Officer files discrimination suit against village, police department

A Hempstead Village police officer has brought a $1 million lawsuit against the village and its police department, alleging the department discriminated against him because he is a white man.

The federal civil rights lawsuit, brought by Officer Matthew Drew, alleges the department offered Drew less discretionary overtime on the basis of his race and gender and failed to investigate a racially charged incident that targeted him.

Drew’s Garden City attorney, Jason L. Abelove, said “the police department has been discriminating against its white officers for a long time. We're hoping by this litigation that we can change that behavior.”

Mayor Don Ryan declined to comment Monday, citing the pending litigation.

The complaint alleges “black and female officers are given a tremendous preference over white, male officers in the distribution of ‘manpower’ overtime,” which refers to discretionary overtime.

The complaint also alleges that another member of the force put a “ ‘KKK’ style hood” on Drew’s locker in August 2018 and that the department did not fulfill Drew’s request to investigate the incident.