Trenton officials present ‘no strategic plan’ to address violence, activist says
TRENTON » Darren “Freedom” Green was hoping to hear something of substance during a press conference at City Hall on Tuesday to address Trenton’s rampant violence.
The well-known city activist left disappointed.
“I left here in a worse condition than when I came because I didn’t hear anything that moved me,” Green said following the event. “It’s almost parallel to President Trump’s speech last night — there’s no strategic plan to address what the issues are.”
At the press conference, which was attended by leaders from New Jersey State Police, the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office, the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, Trenton Public Schools, and the faithbased community, Mayor Eric Jackson and his police director, Ernest Parrey Jr., outlined their plans to address the growing violence. Many — if not all — of the ideas have been utilized and kicked around before.
The police director, who was appointed in July 2014 by Jackson, highlighted high-visibility sweeps in areas that are hotbeds for crime.
“We have been conducting them throughout the course of the year and we have increased their frequency throughout the summer months,” Parrey acknowledged.
He also outlined a Violence Interdiction Team that was instituted on Aug. 7 that specifically targets gun violence offenders. Parrey also announced the creation of that team in November 2014.
Most surprisingly, Parrey delved into statistics in the wake of one of the worst violent streaks in the city’s history — where shootings have occurred almost daily — despite claiming he is “not a statistics guy.” His predecessor, Ralph Rivera, did the same thing when he presided over the department when the city broke the murder record, touting that overall crime was down.
“Year-to-date, in comparison from this year to last year, our shootings in the city of Trenton are down 17 percent,” the police director said Tuesday.
However, police later clarified that Parrey was speaking of stats only from January through June. The violence in Trenton this year really picked up the last two months.
From January 2016 through June 2016, there were 67 shooting incidents with 88 victims hit. During the same period this year, there were 54 shooting incidents in Trenton with 66 victims hit, police said.
The city has experienced 15 murders so far this year, which is actually one more than there were at this same date last year.
The mayor disagreed with the assertion that the city presented nothing new to combat violence on Tuesday.
“We’re working with strategies to make sure our police are on the ground, dealing with these issues every single day,” the mayor said. “If we didn’t do these initiatives, it would be a lot higher than it is.”
The mayor and Parrey talked about the need for community policing on Tuesday, but Trenton has done little-to-nothing in Jackson’s three-year tenure to ensure police are walking the streets of neighborhoods — a key component of community policing.
“If you go downtown, you’ll see police out of the trucks on patrol downtown,” the mayor admitted. “Are we walking in the neighborhoods? Not at this point. But we are moving toward that.”
Jackson said the city is in dialogue with the state to increase the number of police forces in Trenton to accomplish the goal of more boots on the ground.
Parrey recognizes the impact the community can make on combatting crime.
“Cops and cameras are great, but the third component is community,” the police director said. “I know it’s difficult and it’s frightening in these times, but without the community we cannot be successful.”
Green, a prominent city activist, said the city won’t be able to have successful community policing until relationships are developed.
“The police have to get out of the cars, walk in the community, get to know who AJ citizen is, so when something happens, he can trust to give police the information,” Green said. “Until you build that — where I know you and you know me — I’m fearful of even telling you. Because if shootings are happening in broad daylight, somebody saw it.”
Jackson urged parents to step up and do more at home.
“Police can’t be parents,” the first-term mayor said. “Your mayor can’t be a parent. We want to help but we can’t do it all.” Police will also be employed in city schools so that students have interactions with the officers.
“These officers are willing to listen, they’re willing to engage in productive dialogue with our youth and our youth are begging to be heard,” Parrey said.
The director will also implement a safe passage plan this school year for the new start times. Parrey said a similar plan was utilized in 2015.
Entering his third year as mayor, Jackson was pressed on why he hasn’t accomplished more.
“You know what I came into very candidly in my first year,” the mayor explained, referencing former convicted Mayor Tony Mack’s tenure. “We didn’t walk into a rosy condition. We had to fix a lot of bad government that was here.”
Jackson said he understands that he’s accountable.
“This place was a mess from a governmental point of view,” the mayor said. “We have made strides. We’re going to get there. We’re going to keep working.”