Last week, the Binghamton City Council unanimously passed a resolution condemning former Binghamton Police Chief Joseph Zikuski and calling for further investigation into his conduct.

A report released earlier this month found that Zikuski violated several Binghamton Police Department policies after a July 18 incident where his girlfriend, Susan Rice, 44, was arrested after making inflammatory comments to two teenage boys and attempting to strike them. Following the arrest, Zikuski — who was present during the altercation — reportedly sent photos of Rice to the chief of the Johnson City Police Department and gave conflicting statements to investigators.

On July 20, Mayor Jared Kraham placed Zikuski on administrative leave. The following day, after being instructed to return his city-issued property, including a cell phone and tablet, Zikuski administered a factory reset of the two devices with Rice’s assistance.

The resolution outlined these “serious violations of Binghamton Police Department (BPD) policy and City ethics standards,” along with storing a personal firearm in his office without approval and failing to report a change in residence. It also stated that Zikuski’s resignation “does not absolve” his misconduct and the need for further investigation.

In its resolved clauses, the resolution called upon Broome County District Attorney Paul Battisti to review the report for possible criminal or professional misconduct. It also urged Kraham to “ensure full cooperation” with any potential investigations and to improve oversight and ethics training for the Binghamton Police Department.

“While it’s in City Council’s purview to pass non-binding resolutions, the actions I took as Commissioner of Public Safety — from placing former Chief Zikuski on administrative leave to hiring an iron-clad independent counsel to investigate and then swiftly releasing the report to the public — were the type of leadership that residents expect,” Kraham said in a statement to the Press & Sun Bulletin. “City Council was aware and in support of my actions from the first days of the investigation. The former Chief’s resignation and the release of the independent report were important steps to ensure accountability and transparency.”

The resolution concluded with a statement that the council “reaffirms its commitment to ensuring that no individual — regardless of rank, tenure, or position — is above the law, and that accountability, transparency, and justice remain the cornerstones of public trust in this City.”

Councilman Nate Hotchkiss ‘12, who represents Binghamton’s fourth district, presented the resolution in a work session on Oct. 20. He called upon the Broome County District Attorney’s Office and the New York Attorney General’s Office to review the report and investigation materials to determine if further inquiry is needed.

The report, issued by Lippes Mathias LLP, a legal firm based in Buffalo, New York, did not include any legal recommendations. In July, the district attorney’s office submitted an application for a special prosecutor to investigate the incident.

“The independent administrative investigation into Joseph Zikuski determined that he violated multiple City and BPD policies, raising additional concerns about the potential criminal nature of his conduct,” Hotchkiss said in a statement to Pipe Dream. “In response, I introduced a resolution calling for a criminal investigation into his actions. My fellow Council Members unanimously supported the measure, reflecting our shared commitment to accountability and integrity in public service.”

The resolution was approved in an Oct. 22 business meeting. Councilwoman Kinya Middleton, who represents Binghamton’s second district, said that the incident and subsequent report raised concerns about Zikuski’s previous behavior.

“When you read the report on exactly what happened, if those young boys did not record this, this could have ended in a different way,” Middleton said. “The boys could’ve been prosecuted — it was set up for that to happen. So this makes me think, if this didn’t happen, if we didn’t have things like this, that means that things have been done like this in the police department under Chief Zikuski’s watch. So to me, even though this was caught this time, we don’t know what he did in the past to other people.”