Captain Drew Techner, formerly of the 18th District, allegedly went on a racist rant about Black Commanders in the Police Department. After a two month hiatus at the 18th District, Techner was bounced to night command. The blatant disrespect and dishonor he bought upon the Department in the 18th District operations room, was deplorable.
The irony wasn’t lost on the police officers assigned to the 18th District, who not so long ago, had to bear the racist rant about their then-Black Commander, Captain Robyn Wimberly. Wimberly was called a “banana eating monkey” by Corporal Robert Pawlowski.
The vile assault was made inside the FOP Lodge 5, where a group of police officers were gathered. Pawlowski was annoyed by the fact that white officers and black officers were engaged. Pawlowski, whose brother was killed in the line of duty in 2009, decided to let the white officer know he was doing something wrong in his view. Pawlowski asked the white officer “why are you over there” and “they don’t like you”.
By all accounts, Pawlowski was not inebriated. Undeterred by the officer moving away, Pawlowski approached the officer again and told him not to trust his partner because “he is one of them”. When the officer told Pawlowski that he trusted his partner with his life, Pawlowski told him the only reason he was receiving certain perks, like training, is because “he is a nigger” (referring to his partner).
The officer reported the racist vile conduct of the Corporal. As a result, he was suspended for 30 days and transferred to the 24th District.
In the current environment in our country, we are more divided than ever. No one should be subjected to a Police Captain, feeling comfortable enough to allegedly make racist remarks in an operations room of any district, much less a district sitting in a predominately black community. Leaders set the tone. A leader who knows the recent history in that district, still felt comfortable enough to make racist comments is appalling. How can the community feel comfortable in meetings and other interactions with someone of his ilk.
Among his colleagues in the Police Department, he is considered incompetent, weird or both. Many of his colleagues have openly wondered how he got promoted to the rank of Captain in the first place.
Techner has a dubious background concerning taking civil service test while ascending the ranks within the department. Techner, who is also Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army Reserves, has strategically been able to take test, because he was performing his military service. To be clear, our hero’s in the military should be given every opportunity to not be punished because of their honorable service to our great country. However; the test given should be different, both oral and written examinations.
As a Lieutenant Colonel, he has the ability to modify his schedule in the reserves. It would be very easy for a ranking officer to change his schedule to “conveniently” have military duty on the weekend of the civil service test. This is a loophole that should be remedied by producing a totally different test so the Techner’s of the world isn’t given an unfair advantage.
It’s not a great feat, to take a test a month or two later than everyone else, and manage to score high enough to get promoted when soon after the test, everyone who was tested is talking about the test. This seems like an unfair advantage. And in the case of Techner, it seems awfully convenient. Ironically, Techner is a “certified fraud examiner”.
Techner was also disciplined when he was assigned to Northeast Detectives for being outrageously insubordinate to his supervisor. Clearly, the charge of insubordination didn’t prevent him from easily moving between ranks, most of the time, by himself.
Techner participates in the Veteran’s ceremonies, much to his credit, and again, we thank him for his service, but he can keep his racist views to himself. It’s almost an affront to see pictures of Techner with the same Black Commanders whom he obviously does not respect or value.
A Drew Techner “private” promotion with a Black Commander.
It’s even worst for his minority subordinates to know their Captain feels this way. Imagine the three hero cops feelings having to work with this guy. That has to be extremely awkward.
The Divided States Of America, which is how many people are referring to our country, should not apply to our law enforcement agencies. The remarks allegedly made by Techner were polarizing and serves no useful purpose.
Sources close to Techner revealed his “affinity” for Fenway Park and the Boston Red Sox. They speculated what his position would be concerning the fan who called Baltimore outfielder Adam Jones a racial slur during a recent game there. Techner is allegedly a rabid Red Sox fan and is known to go to games at Fenway Park.
Good for Commissioner Richard Ross for promptly taking action. And Civil Service need to take another look at how and what kinds of exams are given to people who cannot take the civil service examinations when they are scheduled for everyone else.
Techner cannot be trusted to interact with the general public. Techner should be in an assignment where his chances of interacting with the public is significantly reduced. The military should also be made aware of his behavior. There are places Techner could be assigned where his offensive comments, and incompetence will have the least impact on the general public and on his fellow officers. The Police Department can ill-afford to have the likes of him, cause them another black eye. No pun intended.
Major Drew Techner with Former Mayor Michael Nutter at a Veteran’s ceremony.
Techner presenting a Black Commander, former Deputy Police Commissioner Stephen Johnson at a ceremony.
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