‘Irresistible Attraction’: Homoerotic email involves Edgar Martinez’s XO, rocks top of JCPD

Deputy Chief Edgar Martinez’s executive officer, Capt. James Crecco, allegedly wrote and sent a homoerotic message to himself from Sgt. Matthew Kilroy’s JCPD email, according to sources.

Provisional Deputy Chief Edgar Martinez (white shirt) and Capt. James Crecco (saluting).

Whether it was foreplay or electronic horseplay, a homoerotic message sent from Jersey City Police Department (JCPD) Sgt. Matthew Kilroy’s city email account has turned into anything but a laughing matter – especially because Kilroy didn’t write or authorize the email.

According to multiple sources, the email was allegedly written and sent by Capt. James Crecco after Kilroy apparently left his computer open when responding to a police matter.

The November 6, 2018, forged email, sent from Kilroy’s account to Crecco, with Lt. Darren Sorrentino and Sgt. Wayne Zachowski copied to the message, is titled “Irresistible Attraction” and filled with inappropriate comments of a homosexual nature.

“I find that I must alert you all to an issue I am having at work on a daily basis,” the email begins. “I find that when Lt. Sorrentino gives me orders, my heart melts a little more every day. His incredible masculinity when wielding his authority in uniform overwhelms me to the point where I am forced to flee the district to compose myself. THIS CAN NOT GO ON!”

The forged email goes on to request a “transfer to avoid any future contact or I fear I may attack him in an unprofessional and romantic fashion,” and asks Crecco to act at the first opportunity.

Additionally, the email states that “Sgt. Zachowski’s manner when issuing orders has the same effect, although if he had hair it might equal the level of attraction to Lt. Sorrentino.”

According to sources, Kilroy is not gay and the email is part of a pattern of harassment that the sergeant has been subjected to. A report has been filed with the JCPD’s Internal Affairs Unit (IAU), but sources say that Capt. George Rotondo, IAU commander, has attempted to “laugh off” the situation and has resisted a comprehensive investigation.

Crecco serves as an executive officer for provisional-Deputy Chief Edgar Martinez in the chief of patrol’s office. According to sources, Martinez dislikes Kilroy and has been a major part of the hostile environment the sergeant has been subjected to.

This isn’t the first time unprofessional behavior has been associated with Martinez’s leadership. Noel Santiago, an officer working in Martinez’s chief of patrol’s office, was caught “flipping the bird” on camera.

Additionally, JCPD officers John Bado and George Manuel have filed a lawsuit claiming then-Capt. Martinez, the city’s North District commander from December 2012 until August 2018, had an “anti-white” racial bias which negatively impacted their careers.

An email seeking comment on this story was sent to Fulop Administration Spokesperson Ashley Manz.

The email at the center of the controversy was obtained, and provided to Real Jersey City, by former JCPD Chief Robert “Bubba” Cowan via an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request. Real Jersey City filed an OPRA request on December 6, 2018, with the hope of obtaining the email, but was denied by the Fulop Administration for being “overly broad.”

Unlike the Real Jersey City request, Cowan’s OPRA, filed on December 26, 2018, included the exact date and all parties to the email.

In a statement to Real Jersey City, Cowan said “this type of behavior is both juvenile and insulting to the LBGT Community and is a microcosm of the incompetent leadership of Public Safety Director Jim Shea.”

The former chief added that the Fulop Administration’s “practice of scraping the bottom of promotional lists to get to his political buddies” contributes to an unprofessional environment in the JCPD. “In my day, it would be well out of the ordinary for a police captain to conduct himself in such a juvenile and unprofessional manner, but the Fulop Administration believes everybody should get a trophy,” Cowan stated.

Of note, Cowan left the JCPD unceremoniously after a political battle with Fulop, Shea, and both police unions. To learn more about that controversy, watch the video below:

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