NAACP calls for resignation of Trenton Police Director
TRENTON » The Trenton chapter of the NAACP, saying it could not “idly sit quiet,” has called for the resignation of embattled city police director Ernest Parrey Jr.
The president of the organization, Jonette Smart, sent a letter to Mayor Eric Jackson on Monday calling the police director’s recent actions “disconcerting.” She was referring specifically to body camera footage that captured Parrey referring to city residents as “hood rats,” along with a decision by the police director to initiate a car stop of a driver he claimed was driving recklessly.
“It is preferred that he be removed of his duties,” Smart wrote. “We feel that a leader’s actions begets their subordinates’ behavior and it is crucial to hold those accountable for their actions.”
The mayor has stood by Parrey but seemed to waffle on whether he would remain in that position after footage emerged of Parrey’s police officers making fun of a gunshot victim and talking about how to get away with using excessive force.
Jackson told The Trentonian that Parrey was the police director “today,” opening up the possibility for one city councilor that may change in the future.
“We don’t know what tomorrow’s going to bring,” Councilman George Muschal said. “The way it sounds — what the mayor said — is he goes day by day.”
Smart’s letter was sent five days after her organization met with the mayor to discuss concerns about Parrey.
In a letter to the NAACP president a day later, Jackson said the police director had his “continued confidence” despite the public blunders.
“Director Parrey, although not perfect, like most of us, has served our city well,” the mayor wrote. “I remain focused that public safety is our top priority and building sustainable working relationships within our community is paramount to operate an effective and efficient police force.”
Those efforts may have taken a hit, experts suggested.
The organization said it was also disturbed by the body cam footage of city police officers Tim Miller, Gloria Garcia and supervising Sgt. Charles Lamin cavalierly discussing using excessive force and how to beat suspects into submission using flashlights, which a local attorney said amounted to criminal assault.
After The Trentonian published the footage and a story about the officers, the mayor denounced the cops’ behavior as “repugnant” and asked Parrey to expedite an internal affairs investigation into the officers.
Smart applauded the mayor’s stance on the cops’ comments but urged him to take the same position on Parrey.
“The same tenor in which you put forward concerning these officers should have been taken with regards to Director Parrey,” the letter said. “The NAACP Trenton Branch will not tolerate these types of occurrences or idly sit quiet once we have been confronted with information that is contrary to the civil rights of the citizens of Trenton.”
Smart’s letter is the latest in a string of bad publicity for Parrey,
who received his third Rice notice over his recent actions. Parrey’s son, Stephen Parrey, a Mercer County assistant prosecutor, was also pulled over last week and charged with drunken driving following a car crash in
Hamilton.
Stephen Parrey was suspended without pay from his post after a police accountability expert suggested Hamilton Police — which initially channeled the investigation through internal affairs and refused to release information about the crash — was shielding the police director’s son from public scrutiny.
On his own front, Ernest
Parrey apologized to city councilors over his “hood rat” comment at a closeddoor meeting last week. The panel decided not to take any action against him.
But councilman Alex Bethea, who is still actively involved with the local NAACP, told The Trentonian the issue isn’t dead. He plans to ask the council to take action against Parrey at the next meeting but he wouldn’t disclose what he’ll ask them to do.
“Consequences still have to take place,” Bethea said. “Leadership requires a different type of responsibility.”
Muschal said he wasn’t in favor of replacing the director with the election fast approaching.
The South Ward councilman admitted Parrey made mistakes by making derogatory comments about residents and pulling over the car. Parrey, as a civilian police director, didn’t have the authority under state law to initiate the traffic stop.
Mushal said blaming the increase in violent crime on the police director also wasn’t fair.
“You can’t stop the shootings unless you stop and frisk,” Muschal said, referencing an unconstitutional policing tactic. “You can’t tell an officer how to talk. He shouldn’t have made the car stop. But if he did nothing, and [the driver] killed your mother or father, then they’d say why didn’t you stop him? You’re always going to have a Monday night quarterback.”