Department refuses cop’s request for public hearing
TRENTON » Trenton cop Christopher Munn had a simple Christmas wish. He wanted his disciplinary hearing held in public.
But the Scrooge-like brass at the police department said no.
And now experts are saying the department may have broken the law when it unilaterally decided to expel The Trentonian from police headquarters Thursday morning before the hearing got underway.
Making matters worse, the city’s police department was recently slapped down by the state Government Records Council for not properly responding to a government transparency advocate’s request for Attorney General-mandated internal affairs records required to be made public.
The issue with Munn highlights the need to overhaul secretive internal affairs in New Jersey, advocates said.
While IA is supposed to protect the public by giving them an avenue to hold cops accountable, experts said the locked-down nature has had a reverse effect of keeping residents in the dark about rogue officers and the inner workings of the disciplinary process that judges them.
“The ‘in club’ can do no wrong,” said John Paff, who heads the New Jersey Libertarian Party’s Open Government Advocacy Project. “But people who oppose the chief politically are in the beta group. They can’t do anything right. They get written up for everything conceivable.”
Munn, a 12-year veteran of the force and former school resource officer who has been a vocal critic of Director Ernest Parrey Jr., appears to not be a part of the in-crowd at TPD.
He is being reprimanded for insubordination charges related to a heated argument he had with a superior officer in which he used profanity.
Ironically, Parrey faced one of numerous disciplinary hearings over his use of the word “hoodrats” which many felt carried a racial undertone.
Tim Smith, a partner at the law firm Caruso, Smith, Picini, which represents Munn, said police brass has “unjustly targeted” the officer.
“They’re singling him out,” Smith said. “These are not choir boys.”
Steven Zakharyayev, an associate at the firm who represented Munn at the hearing, likened the disciplinary process to a “kangaroo court.”
“The police department is judge, jury and executioner,” he said.
Smith’s office had sent the city department a letter requesting Munn’s hearing be held in public. By not allowing The Trentonian into the hearing, the city violated the Open Public Meetings Act, Smith said.
“I was shocked to hear this happened,” he said.
Like Munn, Parrey elected to have one of the hearings held publicly where he addressed city councilors. When that was pointed out to Trenton Police spokesman Lt. Stephen Varn, he said different rules governed the civilian police director than the rank-and-file.
Defending the cop, community activist and police critic Darren “Freedom” Green said he understood Munn admitted to using profanity but insisted he didn’t direct it at his superior, a form of disrespect not condoned in the military-style police ranks.
The exchange between Munn and his supervisor, Sgt. Johnny Coe, happened when Munn was headed out on assignment to a city school. Coe thought Munn hadn’t clocked in so he ordered him to return to headquarters. Munn tried to explain to his boss he had the dispatcher clock him which his attorney said was common practice.
That’s when it grew testy and Munn cursed.
Zakharyayev said he examined cops at the hearing who admitted abrasive language is common among the officers.
“They were trying to turn it into character assassination,” he said, noting his client has never been disciplined before.
Munn was reluctant to give his side when asked by a reporter prior to the hearing. “I’ll get in more trouble if I talk to you,” he said.
What is clear, Green said, is the department is coming down hard on Munn. The department is trying to fire Munn or suspend him without pay for an unspecified amount of time, Zakharyayev said.
The department refused to answer questions about Munn’s alleged violation. Parrey didn’t respond to a message left on his phone.
While sitting outside Parrey’s second-floor office, Munn repeatedly stated he wanted his hearing held publicly because he feared the department would try to sabotage the truth.
He gave his blessing for The Trentonian to sit in on the hearing.
Munn relayed as much to Varn when he came out to tell a reporter he wasn’t allowed to attend the closeddoor hearing because it was an internal affairs matter. But AG rules appear to support Munn’s contention that his hearing should have been public.
The AG’s internal affairs policy and procedures suggest disciplinary hearings are closed to the public “unless the defendant officer requests an open hearing.”
The exact line about officers being entitled to open disciplinary hearings appears in an appendix of the AG’s internal affairs policy called “Model Internal Affairs Standard Operating Procedure.”
Varn contended the AG’s suggestions are non-binding. He didn’t provide any information about Trenton’s internal affairs policy. Varn said the department acted on the advice of the city attorney by refusing to allow the public into Munn’s hearing.
Smith said Trenton’s city attorney was “derelict in his duties to give them that instruction. It’s the officer’s right. They don’t get to make that call.”
A city attorney couldn’t immediately be reached by phone.
Supporters, including administrators from Trenton Public Schools, planned to show up in droves for Munn’s hearing, which was initially scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
The Trentonian told Varn on Wednesday the paper planned to attend the hearing. The hearing was moved up from the afternoon to the morning without explanation.
Green also planned to attend Munn’s hearing following a morning speaking engagement in Newark. He was unable to go once the hearing was moved up and believed it was done intentionally.
“I was like, ‘what the hell?’ There’s no transparency,” Green said. “It’s just the internal affairs gestapo.”
Paff said he believed Varn should have backed down when Munn insisted on having his hearing in public.
“The internal affairs system is intended to work for public’s interest,” said Paff, noting his own fight with the department over the police records. “They wrapped it up in secrecy. The public is being deprived.”
Green lashed out at Parrey.
“This director needs to get his mind off being petty and get down to the nuts and bolts and working with the people who are trying to transform this city,” he said.