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Opposing Officers Say A Domestic Violence Case Was The Reason He Didn’t Get Promoted

One NYPD officer is speaking out against the department, saying his promotion to lieutenant was blocked because of his political views.

According to New York Daily News, Sgt. Edwin Raymond scored No. 26 out of 1,325 sergeants on the lieutenants’ test and was supposed to be promoted. However, Raymond says he didn’t get the lieutenant title because of his support for Colin Keapernick.

“It is unfortunate. I did a press conference in support of Colin Kaepernick, using his status to put a spotlight on issues in policing that need to be fixed,” Raymond said. “Because of the controversy a lot of cops criticized him. Me being aligned with him was seen as standing with the enemy.”

The president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, Ed Mullins, is also supporting Raymond’s belief that he didn’t get promoted because of his views on Kaepernick. “Decisions are made on the sly, and there are people who have pending charges and still get promoted, and others whose promotions are held back for reasons that are never explained,” Mullins said. “If this doesn’t appear to be retaliation, then I don’t know what is.”

However, cops in Raymond’s command say they didn’t support his promotion because of the way he allegedly handled domestic violence complaints.

Back in September 2017, cops in Brooklyn responded to a domestic violence call. They claim that a woman saw an ex-boyfriend and called 911. When officers arrived on the scene, they checked their phone and saw an order of protection, but Raymond let the guy go.

Raymond, however, says there’s more to the story. According to him, the ex-boyfriend was sitting in his car with his current girlfriend when his ex-girlfriend, who he has three kids with, walked by. She allegedly took a bat and broke the car mirror. He fled from the car and called 911, while his ex ran into her mother’s building.

Raymond says he came to the scene and spoke to the guy, who asked the cops not to arrest his ex-girlfriend. “She’s the mother of my kids,” the man said. “The damage to my car won’t cost anything.”

Raymond says he told the responding officers not to arrest the man. The cops then said the woman has an order of protection against her ex-boyfriend and wanted him arrested. The guy also had 20 prior arrests. Raymond said he made a judgment call that day not to arrest him based on the circumstances of the incident.

Despite Raymond’s explanation, the cops still went to Internal Affairs. “The department takes domestic violence very seriously and is obligated to look at these incidents,”  said an NYPD senior official.

A three-member panel of two former federal prosecutors and a federal judge is also looking broadly into the double standards of who gets promoted and who doesn’t within the NYPD.