Jennifer Lackard: Ex-NY Police Officer Who Drove Gang Member Son to Shooting Is Sorority Sisters with Mayor Who Hired Her

The disgraced former Westchester County police official accused of driving her gang-affiliated son away from a shooting is also a sorority sister of the mayor who appointed her to the high-paying position. Mount Vernon Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard appointed Jennifer Lackard to lead the city’s newly created Police Department Wellness Unit in 2020, despite Lackard having no law enforcement experience.

At the time, she was also married to a convicted felon and had a son who authorities say was involved with a street gang. City officials confirmed on Thursday that the mayor and Lackard were sorority sisters. Both women were members of Delta Sigma Theta, sources told The New York Post.

The Missing Link

They attended different schools, however. Lackard earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and later completed a master’s degree in labor and industrial relations at Cornell University. Patterson-Howard, meanwhile, attended Howard University and John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

The two also attend Grace Baptist Church, a prominent congregation in the troubled suburban city. Sources said the church’s politically connected pastor, the Rev. Franklyn Richardson, may have helped Lackard secure the high-paying position.

It remains unclear whether Lackard, 49, was the only candidate considered for the $125,000 Mount Vernon Police Department position or whether Patterson-Howard’s reported relationship with her influenced the hiring decision.

The mayor’s office told the New York Post that Patterson-Howard did not know Lackard before she was hired and that the two are not friends.

“There was no personal relationship between Jennifer Lackard and Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard either prior to or during Ms. Lackard’s employment with the City of Mount Vernon,” a rep for the mayor’s office said in a statement Thursday.

“Ms. Lackard was hired by former Police Commissioner Glenn Scott following the city’s established hiring process,” the statement said. “The City has no further comment at this time.”

However, a photo posted on Facebook appears to show the two women standing arm in arm and smiling together at an event. Sources said that when Chase Lackard was shot in the chest during a gang-related incident on a Bronx city bus in 2023, Mount Vernon police officers went to Jacobi Hospital.

Mayor Breaks Silence

In a statement released on Wednesday, the mayor said Lackard was hired because of her 15 years of experience in mental health and substance abuse services, which aligned with the purpose of the newly created unit.

She said Lackard had undergone a “rigorous background check” and that her husband’s drug conviction did not make her ineligible for the role.

City officials said the Wellness Unit was established to help police officers handle volatile situations involving people experiencing emotional distress or intoxication during their daily duties.

In a recent incident, the unit was called to assist with an order to commit a 58-year-old man who had barricaded himself inside his Mount Vernon home. Police later shot and critically injured the man, according to ABC Eyewitness News.

Patterson-Howard eventually fired Lackard on Tuesday, but only after police arrested her, her husband James Lackard, and their 20-year-old son Chase Lackard over their alleged involvement in a botched drive-by shooting targeting a gang rival on June 29.

All three were indicted on charges including attempted murder, conspiracy, attempted assault, and weapons offenses.