Sculti & Slater Blast Jenkins for SRO’s Kirk Comments
County Executive Candidate Christine Sculti, outside the county office building with Assemblyman Matt Slater and Somers Supervisor Robert Scorrano
By Dan Murphy
Last week, we highlighted two cases that we believed were inappropriate comments made by public servants in Westchester. And in the Chappaqua school district, an employee was suspended for their comments on social media about the killing of Charlie Kirk. However, in that case, we do not know who the person is or what their comment was, as the Chappaqua School District kept it a confidential personnel matter.
Christine Sculti, the Republican candidate for Westchester County Executive, highlighted one of the county employees we wrote about at a press conference outside the county building in White Plains last week. Sculti, who was joined by Assemblyman Matt Slater and Somers Supervisor Robert Scorrano, called for an investigation into the training practices of school resource officers in Westchester.
Somers School Resource Officer Tanisha Blanche posted on Facebook after the death of Charlie Kirk, “Why yall don’t have that same energy for the school shooting that took place yesterday, but yall crying over the man that was OK with gun violence” and “well that white sniper was over qualified when he put that hole in your neck hunni bunni.”
Sculti said, “Ken Jenkins Ignored Warnings — and Put Children in Harm’s Way. The safety of our students is not optional — it’s the primary responsibility of the government. Ken Jenkins failed.
“Despite direct warnings from the Somers School District about poor training, broken communication, and safety gaps, Jenkins’ Department of Public Safety assigned an officer who later glorified violence after Charlie Kirk’s murder.
“This isn’t just bad judgment — it’s a betrayal of trust and a risk to the lives of children and school staff. I’ve seen the August 22nd letter from the district. Their worst fears came true — and Jenkins ignored them. This is malfeasance, not mismanagement. And it cannot stand. Our kids deserve qualified, trusted School Resource Officers — not political appointments.”
Assemblyman Slater said, “I was the Supervisor in Yorktown and oversaw the expansion of our SRO Program, and I know the important roles these officers play in our community.
“It’s not just about protecting our kids, it’s also about fostering relationships with the kids so they know they can go and actually have conversations with law enforcement officers, and about being able to harvest information from kids in our schools, that’s really important for community safety.”
“We had a district that raised concerns citing transparency and preparedness. As a parent and elected official, that is alarming, and people deserve answers.”
The letter that Sculti referenced has not been made public, but according to other media reports, it was sent by the Somers School District’s emergency office to the county.
Sculti said that the letter is evidence of poor training, broken communication, and safety gaps in the SRO program.
The letter said how the Somers School District had “deep disappointment with the current process surrounding the assignment of School Resource Officers (SROs) to our schools.”
The complaint from Somers was that two prior SROs who worked at Somers HS did their jobs, but the retirement of one SRO and the reassignment of another SRO “left a gap in the process of selecting and preparing their replacements.”
Media reports added that Westchester Public Safety Commissioner Raynor wrote back that all of its officers are well-trained. SRO Blanche and SRO Andrew Urizzo were the replacements for Somers
After Blanche’s post became public, she was permanently reassigned and no longer works in the Somers schools. Blanche was reassigned within the Westchester County Department of Public Safety.
Superintendent Bronstein added, “We appreciate the swift action of the police department to protect our schools.”
The problem with Sculti’s request that SRO Blanche be fired is that public employees are protected by the same First Amendment rights that all of us have.
And despite the fact that we were offended by her comments about Charlie Kirk, in her role outside of her job as an SRO, she is entitled to the same right to free speech that all of us enjoy.
At the press conference, Sculti and Sorrano intimated that there was already hesitation about Blanche in Somers before her posts became public, despite her having served in the position for only a few weeks.
Perhaps there is more in the letter that the Superintendent shared with the county, but one prominent Westchester attorney we spoke to with experience in law enforcement cases, said, “her comments were outside the role of her job and she is entitled to make them, especially in a case as public as Charlie Kirk. Plus, the county reassigned her from Somers. If she is fired for her comments, she certainly can take legal action.”
No comment from the County Executive, who referred the matter back to the County Police Department, who has no additional comment.
