GREEN COVE SPRINGS – Green Cove Springs Police Chief Robert Musco retired last week after the conclusion of an investigation into racially charged comments he made to a black officer in early January.

Third party investigators hired by the city found that on Jan. 12, while scheduling assignments for upcoming Martin Luther King Jr. Day festivities, Musco referred to Public Information Officer Kimberly Robinson as his “token,” and that it was therefore necessary for her to be at the festivities. Robinson is black.

He then mocked the day held to honor the work of the slain civil-rights leader by using what was described as a decidedly “African American tone” [of voice] during further conversations on the topic, according to City Manager Danielle Judd.

“To say that I was shocked when all this came out would be an appropriate statement – this was not something I expected to hear,” Judd said. “You don’t want those kinds of comments coming from your chief.”

In documents obtained in a public records request, Robinson states that Musco had made number inappropriate comments to her in the past in her eight years at GCSPD, but this incident “was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” she wrote in an email to a co-worker in the department.

“I’m hurt because if he says these things to my face what is he saying behind my back? He obviously feels this way toward African Americans. I thought I knew him nut apparently it was a façade,” Robinson wrote.

She said she feared that filing a complaint would jeopardize her job, and as a single mother, she could not afford that to happen.

Investigators with the Tallahassee-based law firm, the Krizner Group, found Musco went further on two separate occasions to “inject” himself into the investigation by asking his subordinates to speak to Robinson in an attempt to get her to rescind her complaint. She did not.

“This event was compounded by him attempting to have the officer, in essence, change her mind about the concerns that she felt,” Judd said. “There were conversations that he had with the assistant chief to have him intervene in some manner.”

“He said, ‘see if you can’t calm her down,’ and he did that not just on that one occasion, it wasn’t just once, it was twice,” Judd said.

City officials placed Musco on administrative leave with pay on Feb. 8, and although he received $96,000 a year in salary, he will not receive a pension. Assistant Police Chief Derek Asdot will remain as acting police chief until a permanent replacement arises.

Asdot did not immediately respond to interview requests.

When asked about the investigation, Robinson declined to comment, saying she did not want to propagate rumors and that she could not legally comment on the case.

“There was a definite need for a change of leadership in the department, and I think the chief recognized that,” Judd said. “We won’t tolerate any of those types of behaviors.”

Judd said there is no timeline to hire a new chief, and said she has not started searching yet due to the ongoing investigation.

Musco was hired as chief of the Green Cove Springs Police Department in December 2005 after having retired from the City of Delray Beach Police Department in Palm Beach County, Florida after 26 years of service. There, he rose through the ranks from road patrol officer to district commander. Musco has a master’s degree in human resource development from Palm Beach Atlantic University, a bachelor’s degree in organizational management from Palm Beach Atlantic University. He also holds an associate degree with honors from Palm Beach Community College, in Criminal Justice. as chief from another police department in Florida.