Trenton mayor’s critics decry idea to bringing back deputy police chief
TRENTON >> The city is in the “discussion phase” of bringing back the deputy police chief position, the mayor acknowledged, a move that could potentially come with more money, more power and more backlash for an administration that has endured withering criticism over the mayor’s pick to lead the department.
Talk of bringing back a deputy chief has stirred up the ranks and has city leaders buzzing about whether the administration could enact such a drastic restructuring of the department without putting it before voters.
Mayor Reed Gusciora attempted to pump the brakes on the runaway freight train of speculation, dismissing the idea as something that came up during a “brainstorming session” with Carol Russell, who was appointed Trenton’s first black female police director.
“They’re conversations,” the mayor said. “It’s not a done deal.”
But the mayor and his administration has gone so far as to run the possibility of bringing back a deputy chief to help Russell by former and current brass, and “a lot of people liked it,” Gusciora said.
“I didn’t really hear any
negative,” the mayor said.
The move establishing the deputy chief as the second-incommand would be the most significant move since the city replaced the police chief with a civilian police director following a referendum in 1999, when Doug Palmer was mayor.
The city also reorganized the department to do away with deputy chiefs, sparking a protracted legal fight that one councilman used to support his contention that the mayor can’t just bring back the second-in-command post without a referendum. Retaining the police director while bringing back a deputy chief would merge the city’s two hierarchical structures into a “workable hybrid,” the mayor said, but some city leaders view it as an end-around the current system. Perhaps more cynically, they believe it is a way to mask the alleged lack of supervisory experience of Russell, a 20-year retired Trenton cop who never rose above sergeant. “[The mayor] dangled the carrot in front of them and they jumped at it,” South Ward Councilman George Muschal said after hearing from cops who were initially receptive to the pitch. The mayor acknowledged the deputy chief position would require “almost co-police directing,” but said whoever filled that spot would still have to answer to the police director.
It’s unclear whether the deputy chief position would replace the police director’s chief of staff position currently occupied by Capt. Stephen Varn, who was the trusted right-hand man of former director Ernest Parrey Jr.
Russell’s role as head of the department already includes a component of civic engagement along with the administrative duties that come with running a 285-member department.
But the mayor feels having a deputy chief could free up Russell to spend more time engaged in the community to further her vision of community policing
Such a move, the mayor said, could encourage retention of experienced upper brass and boost morale but he disagreed bringing back the deputy chief position was a significant restructuring for a department whose highest current rank is captain.
“I don’t know if you say adding one more layer is restructuring,” Gusciora said. “It creates an adjustment and more opportunities for advancement. Restructuring sounds like something Exxon and Shell would do when they merge.”
Sources told The Trentonian that the potential move is viewed in some circles as Gusciora’s way of rallying support within the department for Russell, who has faced stiff pushback from old police foes and two city council members since she was announced as the mayor’s pick during his State of the City address.
While some in the department initially jumped at the prospect of advancement, three city leaders and Trenton cops who spoke on condition of anonymity all pooh-poohed what they feel is a misguided idea that could undercut Russell, who the mayor has denied handling with “kid gloves.”
Muschal, an outspoken critic of the mayor’s new pick for police director, favors reverting back to the city’s old leadership structure in which the police chief came from the ranks rather than having a mayor-appointed police director. The former Trenton cop contends the new setup has been “nothing but problems” for the city since the voters approved of the director system nearly two decades ago.
“If we could eliminate that and get it back on the ballot, the department would be 10 times better than it is now,” Muschal said.
However, Muschal feels the mayor’s motives for the blast-from-the-past maneuver are less than pure. And he doesn’t believe Gusciora has the power to bring back the deputy chief position without Trenton voters.
“The mayor has to know that he can’t do something like that,” Muschal said. “When he told these guys, they were jumping up and down saying, ‘Amen’ and ‘God bless,’ only to know it was a bunch of hot air coming out, unless I’m totally wrong, and I don’t think I am.”
One Trenton Police source questioned whether the mayor’s proposed shakeup was an attempt to fix a “mistake” that hasn’t been finalized yet.
“This position wouldn’t be up for a vote for at least a year from now, so if he’s doing it to cover a mistake in appointing Russell, he would be better off not committing the mistake in the first place,” the source said.
At-large Councilman Jerell Blakeley, who had planned to vote for Russell whenever she went before City Council for confirmation, said he was re-thinking his support of the acting police director after hearing about the mayor’s deputy chief proposal.
He likened such a move to putting “training wheels” on Russell.
“Either we have a police director, or we don’t,” he said. “I think to do this in tandem with the nomination of interim director Russell is not a good show of confidence in her abilities to run the department. In fact, it’s an insult and lessens my confidence in her suitability for the police director position.”
Blakeley disagreed with the mayor’s perspective that having a tried-and-true second-in-command would free her up to focus on loftier goals.
“This proposal would seem to weaken her ability to do the things the mayor intends for her to do,” he said. “It would be lessening her power on Day 1 if this was implemented. To me, what’s even more disturbing is that they would do this as a package deal. At the same time, the mayor is making a big deal about her status as the first African-American woman [to lead the department]. That he would reduce her power simultaneously would make her appointment really hollow and simply an affirmative-action hire.”
Law enforcement sources expressed just as much confusion by the proposal.
“Residents would have to vote on it and the mayor knows this,” a source said, adding “the city does not have money for this position.”
The mayor disputed that the deputy chief position, which would come with more responsibilities, would automatically come with a pay bump, saying the title alone could be attractive to brass on the force who want more resume-building experience.
West Ward councilwoman Robin Vaughn, who has criticized Russell’s qualifications to lead the police department, said she was “fine with whatever restructuring the mayor wants to do.” At the same time, she said having a deputy chief who would perform many of the tasks of the police director meant there was “no purpose” for the civilian director position.
She said she believes part of Gusciora’s motivation in pushing for more resources to help take the load off Russell is fueled by his desire for the city to have a police leader reflective of the predominantly black community.
The mayor has said he appointed Russell in part to break through a “glass ceiling” that he believes has prevented other minorities from reaching the upper echelons of the department.
But Vaughn feels the mayor is putting the city in a more difficult position because she believes the acting police director will ultimately get voted down.
“Really, he’s not taking the most important job in the city seriously,” she said.