Nassau County Executive Laura Curran is giving her full support to embattled Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder, saying he will remain in his position.

Civil rights leaders have called for the county's top cop to resign following comments he made to Newsday about the lack of diversity in the Nassau County Police Department.

Curran says she has full confidence in Ryder and she's not removing him.

"Commissioner Ryder has championed the community policing model now being embraced nationwide as part of reform efforts,” she said in a statement. “We will continue to focus on keeping Nassau safe while moving forward with police reform that builds trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve."

The Newsday article from last month states that only 67 of 6,539 Black applicants to the force were hired in the six years following the 2012 police exam.

Ryder was quoted in part saying, "These kids struggle because they don't have both parents around. They don't have a family history of law enforcement and they're at a disadvantage starting off."

Ryder then explained, saying, "I recognize the failings in the process of getting more diverse. I also talk about the programs we've put into place already, like our mentoring program to increase diversity."

Ryder has since apologized. "My comments were not meant to paint anyone with a broad brush and if I offended anybody, I apologize. That was not my intent," he said.