An investigator hired by the NYPD’s internal watchdog despite concerns over a 1972 triple murder conviction was fired Tuesday — just eight weeks after starting his new gig, The Post has learned.
Ronald Davidson, 69, was fired from the Civilian Complaint Review Board after he filed complaints against officers for refusing to hand give him their business cards, sources said — but he mostly blamed getting canned on pressure from unions because of his criminal past.
NYPD’s Sergeants Benevolent Association President Vallelong was pleased with the ouster after previously expressing disbelief that Davidson was hired.
“It was obvious that this investigator had a hidden agenda and should’ve never been hired. This was a self-initiated complaint where there was no misconduct,” Vallelong said in a statement.
“CCRB needs to reevaluate their hiring process. I commend [CCRB Executive Director Jonathan] Darche for taking quick action and not brushing this under the rug.”
The SBA and other unions had lashed out at the hiring, and Davidson claimed he was told that City Hall and the agency’s board also had concerns after talking with the executive director.
Davidson also pointed to a Nov. 27 article in The Post about his controversial hiring that helped fuel his firing from the entity meant to probe police misconduct.
But the “straw that broke the camel’s back” is when he filed a complaint through the CCRB’s online portal against six police officers who he said refused to give him their business cards at the Chambers Street subway station on Monday morning.
He claimed the officers, mostly of the Strategic Response Group, were acting inappropriately when he approached the cops and asked for their information. The officers said they didn’t have cards on them, according to the ousted worker and sources.
While he declined to elaborate on what the inappropriate behavior was, he stressed officers are required to give their information to civilians regardless of the reason.
The CCRB did not respond to a message seeking comment.
When Davidson was 17 years old, he killed three people after the trio attempted to rob him at knifepoint on a New York City beach, he previously wrote in a 2016 to a state parole board. Spending more than 40 years in prison, he called the triple shooting the “worst decision and action of my life.”
Davidson said on Tuesday he applied for the CCRB position because he wanted a “secure” civil service job and this was the first government position that became available.
He called the blowback to his hiring “very surprising,” arguing he long ago paid his debt to society.
He also slammed the SBA’s opposition as “ironic” and “hypocritical” because its former president, Ed Mullin, committed his own crime, pleading guilty in 2023 to defrauding the union out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
PBA President Patrick Hendry also said Tuesday that the former convict had “no business” investigating cops.
“We’re glad he has been terminated, but his conduct exposes a much deeper problem,” Hendry said in a statement.
“Complaints about business cards are one of CCRB’s most frequently substantiated allegations, and they are often tacked on by investigators after every other allegation is disproven.
“This individual’s criminal record might be unique, but his anti-police bias is shared by far too many CCRB investigators and board members.”
