This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Politics & Government

NAACP: Lower Merion Cop Files Discrimination Complaint Against Township

Pennsylvania NAACP President J. Whyatt Mondesire said officer Kerry Godbold is moving toward a lawsuit against the township.

police officer Kerry Godbold, who is African-American, has filed a discrimination complaint—not yet a lawsuit—against the Lower Merion Police Department, NAACP Pennsylvania state conference president J. Whyatt Mondesire announced Wednesday morning at the .

At issue is Godbold's application for promotion sergeant being passed over earlier in 2011.

Joined by Danielle Robinson, an officer with the Main Line branch of the NAACP in St. David’s, and a representative from the office of U.S. Rep. Bob Brady (D., Pa. 1st), Mondesire explained that the complaint was filed with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission and that he expects, after the commission has conducted an investigation, that they will provide Godbold with a “Right to Sue” letter.

Find out what's happening in Narberth-Bala Cynwydwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Mondesire said the NAACP would likely file an amicus brief on Godbold’s behalf in state court, a process expected to take up to five months.

Godbold, a 20-year veteran of the department, was one of three officers on the Civil Service promotions list eligible to fill a sergeant vacancy that opened in March, but the township’s Board of Commissioners discarded the list on May 11, arguing that a change to state law had rendered it expired.

Find out what's happening in Narberth-Bala Cynwydwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

 that it has the authority to request that Lower Merion Police Superintendent Michael McGrath promote from that expired civil service promotions list, which included Godbold.

Godbold—whose performance Mondesire characterized as “exemplary”—would be the first African-American sergeant in the department’s history.

The local police union originally disputed the township’s view that the list for the vacant position expired, but say it’s now a moot point.

“That ship has sailed,” said Gavin Goschinski, the president of the Lower Merion Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 28, referring to reduced staffing levels at the department and the fact that two other officers were also passed over for the promotion to sergeant.

Goschinski added that while the FOP has no official position on Godbold’s discrimination claims, they support their member.

“He’s got his head held high. He’s tenacious,” Goschinski said. “He’s going to work his beat on City Avenue and study for the next promotional test. He’s an excellent officer.”

In July, the township hired an outside party, Verita LLC, to investigate their police department’s hiring and promotion practices, but the NAACP was dissatisfied with the resulting report.  she received “inadequate and actually an insult.”

Mondesire said that the alleged discrimination that took place in the Lower Merion department is, in the view of the NAACP, endemic in the region.

“We have been watching the suburban police departments across this area for some time as a state conference and have found that numerous departments—[in] Montgomery County, Delaware County, as well as Chester County—have discriminated against African-American and Latino officers within their department,” said Mondesire, who added that Lower Merion Township has three black officers in a force of 135.

“It’s time for the Lower Merion Police Department to wake up,” he said.

, when he surprised the Board of Commissioners during the public comment period of a weekly meeting.

“There’s never been a black officer promoted to the rank of sergeant or above,” in the Lower Merion Police Department, Godbold said at the time.  “It appears that there are those here today that still don’t want to see that happen. To see them get rid of that list was shocking, offensive and embarrassing.”

Lower Merion public information officer Brenda Viola said the township has no comment on the complaint. A call to Lower Merion Board of Commissioners President Liz Rogan was not returned as of mid-afternoon Wednesday.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?