Ernest Parrey, Jr. appeared before Trenton City Council after receiving a Rice notice
TRENTON -- Dozens of Trenton police officers and others came out in force to Tuesday's City Council meeting in a show of support for the police director, who had to appear before council for "conduct unbecoming of a director."
Ernest Parrey, Jr. was given a Rice letter, a legally required notification that his job would be discussed in closed session, at the request of council members Marge Caldwell-Wilson, George Muschal, Alex Bethea and Phyllis Holly-Ward, but chose to have the matter discussed in public session.
Police director issued notice from council
Parrey, who was a city cop for more than 25 years, has held the director's position since July 2014 when Mayor Eric Jackson was sworn into office.
Caldwell-Wilson and Muschal said that on two separate occasions following the Feb. 4 meeting, Parrey started screaming at them and had to be separated by the mayor's chief of staff.
"I don't expect to get up from this dais and have the police director come and scream and yell at me because he's angry at the way I address directors," Caldwell-Wilson said. "I left here shaking and ended up in tears and I was walking down the stairs, you were screaming at Councilman Muschal."
Parrey said that his recollection was different of that night, which was one of the first meetings following the January blizzard.
"You were downright disrespectful to not only (now-former Public Works Director) Jackie Foushee, but to the rest of this cabinet that was up all weekend long ... working on that blizzard only to be told that we did absolutely nothing," Parrey told her.
Muschal had said the last straw was Parrey's tone and behavior March 17 when mother and son Delores and Joseph Harrison came to the podium to criticize the department's lack of action with an ongoing problem they were having.
"I came here because I was very upset and I needed help from the director of police," Delores Harrison said Tuesday, adding that the people who packed council chambers weren't at the March meeting. "He disrespected me ... he got loud with me. My son doesn't speak to me like he did and I have to take it from a director?"
Parrey, in his comments before council, said he is "very passionate" about what he does, but it doesn't always come across very well.
"I make no excuses for my behavior," he said. "What needs to be said and done are the actions and I think my actions have spoken for themselves."
He said he had high expectations about working with the council members, but time and again, the cabinet has been badgered by them.
"Though we work with you and you work with us, an offensive line looks out for one another," Parrey said, likening the administration and council to a football team. "The way that some of my colleagues and I have been talked to, some of the comments that have been made about this administration that I proudly serve, I'm shocked.
"I'm not here to chastise you, I'm not here to criticize you even though that's what was done to me," Parrey continued. "I'm here to ask you to implore of you to work with this administration to make a conscious effort to work with us to get past the trivialities so we could move this city forward."
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Jackson said he stood by Parrey and had full confidence in him.
"He's passionate. He loves his work and he wants to make our city better," the mayor said. "So I'm asking you tonight, let's find ourselves in a place where we're working and talking together for the betterment of the city."
He said respect has to be given both ways.
"That's what I think will help this administration and this council move forward," Jackson said. "I'm not dismissing anything. We will take the corrective actions and we're extending the olive branch, but it has to be received on the other side."
During public comment, Jim Golden, the city's first police director, questioned why the matter was even brought into a public forum.
"The council may have stepped outside of its lane," he said. "We're going to throw our general under the bus because of some disagreement, because of some sidebar argument that happened outside of these chambers and now we want to convene a public flogging of the very person that we expect to lead us."
Muschal and Caldwell-Wilson said their intent was to have the issue resolved privately, but their concerns to Chief of Staff Francis Blanco fell on deaf ears.
"I'm sure that with a discussion with Mr. Parrey, it could've been handled but it wasn't and unfortunately everyone is sitting here," Muschal said. "His work is excellent; the problem is his men behind him. He can't micromanage everything and make sure the job is done. They're the ones throwing him under the bus because they're not doing the job they're supposed to do."
Rev. John Taylor, pastor of Friendship Baptist Church, was at the March 17 meeting and said that leaders can often be strong and direct in their remarks to the public.
"Maybe we do offend people by the way we respond to things, but any of us in leadership have responded in ways that not all people agree with," he said. "Director Parrey stood here and received those words of instruction, of reprimand (by Bethea) and while we're here tonight wasting all this time ... there are tons of issues in the city that are unresolved."
Taylor said that under Parrey, the police department has helped move the city forward.
Other residents threw their support behind Parrey.
Ray Ingram, co-chair of the West District Citizens-Police Advisory Council, called Parrey one of the best police directors the city has had, saying that he actively works with the community and is open to constructive criticism and new ideas on how to grow community policing.
Rachel Cogsville-Lattimer said that other directors who came before Parrey ignored her concerns about the violence on Carteret Avenue.
"He gave us relief," she said. "Director Parrey is listening and he's doing everything possible he can not only for Carteret, but throughout the city."
Two moms praised Parrey for bringing back youth programs, including the Police Explorers.
"If it wasn't for these programs, I don't know where my son would've ended up today," Ann Rivera said.
David Peiffer, who sits on the planning board, said city residents now see leaders who demonstrate physical outbursts and self-righteous finger-pointing.
"I see selfish quibbling by my elected officials because colleagues treated them poorly all the while criminals continue to seek and gain power, illegal activities persist, municipal ordinances aren't enforced and economic development remains at a trickle," he said. "Residents follow the behavior of their leaders and so we see violence in the chambers and violence in the streets.
"Stop quarreling and finger pointing," Peiffer continued. "Support the police. If you have disagreements with individuals, deal with them in private because the police are our best resistance to the worst evils in our community."
Cristina Rojas may be reached at crojas@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @CristinaRojasTT. Find NJ.com on Facebook.