NEW ROCHELLE, NY — An African-American recruit to the New Rochelle Police Department, already assigned to the Westchester County Police Academy resigned on Tuesday.
City officials would not provide a reason but sources inside the department told Talk of the Sound that Mazi A. H. Sigmond flunked a background check which turned up involvement with drug dealing and at least two prior arrests by the New Rochelle Police Department.
UPDATE 2/14: A knowledgeable source tells Talk of the Sound that among the issues that came to light with Sigmond is that he was reportedly arrested in Virginia, that he gave a wrong name, that he did not file taxes for several years, that he admitted to selling drugs to support himself. The arrest in VIrginia was for contempt.
The news comes in the midst of controversy over a video that went viral on social media after Talk of the Sound published video clips of black youths kneeling in the snow with their hands over their heads as an officer approached them with his gun drawn and pointing at them.
The “unexpected resignation” of Sigmond is a blow to New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson who has been actively pushing for more African-American candidates for positions on the New Rochelle Police Department. Some have questioned whether the desire of the politically-savvy New Rochelle Police Commissioner Patrick Carroll to kowtow to the Mayor’s call for more black officers may have led to the decision to hire Sigmond over what one insider said was the objection of the investigating detective assigned to Sigmond.
UPDATE 2/14: The investigating detective is Det. Greg Herring, according to one source. Herring is black.
Asked for comment, City Manager Charles B. Strome said the City is not at liberty to discuss the contents of Mr. Sigmond’s personnel file.
Talk of the Sound has filed a Freedom of Information Request with the New Rochelle Police Department, the New Rochelle Municipal Service Commission and made requests for information from the Westchester County District Attorney and the Westchester County Police Department. The DA’s office said they had no information on Sigmond. The other agencies did not immediately respond to emails.
Mazi A. H. Sigmond was selected off the Police Officer Eligibility List where he had ranked #30 when the list was established on July 10th, 2013.
According to Strome, as a matter of general policy of police hiring off the Eligibility List, candidates are hired off of that list after interviews with police department management and both psychological and medical checks. Once hired, potential officers are sent to the police academy for training.
It is while at the policy academy that candidates are subject to an extensive background check which is completed before they graduate from the academy and become active police officers of the department.
“The total probationary process lasts 64 weeks.” said Strome. “Recruits are not always retained for a variety of reasons.
Attempts to contact Sigmond were unsuccessful. If a reader can provide further information, including contact information and a photograph please send an email to robertcox@talkofthesound.com
A Google Search turned up various information about a a person named Mazi Sigmond: (1) born in 1981: (2) currently lives in New Rochelle and before that in Bronxville, NY (3) according to a Journal News article from 2009 he graduated from Monroe College in 2009 with a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice; (4) classmates.com lists a person named Mazi Sigmond graduated from New Rochelle High School in 1999; (5) a lawsuit on behalf of Mazi Sigmond brought by his mother against Liberty Lines and the City School District of New Rochelle when Mazi Sigmond, a student in the New Rochelle school system was struck by a passing vehicle after he exited a Liberty Lines bus transporting him from school.