The arrest of a former high-ranking Westchester County police official, accused of driving her son to a failed gang-related drive-by shooting in the Bronx, has put local Democrats on the defensive while Republicans seize on the case as proof of longstanding concerns.
Former Mount Vernon Deputy Police Commissioner Jennifer Lackard now faces attempted murder charges tied to the June 29 shooting, a case that has stunned the region. But several prominent Democrats have avoided directly condemning the former official, with critics suggesting the party is treading carefully because Mount Vernon remains an important Democratic stronghold.
“Democrats are the first to preach ‘no one is above the law’ until it screws them politically,” Republican National Committee spokeswoman Natalie Baldassarre told The Post. “This thug-hugging mom had no business being a police commissioner and any official who covered for her should be held to account.”
Nearly a dozen well-known New York Democrats contacted by The Post either declined to comment or did not respond, while those who did weigh in largely stuck to broad statements about accountability and public safety.
“Governor [Kathy] Hochul’s top priority is public safety,” said a spokesperson for Gov. Kathy Hochul, one of only two Democrats who addressed the matter when asked for comment.
“Those entrusted with keeping New Yorkers safe must be held to the highest ethical and professional standards, and anyone whose actions jeopardize the critical mission of law enforcement must be investigated and held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
Among those who did not respond to requests for comment were state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers), state Assemblyman Gary Pretlow (D-Mount Vernon) and Mount Vernon-born state Sen. George Latimer (D-New Rochelle).
State Sen. Jamaal Bailey, whose district includes part of Mount Vernon, spoke more directly about the allegations, calling the charges “unacceptable and incredibly serious” and saying the alleged actions have “no place within our communities.”
However, even Bailey gave the city an out, adding that “while these allegations are unacceptable and incredibly serious, it’s important to note that it’s not possible to predict the future behavior of any employee. The purported conduct did not occur during the course of or related to her duties and should have no bearing on how the department is viewed.”
Lackard, 49, and her ex-con husband, James Lackard, are charged with driving their 20-year-old son, reputed “Slutty Gang” member Chase Lackard, to Bronx court for a scheduled hearing — then allegedly driving him around the block until they spotted an alleged gang rival.
Bronx prosecutors said Chase Lackard fired from their SUV, missing the intended target before the family sped away and headed home.
All three were later arrested and charged.
Jennifer Lackard was hired by Democratic Mount Vernon Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard in 2020 for the newly created position of deputy chief of the police department’s Wellness Unit, despite having no prior law enforcement experience.
Patterson-Howard, who is Lackard’s sorority sister, told The Post after the arrests that she was subjected to a “rigorous background check” and “there was no information that disqualified her for employment.”
She maintained that she did not meet Lackard until she applied for the city job, and cited her 15 years in the mental health and substance abuse fields as her qualifications.
A spokesperson for Mount Vernon City Hall did not respond to a request for comment on Friday.
But despite the shocking nature of the allegations against Lackard, most Dems won’t touch the scandal.
“Westchester County is responsible for approximately 4,500 county employees,” a rep for Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins said Friday. “Our focus must remain on matters involving our own workforce, and we do not become involved in personnel or workplace issues with other municipalities.”
Mount Vernon currently has more than 44,000 unique voter IDs, over 31,000 of them registered as Democrats and just 2,800 as Republicans, election data shows.
That’s enough political clout to swing local, county, state and congressional races, making Mount Vernon a must-win city in regional elections — prompting pols to handle the city’s scandals with kid gloves.
The city has long been plagued by controversy that typically draws little condemnation — two recent mayors, Ernie Davis and Richard Thomas, were forced to leave office mid-term after being hit with federal tax evasion and state grand larceny charges, respectively.
Several Mount Vernon cops have also gotten in hot water, including a bust in April that accused one officer of stealing more than $800,000 from an out of state company, and another was accused of tipping off a Suffolk County gang member to an investigation.
Lackard was fired immediately after her arrest, but Patterson-Howard and other prominent pols have largely failed to condemn the mind-blowing allegations. Questions have swirled about how she even got the job and if she used police resources to intervene in a prior shooting involving her son in the city, but no higher authority has called for a probe into the process.
Republican leaders, however, are not letting it slide.
“Yet again, extreme liberal Democrats are protecting criminals over law abiding American citizens.” White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis told The Post.
Meanwhile, Republican pollster John McLaughlin said the scandal presents the GOP with a shot at gaining a bigger foothold in the Westchester County city.
“It’s an opportunity for Republicans,” McLaughlin said. “It’s an opening for Republicans to start a reform coalition in Mount Vernon. There are a lot of African-Americans in law enforcement who live in Mount Vernon who are not going to tolerate this behavior.”
