Citizens talk police-community relations at coffee with cop event in Trenton

By Isaac Avilucea, The Trentonian
Original article HERE

City entrepreneurs Freddie and Rosa Rosado have a cop for a son. They want others to know cops are sons and daughters, too.

That was the message behind Tuesday’s coffee with a cop, part of a broader national initiative spearheaded by American’s favorite fast food chain, McDonald’s, to lessen the divide between citizens and police officers during a divisive time in this nation’s history.

About 20 to 30 officers from the Trenton Police Department and the Mercer County Sheriff’s office — some retired, some in plain clothes and some in uniform — were at the event.

A handful of city stakeholders were on-hand as well as, in addition to restaurant patrons, some who took time to discuss issues that, like the free cups of java handed out at the event, are burning in the community.

Mercer County Sheriff Jack Kemler was present but his counterpart from Trenton Police, Director Ernest Parrey Jr., was a no-show. Mayor Eric Jackson was invited but couldn’t attend.

Chief on everyone’s mind were the police shootings and targeting of officers that have occurred in several states.

“This was very important,” Rosa Delgado, the mother of newly minted Mercer County Sheriff’s Officer Freddie Rosado Jr, said following the two-hour event at the Chambers Street restaurant. “We want people to know they’re [police] like us. I grew up here. He grew up here. Sometimes it’s a small world.”

In recent months, police and the public have seemed worlds apart.

Officers are under immense pressure following a spate of shootings that led to peaceful and violent demonstrations over police brutality. Last weekend four police officers in several cities were shot — one fatally — in targeted attacks.

Those incidents come months after five officers were killed and seven injured in Dallas during an ambush carried out by Micah Xavier Johnson, an Army reservist who was upset over a wave of police killings of black men.

It was the deadliest day for police in the U.S. since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The capital city saw its own wave of protests in response to the shooting of Radazz Hearns, a city teenager who was shot multiple times by a State Police trooper and a Mercer County detective in August 2015.

Amid this contentious backdrop, Freddie Jr. graduated from the police academy in April.

Being new to the force, he couldn’t really discuss the issues he and his brothers and sisters in blue face.

Despite what was billed as an open community dialogue, officials from the Mercer County Sheriff’s office approached by The Trentonian at the event said any comments had to come from Public Information Officer Ernest Cerrino.

Like other mothers of police officers, Delgado’s mother worries about her son any time he clocks in.

But she draws comfort from her roots: Her brother is a retired Trenton cop. She said she knows her son is well-trained and equipped to handle situations he may encounter in the field.

“I give him my blessings every day,” she said. “I trust in my prayers.”

While the prayers are appreciated, Trenton Police Capt. Mark Kieffer Jr. said some positive press could also help dissipate some of the vitriol facing officers.

Kieffer blamed the media in some respect but also acknowledged cops have helped shaped their bum rap with some of the shootings of unarmed civilians and misconduct cases.

“The media takes something and blows it out of proportion,” said Kieffer, a 23-year vet who was born and raised in Trenton. “It sells more newspapers and drives ratings.”

He said community-building events are important to help mend the divide and further conversation.

“Instead of arrests, you’re making connections,” he said.

The connections with some of the youth in Trenton have been hard to come by.

If there was any failing of the event, pitched as an opportunity to address after-school safety, it was that few of the city’s youth could attend. The event took place during school hours.

In recent months, city officials have tried to target the kids.

The city reinstated a curfew in the wake of the murders of two city teenagers this year, sending those caught out after midnight to local churches.

The practice, intended to foster unity between youth and police, was condemned by a civil liberties group over concerns about separation of church and state.

It’s unclear if the practice has been successful.

Six of the city’s 22 homicide victims were 20 years old or younger. The youngest was 15 years old. The murder suspects have also gotten younger.

Kieffer said police must do a better job reaching the kids but he said it takes a village.

“It seems we’re losing them earlier and earlier,” he said.