Trenton Police director still silent on race-baiting investigation claims
Police radio silence. TRENTON >>
Weeks have gone by and acting police director Carol Russell has stayed silent about a Trentonian spread published this month that included a report that Russell was investigated in 1999, along with other former and current TPD officers, for an alleged race-baiting entrapment scheme that supposedly targeted white city cops.
In her first public appearance since taking over the department, Russell, who has faced stiff pushback from city leaders since being appointed as the city’s first African-American woman to lead the force, read from a prepared statement discussing the police response to Trenton Public Schools’ security crisis but didn’t field any questions.
“Good afternoon. I want to first thank the mayor for intervening on behalf of the parents of the city of Trenton and on behalf of the children in our school. Since assuming my role as acting police director, I’ve found nothing but professional men and women standing ready to take on any challenges that we are presented with in this city,” she said. “Our officers are well-equipped and welltrained to provide protection for our schools. In addition, the police department will begin working with the school board to place retired officers as additional security in our schools somewhere down the road, hopefully in the near future. But today our focus is primarily on maintaining a safe environment for our students and our faculty and all school personnel. First things first. We’re here to protect and serve the entire city of Trenton. Trenton Police are prepared to step up in any given situation. Thank you.”
Her comments at Tuesday’s presser represented her first public statement outside a one-on-one interview with Trentonian columnist L.A. Parker, who has known Russell for decades.
After the presser, Russell once again dodged tough questions about her past when approached by the press.
She said she wouldn’t talk “at this time” about this newspaper’s lingering questions over the race-baiting investigation, her city residency status or qualifications to lead the city’s police force, which city officials have vigorously questioned.
This newspaper asked City Hall about Russell’s reluctance to answer questions and received the following response via email from spokesperson Tim Carroll:
“Acting Director Russell has been carrying out her duties as leader of the 285-officer department, while making sure that she is out in the community engaging with the residents she serves. As far as her interactions with the press, Director Russell has conducted interviews with The Trentonian as well as other media outlets and intends to increase her availability as time allows going forward.”
The Trentonian is unaware of any one-on-one in person interviews that Russell has conducted aside from her talk with columnist L.A. Parker.
The city said she also appeared Nov. 8 on the Trenton Today show on radio station WBCB.
Russell, a retired officer who spent 20 years on the force rising to the rank of sergeant, was heavily involved in a police fraternal organization, Brother Officer Law Enforcement Society (BOLES), that advocated for black officers on the force.
First nominated by Mayor Reed Gusciora last month, Russell took over officially Nov. 5, the same day this newspaper published an issue that centered on his pick for police director.
The reporting detailed the old race-baiting investigation and Russell’s ties to a controversial former East Orange cop, De Lacy Davis, who was sued by the Department of Justice over fraud allegations.
Russell’s reluctance to address the media about her past has played out while Diop Kamau, a former cop-turned cop-catching crusader who was involved in the alleged diner setup discussion in an East Brunswick diner, has talked openly to this newspaper regarding the old conspiracy claims.
In the weeks since her nomination was announced, city officials have repeatedly said they planned to hold a news conference to officially introduce Russell.
But those have turned out to be empty promises.
Russell has also repeatedly declined interview requests from The Trentonian since taking over for former TPD directors Lt. Chris Doyle (he served a matter of days) and Pedro Medina, the undersheriff on loan to the city who went back to his home base at the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office following a three-month stint.
Critics have blasted Russell’s nomination saying she’s unqualified for the post.
She doesn’t have a college degree, and others have disputed whether she has the supervisory chops to lead the department, pointing to city ordinance requiring five years “in a responsible capacity in public administration and policing.”
Russell’s supporters have acknowledged concerns over the professional and educational background listed on her resume, but have said she has intangibles to be a great leader if she is given a fair shake.
Russell faces a stiff confirmation hearing before City Council, which hasn’t scheduled a date to determine whether to grant advice and consent to the mayor’s appointment.
In the only interview she has granted to date, published Nov. 1, Russell told Trentonian newspaper columnist Parker that she expected a tough fight after being bombarded by slights from old foes about her policing career and the her son, Joseph Welch’s old aggravated manslaughter conviction.
“First, let me say that I was shocked and humbled about receiving this nomination. I gave this a lot of thought and was floored by the amount of support that came my way after Mayor (Reed) Gusciora made his decision public. And, I’m not surprised about the negativity,” Russell said, while seated inside an upstairs conference room down the hall from the mayor’s office.
Since Parker’s piece ran, The Trentonian sought a follow-up interview with Russell to address several questions, including city leaders public challenge about whether Russell may have lied on her resume when she said she still lives in the city.
Those suspicions were grounded in public records obtained and reviewed by The Trentonian that show the acting police director sold her Bryn Mawr Avenue home in 2006 to Davis.
Davis, the former East Orange cop, is also executive director of Family Support Organization of Union County, where Russell worked as an outreach coordinator prior to become police director.
Property records also show Russell owns a home on Tower Street in Vauxhall Township in Union County.
Even though that was one of the primary reasons he touted for hiring her, Mayor Reed Gusciora has shrugged off suggestions that Russell may no longer live in Trenton.
Directors aren’t required to live here after the legislative body removed that requirement in 2014.
The mayor has staunchly defended his pick of Russell as a historic moment for a city police department that he says is plagued by a discriminatory “glass ceiling” that has prevented minorities from reaching the upper echelons of the police force.