnight shift. The suit preceded
➤ RIKERS, from p.4
trans clients are also pushing
back against the plan. The Legal
Aid Society believes the decision
“will create new harms” and cause
disruptions to families, support
networks, and due process. Tina
Luongo, attorney-in-charge of the
The Greenburgh Police Department has been targeted with a sexual harassment lawsuit from a bisexual
police offi cer.
the resignations reported by
News 12 and it is not clear which offi
cers have left the force.
“The Town Board and I will never
tolerate sexual harassment against
members of the LGBTQ community
or anyone,” Greenburgh
Town Supervisor Paul Feiner said
in a written statement to Gay City
News. “We want our employees to
feel comfortable reporting incidents
and also want our employees
to know that we will take every
complaint seriously.” Feiner said
an independent law fi rm is leading
the investigation.
Stein, who said she comes from
a family of police offi cers and
claims to be the fi rst out queer
woman to serve as a police offi -
cer in Greenburgh’s history, said
she was targeted because of her
sexual orientation and gender. She
further accuses the Greenburgh
Police Department of condoning a
work environment rife with sexual
harassment and assault.
Criminal Defense Practice at the
Legal Aid Society, is concerned
that trans and non-binary clients
will lose access to resources or end
up in the wrong housing.
“It throws into chaos a carefully
calibrated web of services which
ensures that women are prepared
for reentry back into society upon
BODY CAMERA FOOTAGE/DENISE COSSU
“It’s a boys’ club and everyone
just falls in line, do as we say, and
you won’t get hurt,” she said. “I’m
the only one that stood up, and I’m
the one that’s hurt.”
Stein explained that she feared
to publicly express her relationship
with her girlfriend because she was
afraid she would be sexualized.
“I truly believe that once the men
in the department found out that
there was a possibility that I was
interested in men, and that I was
in a relationship with a female,
that everything became a fantasy,”
Stein said. “Everything became almost
like pornographic with me.”
The complaint also claims that
another offi cer in the department
sent her gifts, asked her out to dinner,
and repeatedly texted her after
working hours. When the offi cer
discovered that Stein identifi es as
bisexual, he was allegedly upset.
When Stein fi rst joined the department
in 2017, another female
police offi cer advised her not “sleep
release,” Luongo said in a written
statement. “These New Yorkers,
who are being detained pre-trial,
will be moved to state prisons that
are not equipped to hold people defending
criminal charges, and that
do not comport with New York City
Board of Correction standards.”
Lolai said she had already heard
LEGAL
around” and to be tight-lipped about
any alleged sexual harassment
from offi cers, the lawsuit states.
“The discrimination started
because she’s a woman,” Stein’s
lawyer, Denise Cossu of Murtagh,
Cossu, Venditti & Castro-Blanco,
LLP, told Gay City News. “It intensifi
ed because she identifi es as being
bisexual.”
Cossu also fi red back at the
Greenburgh Police Department
after police offi cials told News 12
they disagreed with the characterization
of the video.
“Nothing’s been mischaracterized.
Watch the video, listen to
Kristin,” Cossu said. “Pretending
that an assault didn’t occur is not
going to make it not have occurred.
It occurred; they all saw it.”
Stein has since taken a leave for
her mental health and is worried
that she will have diffi culty fi nding
future work as a police offi cer, saying
she has “been blacklisted” from
police departments.
“I’ve never had one bad reprimand,”
she said. “I’ve only gotten
awards and good community letters.
And within fi ve years, my career
is ruined because I didn’t want
to fall in line with the other guys.”
While Greenburgh Police did
not respond to Gay City News’ requests
for comment, the town is
acknowledging the severity of the
allegations as well as the reality
that some could be skeptical of the
police’s response to the lawsuit.
“If we have an independent review,
people will feel better about
the way we’re handling this,” Feiner
said, adding that he does not want
to see the woman barred from her
dream job. “I want her to feel good
about the town. I know the family.”
from multiple trans clients who expressed
opposition to the transfers.
“They understand it’s going to be
much more complicated for them to
get support for court appearances,”
Lolai said. “They understand that
they are going to be more removed
from the community... and that
scares a lot of people.”
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