After a bruising week rampant with reports of her impending resignation, Carol Russell remains Trenton’s acting police director and will go before City Council next week for their approval, Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora said Friday.
Russell, a retired city police sergeant, has the mayor’s backing, and he still believes his nominee “fits the bill” for what he and Trenton residents want in a civilian director - someone who’s engaged in community policing and who lives in the city.
Russell does, the mayor said.
“I think she’s capable of shaking things up and getting officers out of their cars and onto the streets. We have to try something different, and that’s why I (chose) Carol,” Gusciora said.
The mayor admitted her nomination was a bit shaky earlier in the week, but said Russell wants to stick with it and is scheduled to appear before the City Council on Tuesday, for the approval process, known as “advice and consent.”
Gusciora nominated Russell in late October to become the civilian police director - which of confirmed will be a historic first, a female leading city police.
Her nomination to the post drew immediate criticism from some police officers. They say her connection to a fraternal group of police officers in the late 1990s and early 2000s - Brother Officers Law Enforcement Society, or BOLES - reflected anti-police views at times, and they point to her lack of college degree and police management experience - and that she never rose above sergeant.
“Harry Truman didn’t go to college either,” Gusciora said of Russell’s education.
Russell, the mayor touted, has over 20 years of Trenton policing, and that makes her capable of leading the department.
But it’s not just the cops that are complaining.
Support among City Council members took a dive last week when new at-large councilman Jerell Blakeley, who initially supported Russell’s nomination, publicly doubted it.
Last Thursday, Blakeley grilled Russell at a City Council meeting - the Trentonian called it a mini-interrogation - and later talked about it on a Facebook post:
“Now initially I supported Acting Director Russell. I stated publicly how I felt about her. But I have learned additional information (from folks from all walks of life) that have caused me to reconsider her nomination and her suitability for the position of Police Director,” Blakeley wrote.
The councilman went on: “The police department is so critical to our city’s future. It is more than 25% of our budget and has a huge impact on the ability of our city to move forward so it’s really important that we have folks in positions of leadership that are qualified and prepared to hit the ground running on Day One. I have reached out to dozens of Trentonians about Director Russell, whites and blacks, police and civilians alike and the same concerns are coming up about her lack of experience to do the job effectively.”
Blakeley said Gusciora’s choice for fire director, Derrick Sawyer, a retired Philadelphia Fire Department chief, is excellent and sailed through council confirmation.
“This man has experience running the fire department of the nation’s fifth largest city... has three degrees in fire safety and public administration, headed up a budget that was larger than the City of Trenton’s entire municipal budget, and has extensive trainings and certifications. I’m looking for that kind of person with those skills to become Police Director and I’m afraid interim Police Director Carol Russell simply doesn’t measure up.”
And on Thursday, Council President Kathy McBride called a press conference to call on Gusciora to send the Council properly vetted and qualified candidates. It’s the governing’s body’s job to provide “advice and counsel,' not, in Russell’s case, “determine her fate.”
Gusciora said although Russell’s nomination was shaken by the council, he and Russel are putting her fate in their hands.
Russell, the mayor said, knows she might be “put through the ringer” again.
“She wants to make her case in front of council,” Gusciora said.
Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find NJ.com on Facebook.