"We didn't want to touch him," said one DRPA official.
He was hired anyway, and given a coveted assignment with a special services unit - over objections from the DRPA police chief, who said the move would cause "turmoil" and harm morale.
Like many others on the port authority payroll, Raymond Drayton had an influential relative. Current and former DRPA officials say his older brother, Paul - then the New Jersey governor's liaison to the DRPA - lobbied to get him hired in 1992.
Paul Drayton Jr., now DRPA executive director, said he asked authority officials in 1992 to treat his brother the same as any other job applicant - and not to hold him to a higher standard because of the family tie.
"My point was, it should not be held against him who he is," Drayton said in an interview. "I thought he had the background and experience to do the job.
"Did I have a conversation? Absolutely," he said. "Did I lobby? No."
Asked about an earlier job his brother held at the South Jersey Port Corp. in Camden, Paul Drayton at first denied and then acknowledged that he helped Raymond get that position. The port corporation was one of the agencies Paul Drayton monitored as an assistant counsel for then-Gov. James J. Florio.
Last year, Raymond Drayton, 30, was promoted to police sergeant at the DRPA, though he didn't have the qualifications listed in the job description. He is paid $49,772.
Paul Drayton said he was consulted about the promotion and told the current DRPA police chief to decide the matter as he would for any other officer.
Raymond Drayton, who declined to be interviewed, holds a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Trenton State College. He worked as a store detective
from 1986 to 1989 and spent a year as an investigator for the New Jersey attorney general.
