Greenburgh Police Officer Kristin Stein
Greenburgh Bi-Sexual Police Officer and Whistleblower Kristin Stein Still Fighting for Justice
By Dan Murphy
Four years ago, we wrote about a bombshell lawsuit against the Town of Greenburgh, the Greenburgh Police Department, and 16 Greenburgh Police officers, alleging a pattern of sexual harassment, sexual assault and retaliation against Police Officer Kristin Stein.
A lawsuit filled with evidence and integrity is now used to show what will happen if you tell the truth at the Greenburgh Police Department.
After almost 7 years since the assault, Officer Stein is still fighting for justice and we are here to fight with her.
A recent Journal News article reported that 14 of the 17 claims made by Stein in the lawsuit have been dismissed by Federal Court Judge Philip Halperin, including the 2019 sexual assault caught on camera.
In 2019, Stein alleged that she was a victim of a sexual assault while working in Greenburgh Police headquarters. While Stein leaned over a table, police officer Jeffrey Cerone, “grinded against her rear, rammed himself into her backside with his genitals, then threw her towards the middle of the room”, according to the lawsuit.
Don’t believe her? THERE’S VIDEO! Here’s the link: https://www.lohud.com/videos/news/local/westchester/2021/08/18/greenburgh-ny-police-body-camera-officer-john-pilla/5569269001/
The body camera of then police officer, John Pilla, accidentally caught the whole thing on tape! In the video, several Greenburgh police officers are caught laughing hysterically after the assault occurred. At that time, Officer Stein was the only female officer in the room with approximately 8 male officers.
Later in the video, both Officer Pilla and Officer Peter Schmidt are caught reenacting the sexual assault and explaining Officer Cerone’s sexual fixation on Officer Stein. Officer Schmidt stated, “Totally uncalled for. I think he has a crush on her… Since the first day that she got here, he’s been nothing but problems.” In response to that, Officer Pilla stated, “He tries to assert his dominance to show you that he has the [male genitalia] in the relationship.”
These two, as well as the other male officers, have now stated that they never saw anything. These comments were a clear reference to Stein’s sexual orientation and gender.
Stein, who identified as bi-sexual, believed that when the male officers in the Greenburgh Police Department found out about her sexuality, the harassment against her increased drastically. “At first, I was retaliated against because I was a woman, but it became a more hostile work environment once they found out that I had a girlfriend. “
Multiple incidents of inappropriate texts, comments, sexual jokes, remarks, sexual solicitations, negative work assignments, silent treatment, uninvited sexual attention, and displays of pornographic photos, are all alleged in the suit, filed in Federal Court in White Plains.
However, the only remaining defendants are the Town of Greenburgh, Chief Kobie Powell and Captain Frank Farina. At the time of the assault, Powell was at Lt. and investigated the matter internally for the Greenburgh Police Deparment. He now, is the Chief of Police.
This case has cost the taxpayers of Greenburgh a total of $1.6 Million. One of those taxpayers are the Stein family themselves! Born and raised in Greenburgh, Stein, and her police officer filled family, are forced pay towards this injustice. Could the case have been settled earlier for this amount or close to it? The Town remains on the hook for any judgement if a jury finds the officers and the Town guilty, which could be millions.
“Every single word is truthful and factual. My main priority is to get out the truth about what happened. I need and want things to change, particularly in the Greenburgh Police Department. There are major, major issues with the Greenburgh PD” said Stein.
The officers that proclaim that they didn’t see the assault, even though it occurred right in front of them, are ‘sworn-officers’. With our trust and our tax dollars, they promised to tell the truth, to enforce the law, and to protect others. Instead, they watched another officer get hurt, outcasted and left to fight her despair alone. Stein stated, “They were witnessing something illegal and did nothing. We are mandated to report and get involved. Their involvement was mocking the situation and then lying about it when asked.”
Since then, Stein applied for disability for her severe PTSD, Depression and Anxiety, but has not been approved by the State, and has been denied by the Town.
Another fallacy about the inner workings of any police department is that not everyone is protected by the “Thin Blue Line”. After Stein told the Town and the PD that she was suicidal, nobody cared or checked on her. She was stripped of everything she ever wanted and fought for. Including her own mental well-being. We continue to see suicide at a record high in law enforcement, and Greenburgh is adding to this inevitable statistic.
One of Stein’s attorneys, James Castro-Blanco, told the Journal News “Kristin deserves her day in court, and deserves to have her story told, and that she deserves to have a jury of her peers, to see what happened, to explain to them what’s happened to her, and to get the compensation that she deserves.”
We went back and reviewed the documentation in the lawsuit. And our opinion has not changed AT ALL since 2021.
We find Kristin Stein to be believable. She came from a family of cops, was raised in Greenburgh and wanted nothing more than to serve the community that she grew up in.
This story could have had a positive ending. Instead, it has been a disaster for Stein, and a blemish on the Greenburgh Police Department, regardless of the result of the suit.
We consider Kristin Stein to be a whistleblower. She was and still is a truthful and honest police officer, nevertheless person. But, because she came forward with what were serious and inappropriate allegations, some caught on video, it is she that got pushed out.
Most police officers are good public servants. But for some of those good cops, the corruption destroys them and they end up keeping their mouths shut and told to ignore things so that they can keep her job.
Stein previously said that so many other female officers have also been a victim of this disgusting behavior. And yet… still nothing is done.
But what will happen when this case goes to trial and members of the Greenburgh Police Department are called to testify under oath? What will the other female officers of the GPD testify to?
Perhaps nothing. But is that a risk that the Town wants to take? We urge the leadership in the Town of Greenburgh to settle this case and move on.
Kristin Stein never deserved any of this. And if a jury finds that she has no legal claim to an award, what happened to her is still unacceptable.
The next pretrial conference is set for August 26. Judge Halperin has called the parties together to try and settle the case. The Town and the officers are reluctant to even discuss a settlement.
If they continue their insistence, a trial by jury could happen next year.
