The city of South Bend put Scott Ruszkowski in a squad car in July 1989 and provided him with a police dog in September 1992.
Retired officers who worked alongside Ruszkowski say he used the first one to shout the N-word at people on the street, and they say he bragged about what he did with the second.
Ruszkowski has run the South Bend Police Department since October 2015. Ruszkowski is the Democratic nominee for St. Joseph County Sheriff.
Redress South Bend sent Ruszkowski written questions on August 4 detailing each of the allegations outlined in the article, asking specifically whether he disputed them, whether he had ever used the N-word on or off duty, and whether he would authorize the city to release his complaint history, disciplinary records, and K-9 use-of-force reports. He was asked to respond in writing by 9 a.m. Thursday. He did not respond.
Some of the officers heard Ruszkowski say the slurs. Others say it was common knowledge inside the department. The officers spoke with me separately, and every one of them requested that their name stay out of it. Ruszkowski still runs the department where they spent their careers, and he is influential in the law enforcement community.
The officers who heard it did not describe Ruszkowski’s conduct as a single incident. They described something Ruszkowski did regularly, with the window down, while Ruszkowski was on duty in a marked car. Rap music was playing when Ruszkowski used the word, some of the officers said, and if anybody challenged him over it, Ruszkowski could answer that he had only been singing along with the song. One officer named the back ramp behind the police station as a place where some of this transpired.
Now the canine.
One of the men said he was a guest at parties in Ruszkowski’s house, and that officers at those parties bragged about beating up minorities while Ruszkowski talked right along with them. What this man heard was the bragging. The beatings happened somewhere else, and he does not say he saw them.
He remembers what Ruszkowski said about the dog at those parties. When Ruszkowski pulled up to an intersection, Ruszkowski said, whoever ran first was the one Ruszkowski put the dog on.
A different officer said it was known in the department that Ruszkowski put the dog on people who did not need a dog put on them, and Ruszkowski let the dog chew.
Minutes of the Board of Public Safety from August 17, 2011 carry a letter from then-Chief Darryl Boykins setting out Ruszkowski’s record. Ruszkowski joined the department in March of 1989 and went to the Third Detail Uniform Division as a patrolman on July 28. Ruszkowski was selected as a K9 handler on September 28, 1992, and in 1999 Ruszkowski returned to the Uniform Division.
Seven years with a police dog.
Related: Scott Ruszkowski lacked probable cause for an arrest, Public Safety Board said in 2007
Logan Foster
Logan Foster is the founder and editor of Redress South Bend, an independent news outlet covering local government, courts, and public institutions in South Bend and St. Joseph County, Indiana. He reports from primary documents: public records requests, court filings, state audit reports, and campaign finance disclosures. His reporting has examined city and school district payments made without competitive bidding, school board spending, and the records of candidates in county races. Redress South Bend obtained the South Bend Police Department's ShotSpotter coverage map after the department initially denied public access. The outlet is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Online News Association. Reach him at info@redresssouthbend.com
