Sheilah Coley, former Director of Public Safety in East Orange, NJ took the position of Police Director in Trenton last April. In a recent interview with Mayor Reed W. Gusciora, he told The VOICE Coley was selected for her qualifications and experience.
“She has the ability to command the attention of a room and brought the professionalism needed to the police department,” Gusciora said.
Coley was an officer of the Newark Police Department and later moved up to be the first woman Police Chief in Newark and Director from 1989-2014. She later moved on to be the Director of Public Safety in East Orange.
Asked about being the first African American woman Director of Police In Trenton Coley says, “I let everyone else put the emphasis on my race and my gender. I rely solely on my ability and my expertise.”
Elizabeth Bondurant, a criminal justice professor at Mercer, and former Chief of Police in Plainsboro Township was profiled in a The New York Times article in 2008 about how only 1% of police chiefs and directors in the US were women. Now that number is up to 3% according to the National Institute of Justice but women of color make up only a tiny fraction of that 3%.
Professor Bondurant says, “More women need to go for the job. We need more diversity in the ranks…The departments, let’s just call it the complexion of the departments, is still very white male. It is just that is what it is.”
While Coley says ability and expertise are her selling points, residents say they see value in her minority status.
Local resident, 25-year-old, Josue Lora, who owns his own media and graphic design business, on learning of Coley’s previous experience laughed and said, “She hood, hood,” then added, “I think it’s great that they put a person of color in that position because like they might understand different cultures better than a white guy. Like a white guy is always in charge, and clearly, they don’t understand black and brown people, and Trenton is filled with black and brown people. So I think that having somebody that looks like most of the community is definitely a good thing. I think it’s like a good step.”
The city has seen crime rates go down in 2019 from previous rates in 2018. The Police department recently released a report indicating there has been an average of 20% decrease in each major crime category with the exception of an increase of 10% in sexual assaults.
Director Coley explained that although she has been on the job for less than a year, and no two cities are the same, she knows what works based on her previous experiences.
She says the key is “to try to bridge the gap between the community and the officers, because one of the things that I kept hearing was, ‘the officers don’t talk to the people in the community.’ So, I took away the cars and put them on walking posts…So, now you’re out and walking amongst the people, and so now you know they’re talking to you, you’re talking to them and that has been a really really popular initiative here.”
Mayor Gusciora says he believes the relationship between Trenton neighborhoods and the police is important to improve because of the misconception in many urban areas that people can’t trust the police. He says he believes that Director Coley is already making the changes necessary by implementing initiatives such as the walking posts.
Business owner Lora says he previously worked in a studio from 2010-2014, on East Hanover Street sees a change in policing since his time working there.
He says, “That block was dangerous as hell. People would get shot, people were selling drugs..You did see a lot of things. I almost didn’t pay attention to it, but I didn’t see police presence there at all, like for the most part, they would come when there was a large crowd. Now they walk it. They walk the streets.”
Professor Bondurant echoes Coley’s sentiments about current best practices in law enforcement saying, “It’s about being accessible. It’s about inviting people in, about inviting people in to see what you’re doing. Policing, historically, has been very secretive about what we’re doing and what you need to know. And now we need to turn that around and be more transparent and let people know what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.”
In addition to strengthening connections between law enforcement Coley says she is committed to working on use of technology.
She says, “It could be technology that the officers actually use, it could be technology to gather intelligence out in the field and it can even be linked to the camera system to help thwart or we can later go back and view in terms of solving the crimes.”
Another area that many Trenton law enforcement officers and residents have asked Coley to address is the fact that more than 105 officers were laid off between 2011 and 2013.
In a press conference on April 22 where the mayor announced her appointment, she said that she did not have a “magic wand.” As reported in The Trentonian, Coley said, “I know you want me to say, I’m gonna hire more cops, and I’m going to do this, and I’m going to do that,” continuing “I’m not looking to commit to any of that until the assessment is done.”
As to basic street level issues Coley says, “I tell people if you want to change the perception, you gotta change the presentation.”
She adds that her team is “investing in public safety, we need to be investing in things like cityscape, and creating ordinances or enforcing ordinances that cause people to clean up in front of their home, in front of their place businesses and when you do all of these things then people see that you care about where you work, the business that you own and where you live, their most likely not going to walk by your place and throw trash on the ground.”
Lora says, “I think [the police] have their work cut out for them, I mean I think they just have to interact with the community and it seems like that’s what they’re looking to do. Everyone wants to see the place be safer, but we also have to break down this stigma that it’s so unsafe because that’s really what’s hurting businesses.”
