CINCINNATI — A Cincinnati police officer used a racial slur twice while on the job in November 2021, according to documents from the Cincinnati Police Department.
Officer Kelly Drach was reported by a fellow officer and anonymously by an employee nearby who heard the slur used, according to an internal investigation.
Drach was working in the Real Time Crime Center answering phones on Nov. 17, 2021. In 2021, the center was inundated with fraudulent telemarketer calls; Drach would often engage the telemarketers in conversation to the point of escalation, according to the internal investigation.
During one call, Drach became angry and yelled "sand n*****," the report found.
A fellow officer, who reported having family who are Iranian, confronted her, saying "What the f***, Kelly?" Drach apologized, but the officer reported that roughly a week later Drach used the same slur while again on the phone with a telemarketer.
An anonymous letter was submitted to the Cincinnati Police Department Human Resources department, alleging that Drach's outbursts could be heard in the office next door.
"Someone who uses this word should not work for my city," reads the anonymous letter. "I hope you do something about this."
The letter was passed along to Internal Investigations on Nov. 23, 2021. The second complaint against Drach was filed on Nov. 30 of that year.
The internal investigation found Drach was in violation of the Cincinnati Police Department's code of conduct and she was discliplined for "failure of good behavior," according to documents from the City of Cincinnati.
During her hearing, Drach did not deny using the slur, but attributed her behavior to "a tremendous amount of stress in her personal life," according to a summary of the hearing.
"The stress emanates from the effects of the pandemic, health issues with her father, the loss of two children, her husband losing his job and her eldest son who suffers from mental health problems," reads the summary of Drach's hearing.
Ultimately, a seven-day suspension was recommended, which Drach served between May 20, 2022 and May 28. She returned to work on May 29.
According to her personnel file, Drach has not been disciplined before and has consistently been scored high during evaluations.
In March she was transferred from the Real Time Crime Center to District 5.
A second Cincinnati police officer was caught using a racial slur on duty and in uniform when it was recorded by her body camera. Footage from the body camera and another camera inside her police cruiser showed Rose Valentino use a racial slur in April while driving past Western Hills University High School on her way to the District 3 station on Ferguson Road.
Valentino could be heard on her camera shouting at traffic near the school as cars parked to pick up students.
"You gotta move," Valentino said. "F****** ridiculous, f****** a*******. Is she gonna f****** just sit there?"
As she starts driving again, Valentino says, "Oh I f****** hate them so much, God I hate this f****** world." She then rolls down her window at the station gate to enter.
When she rolls her window back up, Valentino mutters under her breath.
"F****** n******," she said. "I f****** hate em."
In that case, the officer has been removed from the field but has not yet been officially disciplined, pending the results of the internal investigation.
