TPD fails to develop a diverse police force
A Trentonian article recently redistributed comments made by Trenton Police Director Ernie Parrey, Jr. regarding police interactions with residents.
“What we’ve added on is we’re going to be doing some courses on sensitivity training, cultural diversity training for 2015 rolling into the future,” Parrey said at the time.
“We have to stay up with our training. Based on everything that’s going on around the country, we have to stay on top of our game.”
Parrey sounded a booking away from time with Oprah or Ellen.
Sensitivity training and cultural diversity training should be implemented when parents put training wheels on toddlers’ bicycles, not as adult men and women holding powerful weapons that could blow heads clean off.
Persons arriving for employment at the Trenton Police Department should have an understanding about law, power, civil rights and human decency.
Part of Parrey’s Trenton problem involves a city police department which fails to develop a diverse police force.
An April 2016 Wall Street Journal report identified employment hiring issues in New Jersey urban police departments, including issues regarding upward mobility to supervisory positions.
“In Trenton, the police force is 31% Hispanic, nearly on par with the city’s population. African American officers make up 17% of the department in a city where more than half the residents are black,” WSJ reported. “Trenton Police Capt. Edelmiro Gonzalez Jr., who serves as the force’s chief of staff, said the department is working to recruit more black officers.”
Gonzalez has since retired from the department.
Attempts for diversity have shown no improvement as Academy graduation classes for 2016 and 2017 have produced predominantly Caucasian male candidates.
Of course, diversity does not mean less qualified, as a long list of minority and female officers have served honorably and continue to perform in that capacity.
Parrey remains steadfast against detailed police officers walking beats. Parrey’s push for sensitivity training succeeds when people spend time together.
Reading about another Trenton officer’s alleged bad behavior ratchets calls for an immediate assessment of the police department.
With such an integral role in city business and future, Trenton can ill afford an unchecked and unbalanced police department.