Patrick Ryder

The Nassau County Police Department blamed its disproportionate arrests of Black and Hispanic people on the large number of malls along the Queens-Nassau border.

A Nassau County legislative committee approved legislation on Monday offering a retired Black police officer $650,000 to settle her claims of false arrest and discrimination. This comes after WSHU reported last week that Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder allegedly used a racial slur to describe the officer.

A lawyer for the county said Commissioner Patrick Ryder denies the accusation, which was made by a now-retired police officer.