Ryder confirmed as Nassau top cop after final grilling

The Nassau County Legislature unanimously confirmed Patrick Ryder as the county police commissioner on Monday, after a round of questioning about late-breaking sexual harassment allegations and his outside work training foreign governments in law enforcement techniques.

Ryder, of Wantagh, has served as acting commissioner since Thomas Krumpter’s retirement last June. He joined the New York Police Department in 1984 and was appointed two years later to the Nassau County Police Department. He became the deputy commanding officer of asset forfeiture and intelligence in 2000 and commanding officer in 2008, holding the position until 2016.

At the Legislature’s Monday meeting, Ryder became emotional as he addressed a letter accusing him of sexually harassing female employees, which was received by legislators and County Executive Laura Curran late on Friday.

“I stand here today and I tell you, as would my wife of 28 years, my three sisters and my 18-year-old daughter, who’s livestreaming this from college,” Ryder said, “I did not and I will not ever degrade a woman.”

Ryder added that he had been taught in his personal life, and as a professional, to always respect and treat all people equally, and that if he ever failed to, his mother “would come out of the grave and smack me.”

According to County Attorney Jared Kasschau, the sexual harassment claim against Ryder was immediately investigated by outside counsel, with interviews taking place over the weekend. The allegations were found to be without merit, he said.

“The administration takes allegations of sexual harassment very seriously,” Kasschau said. “There were interviews conducted, the administration ran the investigation to the ground … and [counsel] determined that the foundations were meritless, and recommended that the county close the investigation, which it has.”

Legislators on both sides of the aisle expressed their confidence in Ryder, despite the allegations, with Democratic Minority Leader Kevan Abrahams calling his time working with Ryder “a breath of fresh air.

Abrahams did question Ryder over his outside personal business, Real Time Intelligence Limited, a consulting agency he started in 2010, for which he lectured foreign governments on law enforcement tactics.

According to Ryder, he taught officials from countries including Egypt and Pakistan, on his own time, using his own money for travel, and he vowed to dissolve the corporation upon his confirmation as commissioner.

“Not a dime came from the county,” Ryder added.

Susan Gottehrer, director of the Nassau County chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union, spoke before Ryder was sworn in, congratulating Ryder on his promotion, while urging Legislators to practice strict oversight, particularly in how Ryder and the department cooperated with federal immigration enforcement officials.

“Nassau County residents need to know and hear clearly that the authority’s cooperation with ICE is making us less safe, by undermining trust,” Gottehrer said, calling the county police’s practice of honoring federal immigration warrants, which are under legal challenge, unconstitutional, and a deterrent for undocumented residents who may be witnesses to violent crimes.

“Please take your oversight ability seriously,” she said.

Before Ryder was sworn in by Curran, in a separate chamber, Bellmore Republican Legislator Steve Rhoads praised Ryder again, recalling Ryder once promising him to take care of a local crossing guard situation by directing traffic himself if it came down to it.

“I’ve never met someone with the passion and the dedication to serving the people of Nassau County as this commissioner,” Rhoads said.

Ryder promised a new county police opioid plan, to roll out this week, as well as a new social media platform and the Commissioner’s Community Council, a police task force that will establish a subdivision in each of the 19 legislative districts.

He was also eager to get to work.

“For these past two months, I’ve been like a caged lion,” Ryder said, to laughter. “I need to run. I need to do what the people of Nassau County pay me to do.”