“They received preferential treatment under the leadership of Suffern and Halstead,” he said.
Mr. Halstead dismissed this claim as unfounded. He said all promotions were obtained based on experience and test results.
“President Suffern was trying to instill a sense of discipline within the department and that was being pushed hard against him,” said Mr. Halstead, who retired on December 1 after 27 years with the oath when he said they were personal reasons.
President Suffern declined to comment.
On a recent Saturday, about a dozen protesters demonstrated in Englewood, as they do most weeks, behind an SUV playing a mixture of gospel and song.GloryFrom “Salma” music.
Reverend Preston Thompson, chief pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Englewood, said the police had forgotten that their job was “to protect and serve.”
“The entire system is isolated to protect its own system,” said Mr. Thompson. We have to fight it. They will not do self-policing and so we people have to make sure that we come and protect ourselves. ”
Mayor Wildes, a former federal prosecutor who participated in more than a dozen rallies at the Black Lives Matter rally in Englewood, said he believes every one of the 72 police officers is committed to serving the public.
He said, “There is not a single officer who cannot survive in the face of danger to save someone, or to help a resident.”
He added, “But for me, making sure the city’s leadership for this division is really improving is the mission of 2021.”
Lauren Hard contributed to the reporting.
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