After years of sexual harassment claims inside the New Castle County Police Department were substantiated, the Delaware Department of Justice and New Castle County have finalized an agreement allowing for an assigned monitor to review sexual assault and harassment personnel complaints anywhere within the county’s Public Safety Department for the next three years.
The agreement came nearly eight months after county officials reported settling a federal lawsuit claiming decades of sexual harassment and cover-ups in its police department, largely by an officer who rose through the ranks and became the agency’s second-in-command.
Background:NCCo settles suit over sex harassment, cover-up inside Police Department
Neither the county nor state Justice Department commented for this story.
The federal lawsuit, filed in June 2020, came after six women detailed their experiences at the department to Delaware Online/The News Journal earlier that year. The women shared their stories with the newspaper after what they called years of inaction by the department and county.
Background:‘The biggest hidden secret’ in Delaware: Sexual harassment inside NCCo Police Department
In their lawsuit, the women claimed decades of sexual harassment and abuse by one officer, now-retired Lt. Col. Quinton Watson. They also named numerous fellow county officers and leadership, including former Col. Vaughn Bond and County Executive Matt Meyer, who the suit claimed allowed Watson’s behavior to continue.
After retiring from the police department in September 2021, Bond became director of the county’s Department of Public Safety, which the police department falls under.
The county announced it was settling with the women in January — after County Council passed a pair of proposals to allow the county to dip into its tax reserve to cover legal fees to the tune of about $3 million. About $1.7 million of that was to “partially fund” settling claims that various members of the county allowed Watson to continue decades of sexual harassment and abuse.
The vote came after the county spent more than $1.2 million in legal fees since the lawsuit was filed, according to the passed proposal.
While the county settled its suit, the Delaware Justice Department’s Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust continued its investigation. That investigation was quietly launched after the Wilmington Police Department investigated and substantiated the women’s claims.
While the division found that the three-year statute of limitations had passed to prosecute sexual harassment crimes by a public employee, Chief Deputy Attorney General Alexander S. Mackler wrote in a letter to county council’s attorney that the findings were “disturbing.”
Though they could not criminally prosecute, the Delaware Department of Justice retained the private law firm Potter Anderson & Corroon LLP “to investigate whether the NCCPD has engaged in a pattern and practice of discriminatory conduct in violation of Delaware law, and if warranted, initiate enforcement proceedings against the County in Delaware’s Court of Chancery,” Mackler wrote.
Last week, a senior county police officer filed a federal lawsuit suit claiming racial discrimination and retaliation. Those named in the lawsuit filed on Sept. 1 include the county, the police chief and three fellow officers – one of whom was a plaintiff in the Watson lawsuit.
New discrimination lawsuit:New Castle County police officer sues for racial discrimination, retaliation
The agreement
Under the 17-point agreement, the monitor will focus on policies, procedures, and sexual harassment and discrimination complaints within the county’s Department of Public Safety, under which the police department falls.
The monitor, who the county must pay for, will also review and report on the county’s compliance with the terms of the agreement. During this time, the county must provide to the monitor a brief description of every sexual harassment and discrimination complaint submitted, as well as what corrective action is being taken with substantiated complaints.
Neither the state nor county has said if a monitor has been selected or if the county’s progress will be made public.
In addition to the monitor, the county has agreed to other corrective practices including:
- Providing annual training to all its employees regarding the county’s sexual harassment and discrimination policies, including how to report such complaints.
- Implementing a hotline where county workers can confidentially report sexual harassment and other discriminatory conduct. The hotline shall be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by an independent third party.
- Not allowing employees who are under investigation for sexual harassment or other discriminatory treatment to quit or retire in good standing.
The DOJ did not say if the last point was included in the agreement after Watson retired in 2019 when he hit the mandatory retirement age of 55. Because the investigation into claims against him was still ongoing, he retired in good standing.
Watson later surrendered his police certification issued through the Delaware Council on Police Training and his New Castle County retiree credentials, which include his police retirement badge and police retirement identification card issued by the New Castle County Police Department.
In a long email statement provided to Delaware Online/The News Journal Wednesday night, Watson questioned the objectivity of the DOJ’s investigation.
“I truly believe that race, politics, and paybacks all were factors in the investigation of me,” he wrote in the email. “Of course nobody wants to hear or believe that any of this exist behind closed doors within the police department. In my case It was conveniently pushed to the side.”
Neither the county nor Justice Department responded late Wednesday to his remarks.
Watson said the county’s investigation “was procedurally flawed” and failed to conduct a timely examination because they knew at the start of the investigation that he was closing in on his “(involuntary) mandatory retirement date.”
To back this up, he said the county never put pressure on Wilmington Police to wrap up its investigation before his retirement.
“I was never charged or allowed a name clearing hearing before I was involuntarily retired by the County due to my age,” said Watson, who also reached a settlement with the six women in January.
Contact Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299, eparra@delawareonline.com or Twitter @eparra3.
