Trenton Police swing and a miss on building diversity
Excerpts from a recent addition of 14 officers to the Trenton Police Department generated one highpitched rebuttal — Bullcrap!
First, look at the photo of graduates. Now, listen to Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora who noted the importance of developing a police force that reflects the neighborhoods they serve.
“It’s so that they can empathize with people, they can use their discretion, and understand that a lot of the residents, especially in the city, with many below the poverty line, what their experience is on a day-to-day basis, but also uphold the principles of the law,” WHYY reported.
Someone should alert Mayor Gusciora that he’s a white man living in a predominantly black and brown world. Half of the new graduates list as Caucasian males. Interestingly, 51-percent of Trenton police identify as White in a city where about 12-percent register in that group. There were seven new officers (including three women) who classify as Black, Indigenous, Persons of Color (BIPOC).
Please, look at the photo again. Let’s call this an interactive communication with readers. How many Black men do you see? One.
Trenton Police Director Steve Wilson said efforts to attract more police officers have been hampered by a negative view of law enforcement but community outreach measures are starting to pay off.
“The pendulum is now swinging the other way, but we have to keep at it and keep up with the public trust,” he said.
Public trust? The City of Trenton and the Trenton Police Department under investigation by the Department of Justice regarding police behaviors and policies, how they treat residents and Wilson shows an audacity to talk about trust?
Wilson and Gusciora have said almost nothing about the four police officers who misrepresented time sheets and allegedly committed theft by deception. Both men promised to speak about this incident when the investigation completed. Ten months have passed since the four officers left the force. Plus, several other officers received suspensions for their roles in the misdeeds.
Trust? You mean the kind of trust obliterated after a Jewish city police officer allegedly found a dancing Santa Claus on his/her desk holding a “F^*k Jews” sign with a Star of David crossed out in red ink. Yes, that sounds like a department that attracts.
Trust? Director Wilson and Mayor Gusciora should discuss the cronyism that occurs in the police department as several officers who would struggle to gain employment on other forces, or face termination, stay on and receive promotions. In one case, The Trentonian reported a detective sergeant had lied on a search warrant affidavit in a drug trafficking case. U.S. District Court Judge Freda Wolfson let stand evidence found in the search of a car belonging to alleged drug dealers.
“Despite these errors and the significant misstatements in the affidavit, I have found that a search warrant was not required, and an independent basis existed for the search based upon the automobile exception and the positive canine sniff alerting to the odor of narcotics,” she said in her written opinion.
Wolfson delivered a scorched earth assessment of the police behavior writing that, “misstatements are reflective of more than mere carelessness or negligence on the part of the drafting officer. They are the product of wholly inappropriate police practices, which are tantamount to lack of candor to the Court.”
Trust? The kind that disintegrated when gunmen shot up the Sanhican Drive neighborhood last week ( two suffered non life threatening injuries) and the incident went under reported. Go ahead, perform a computer search and see what you discover. Sanhican Drive area residents were understandably upset as the lack of police transparency produced fear-driven rumor.
Trust? One would think that Gusciora and Wilson have not seen the police body camera video of ten police officers responding to a minor verbal disagreement between a Black unhoused resident and his former White landlord on North Clinton Ave. The Jan. 13 incident showed one irate officer cursing and pushing the man. The officers called no social services agencies better trained to deal with issues that involve mental illness, homelessness, hunger, etc. Police did help the man carry his belongings into nearby George Page Park where temperatures would plunge into the teens. Wait a minute, just let that mayor-touted police empathy embrace your spiritual being.
Imagine being investigated by the Department of Justice and police still treat people with such disrespect — even when actions are being recorded. Amazingly, good police officers get tainted by their bad brethren.
The Trenton NAACP will hold a press conference on Monday, Feb. 5 at 12 noon to discuss the aforementioned North Clinton Ave. incident and several other law enforcement and social issues.
Between this moment and then, someone should explain to Mayor Gusciora and Director Wilson their obligation to protect and serve all residents, no matter their race, gender, ethnicity, faith, etc. If they want trust from Trenton residents then earn it.