GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. – The Green Cove Spring Police Chief, Robert Musco, has resigned following an investigation into racially offensive remarks.
Musco is accused of referring to an African-American officer as a “token.” After investigating, the city and an outside law firm found the accusations to be true. A detailed report states the former chief made multiple, inappropriate statements to the officer over the last eight years.
The city manager tells First Coast News the chief resigned as a direct result of the investigation. Danielle Judd says she was very surprised to hear the allegations from Officer Kimberly Robinson.
The complaint stems from an incident days before Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It states Chief Musco told Officer Robinson he needed her at a MLK Day event because, “I need my token there. You’re my token.”
Officer Robin wrote that the situation has made her literally sick: that she cannot eat, sleep or think about anything but the incident.
“We’re a very inclusive community, that’s not representative of how our citizens feel, how our men and women in the police department serve the public, and certainly it’s against our personnel policy,” said City Manager Danielle Judd.
After an investigation, Judd says the comments were proven true by other officers as well as the chief himself. Last Wednesday, Musco offered his letter of resignation to Judd, making no mention of the racist comment.
“You can’t have an individual in leadership, whether it’s a police department or another entity of the organization where that type of behavior occurred. It’s inappropriate,” said Judd.
First Coast News tried to reach out to Former Chief Musco for comment, but was not successful.
The city manager says she wants to move on from this calling what happened an isolated incident. In the meantime, the assistant police chief is temporarily acting in place of the former chief.