Zero Intolerance

I knew at the time that Eric Jackson’s pledge on Ethics in March of last year was little more than campaign bombast, and I haven’t been disappointed.

Recall his promise, as proclaimed in a March 3 2014 op-ed piece in the Trenton Times that he would be a mayor who would ruthlessly and consistently practice “zero tolerance for corruption, personal enrichment or dishonesty.” Mr. Jackson did not include the word “nepotism” in that specific formula, but he rails against “cronyism” and “personal gain” elsewhere in the column, so I feel safe in including it by inference.

Recall again Mr. Jackson’s affirmation that “the next mayor has to lead by example. Municipal government is only as strong, ethical and transparent as its leader. The mayor must make it clear to every employee working for the city and its independent agencies that there is zero tolerance for corruption, personal enrichment or dishonesty.” [Emphasis mine – KM]

It’s a long, long way from that promise to the reality of “He questioned if I was comfortable with the decision I made and I said I was.”

The “I” in that preceding quote is “Acting” Police Director Ernest Parrey, Jr. The decision Mr. Parrey refers to is the one made to remove a cadet from the Trenton Police Academy for cheating on an exam and placing him in a non-uniform job in the Police Department records section until he can be “recycled” in Mr. Parrey’s term for the next scheduled cadet class. The recruit in question is one Angel Perez, son-in-law to Mr. Jackson’s chief of staff Francis Blanco.

According to the Trentonian article by Penny Ray, “Parrey said he felt Perez deserved a second chance… [and] this is not the first time a recruit was allowed to recycle through the police academy after being removed once before.” However, the treatment accorded Mr. Perez was revealed at the same time that it was disclosed that another recruit in the same Academy class as his was dismissed outright on the day before her scheduled graduation, allegedly for lying on her police department application.

Mr. Parrey defends his decision to dismiss Ameera Blake by telling Keith Brown of the Trenton Times, “There were some things in her background that she did not divulge that would have serious implications with regard to police department. There were associates of hers that were of a very, very questionable background.”

And yet, of Mr. Perez and his cheating, Mr. Parrey says in the same article, “It was a stupid, foolish mistake by a young man so far into the process. He has apologized profusely. We brought him in here like we have done with many others and based on his performance here, he will recycle through academy.”

Huh. I think we need to hear more about these two decisions from Mr. Parrey. Regarding the “things in her background that she did not divulge,” was Ms. Blake also given the same opportunity as Mr. Perez to “apologize profusely”?  Was Ms. Blake not also allowed “a stupid, foolish mistake by a young woman”? Why was she also not provided, one day before her scheduled graduation, a chance to “recycle”?

Mr. Parrey may have very good, very legitimate and very defensible reasons for the two very different decision paths he took with these two individuals. But I think he needs to be more transparent and more forthright about them.

I think we also need to hear more from Mr. Parrey about those “many others” he seemed to indicate have had occasion to “recycle” through the Police Academy by first passing through civilian jobs in the Police Department. How many, precisely, have there been? What kind of trespasses have been deserving of second chances? How many “recycled” officers are currently serving on Trenton’s Police force?

And, perhaps most importantly, how many individuals have been recycled following cheating or other ethical lapses since the “Zero Tolerance” Administration of Eric Jackson took office? And, of those, how many have personal connections to Administration officials?

Mayor Jackson needs also to explain the curiously passive role he played in this instance. Mr. Parrey has admitted that “I told the mayor after I made the decision” to recycle Mr. Perez through the records section. Mr. Jackson was OK with not knowing there was a situation until after it was over?

According to Mr. Parrey, after hearing the details of the situation, “He questioned if I was comfortable with the decision I made and I said I was.”

That’s it? That’s all he said?

That’s “leading by example?”

That’s “making it clear to every city employee that there is zero tolerance for dishonesty “?

I don’t think so.

If Mayor Jackson were the same man as Candidate Jackson, he would have thanked Mr. Parrey for his decisions, but explained that Mr. Perez would have to be treated in the same fashion as Ms. Blake. Cheating on an Academy exam is an action of personal dishonesty that will not be tolerated in the City of Trenton.

Mayor Jackson would also have explained to his Chief of Staff that he was sorry to have to do so, but he would have to dismiss Mr. Perez in the furtherance of a “zero tolerance” policy proclaimed a year ago.

But that is precisely what we have not seen. Instead, Mr. Parrey vainly attempts to defend his decision as an ethical choice. “He said Perez is not the first person to be given a second chance to attend the police academy and said he had previously declined to give Blanco’s daughter a spot in the 2015 cadet class when she applied. ‘If I was going to show preferential treatment, you’d think I’d do it with the daughter, not the son-in-law,’ Parrey said.”

You know, that’s not really a persuasive argument. All that suggests is that he refused the female applicant, and gave a second chance to a man. He’s not doing himself any favors here. I’d drop that argument if I was him!

In any case, “Perez is not the first person to be given a second chance” is in no way an acceptable criterion for a Police Director to use in a self-described “Zero Tolerance” environment.

On the other hand, I can’t really blame Mr. Parrey too much, if the only response he got from his Mayor was, “If you’re OK with this, so am I.”

Candidate Jackson proclaimed last year that “our city can be great again. Together, we can get guns off of our streets to reduce violent crime, bring more jobs and economic development to our city and improve our public schools — but only if our citizens and those who want to invest in our communities believe they have an honest leader at City Hall who will put the people’s interests ahead of personal interests.” [Emphasis mine – KM]

I agree with him on that. The trouble is, Mr. Jackson by his actions and inactions continues to show us that he is precisely not that kind of a leader.

But Hey! if he’s OK with this, so should we be. Right? Right?