PHILADELPHIA _ Former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross said Wednesday that he has "never sought retribution on a person, personally or professionally," a day after he resigned amid claims in a lawsuit by a police corporal that Ross had ignored her sexual harassment complaint against another officer, in part because the woman had broken off a two-year affair with Ross in 2011.
Speaking to reporters gathered outside Police Headquarters, Ross said he was "leaving on my own volition" because the issue could become an unnecessary distraction for the department.
"I just thought for the greater good of all citizens of Philadelphia, (the) fine police officers here, and the mayor, that it would be better if I just move along," Ross said. "Given everything else that we have to contend with, that this issue would be a distraction that this department and this city don't need."
Ross, 55, said that he takes "serious umbrage" at the idea that he had sought retribution against anyone, but that he could not comment in detail on the allegations raised by Cpl. Audra McCowan in the suit.
"My lord and savior knows what happened and what didn't happen," he said.
McCowan and Patrol Officer Jennifer Allen filed an amended version of a broader discrimination lawsuit against the department in federal court on Monday. The new complaint contained new claims by McCowan of the alleged affair with Ross.
Ross, dressed in a blue suit and tie, said he was "lamenting" the fact that he was leaving behind a department where he had worked for 30 years, and that he did not know what was next, but said: "I'd be disingenuous if I didn't say fatigue had set in anyway, independent of this issue. And you just have to understand where you are in your space in life."
