High-ranking NYPD cop probed for racist remarks transferred to transit

[The Bobster]

https://nypost.com/2020/11/23/nypd-c...ed-to-transit/

High-ranking NYPD cop probed for racist remarks transferred to transit
By Craig McCarthy
November 23, 2020 | 9:21pm | Updated

An NYPD officer who was relieved of his high-ranking post after a City Council probe found he’d posted a stream of racist remarks on an online message board has since been transferred to the transit bureau, The Post has learned.

James Francis Kobel — the former commanding officer of the NYPD’s Office of Equal Employment Opportunity — was sent to work at the Transit Borough Command for the Bronx and Queens on Nov. 16, according to records reviewed by The Post.

The transfer came after a damning investigation by the City Council’s oversight committee found that the 50-year-old Kobel had used the handle “Clouseau” to post “racist, misogynistic, anti-Semitic and homophobic sentiments” on the The Rant forums 500 times between the summer of 2019 and fall of this year.

Kobel, a 30-year veteran of the force, was first removed from his command and placed on modified duty after the NYPD received a draft report from the committee on Oct. 14, a police spokesman has said.

The department also launched an internal investigation into Kobel, who had formerly been tasked with addressing workplace harassment in the NYPD.

It’s unclear if his transfer to transit is permanent. The Long Island resident previously denied the allegations through his union rep.

He couldn’t be reached Monday night.

Asked for comment, the NYPD referred The Post to a Nov. 5 press conference where police commissioner Dermot Shea addressed the allegations against Kobel and said he had been “relieved from his assignment” amid the investigation.