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Trenton Mayor Gusciora to announce next police director Monday

  • In this file photo, Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora delivers his...

    John Berry - The Trentonian

    In this file photo, Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora delivers his first State of the City address.

  • Carol Russell was nominated by Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora to...

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    Carol Russell was nominated by Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora to be the next police director.

  • Former Newark Police Chief and former East Orange Public Safety...

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    Former Newark Police Chief and former East Orange Public Safety Director Sheilah Coley.

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Isaac Avilucea
PUBLISHED: | UPDATED:

TRENTON – The mayor will unveil his pick for police director at a news conference Monday, hoping to put to rest incessant speculation and turmoil that has swirled around his previous police appointments.

First-term Mayor Reed Gusciora has refused to confirm who he will tap as the successor to Carol Russell, whose historic nomination as the city’s first black woman to lead Trenton Police ended months of intense acrimony between the administration and City Council.

Before that, the mayor caved to pressure from council in yanking a resolution to extend the stay of ex-Trenton cop and Mercer County undersheriff Pedro Medina, who the county loaned to the city for free for three months.

Turnover in the police director position, perhaps the city’s most vital post, has been a constant in during Gusciora’s first term.

Lt. Chris Doyle has filled the position since the mayor pulled the plug on Russell in December after the council refused to hold a confirmation vote citing her lack of qualifications.

It was his second stint as acting police director; he also took over when Medina got the boot.

Whoever lands the gig Monday becomes the fourth person to hold the post since the mayor was sworn into office in July.

Already, the rumor mill kicked into overdrive.

The Trentonian reported earlier this week that one source suggested it was “pretty much a done deal” that ex-Newark top cop and former East Orange public safety director Sheilah Coley would get the nod.

The mayor refused to confirm whether Coley applied for the job but said his hire had experience working in an “urban” area.

That description seems to match up with Coley’s background.

She graduated from the Newark Police academy in 1989, and worked herself up the ranks, becoming Newark’s first female police chief in 2011.

Three years later, she was named Newark’s first African-American female police director, a position she held for three months with city police chief Ivonne Roman, according to NJ.com.

Former state police trooper John Day was also rumored to be a finalist; he received the blessing of Trenton’s religious leader who openly advocated at a news conference last month for the city to hire him.

Day said this week hadn’t heard from the administration one way or another.

And The Trentonian hasn’t had any luck trying to get in touch with Coley.

The mayor, who tapped a search committee that included city officials with finding Russell’s replacement, has scheduled a news conference Monday to announce his pick.

He’ll be joined by Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo Onofri, at-large councilman Santiago Rodriguez, Trenton Police Capt. Stephen Varn (filling in as acting police director for Doyle, who is on vacation), fire director Derrick Sawyer and recreation director Maria Richardson.