In an unusually public airing of grievances, EPD chiefs defends the department and, by extension, his tenure in charge.
EDISON -- From the earliest moments of Monday's town council meeting, even those who were watching it on video afterwards could tell that Edison Police Chief Thomas Bryan had some things to get off his chest.
"Can I be heard on this, please?" Bryan said, letting out a deep breath.
Bryan has lately had to fend off vocal support from some residents of a state Senate bill that would have the state attorney general take over Edison's Internal Affairs. The department has been long troubled by stunning levels of misconduct and infighting. That is happening amid a drumbeat of news stories about the department, some of which Bryan has objected to.
At Monday's town council meeting, Bryan turned the focus on the media, the senator who proposed the state IA takeover, Peter Barnes, and the judiciary that has stymied his efforts to fire some officers.
"Unfortunately, Senator Barnes has initiated this legislation based on erroneous perceptions derived from newspaper articles and biased accounts of a small group of anti-reform-minded police officers who have one goal in mind," Bryan said, reading from prepared remarks. "That goal is to derail ongoing efforts to enhance professionalism and accountability in the Edison Police Department."
His prepared remarks exhausted, Bryan was even more critical, saying the media is driven by the desire to sell newspapers and generate "hits."
In an unusually public airing of grievances against two branches of government and the fourth estate, Bryan defended the department and, by extension, his eight-year tenure in charge. Despite the editorials, blistering letters from the police unions, and state efforts to wrest local control of IA, "98 percent" of his officers are doing a great job keeping Edison safe, Bryan said.
Barnes' bill would hand over Edison's Internal Affairs functions -- now run by officers within the department itself -- to the state attorney general.
Bryan said that the bill is unnecessary, because since 2013, the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office has been involved in every investigation in the IA department. (Despite Bryan's suggestion to the contrary Monday night, the media has reported several times that Prosecutor Andrew Carey holds sway over Edison IA, and has recently complimented it.) County investigators then forward that information to the AG's office, in effect accomplishing what Barnes has proposed, Bryan said.
Like much of the Edison Police Department, the Internal Affairs department has proven at times toxic and dysfunctional. There was a reason it was taken over by the prosecutor's office in the first place, after all. It happened at Bryan's request amid a power struggle with the former mayor. In addition, Edison settled a $200,000 lawsuit stemming from the so-called "wagon wheel of death" case, an alleged political hit list compiled by IA officers. The town claimed that it was part of an FBI investigation, which the FBI has never confirmed.
At Monday's meeting, Bryan was responding to a resident, Bruce Diamond, who had criticized the council for not publicly speaking up in favor of Barnes' IA takeover bill, and suggested they were shrinking from political pressure.
"I still find it troublesome that none of you are willing to raise your hand and say how you feel about (Barnes' bill)," Diamond told council members Monday, according to video of the meeting. "You're counting somebody's votes more than you're counting ours, and that's disappointing."
Council members demurred, saying they're looking for input from the prosecutor's office and police department. Those authorities, and the AG's office, oppose Barnes' bill. The local council could weigh in with an opinion on the bill, but they hold no official sway.
Senator Barnes, too, saw the video of Monday's meeting, and said he respectfully disagrees with Bryan. While it's true that the county prosecutor is deeply involved in the IA process, he won't be around forever, Barnes said.
"The only way to really deal with the problems is to have at least a long-time statutory, codified in law, in black letter law, that internal affairs will be removed from Edison and will be handled by the attorney general," Barnes said in an interview.
Barnes, even as he complimented Prosecutor Carey and Chief Bryan, said racial minorities have often felt their complaints haven't been taken seriously by IA. His bill has stalled in the legislature.
Barnes also alluded to the "lingerie episode," in which an Edison officer admitted to Internal Affairs that he went back to a woman's hotel room after a service call in full uniform and with his weapon and asked her to model lingerie for him.
A judge and a hearing officer have both ruled that the police department botched the internal investigation, blowing past deadlines and asking unfair and improper questions during IA questioning. A court fight is ongoing, and the town vehemently disagrees with the hearing officer and judge's rulings, but the patrolman, Anthony Sarni, is headed back to work for now.
"There is no consideration, there is no sense of ramifications," Barnes said. "And that's the most damning thing. The chief can say whatever he wants to say, but when someone can do that without fear of consequences, then you know there's a problem."
Bryan, too, said he's been upset by the judiciary's decisions on firing bad officers. But that, he said, is where Barnes' attention would be better served: passing legislation that would tilt things in favor of management, rather than employees. In addition, the $650,000 that Barnes' bill would cost could be better spent on body-worn cameras or upgrades to dash-mounted cameras.
"It's out of our hands at (this) point," Bryan said Monday night of the Sarni case. "As long as we've done our job, that's all that counts."
Bryan is not the only town official to take exception with the media; at his State of the Township address on Thursday, Mayor Thomas Lankey got to the part in his speech in which he told people not to believe everything they read in the newspaper, and paused to make sure the reporter in attendance was writing down the positive things he said about the police department.
"These officers have done a phenomenal job," Lankey said. "We are better prepared and better equipped."
Brian Amaral may be reached at bamaral@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @bamaral44. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
