Betrayal Politics at Play in Monmouth County on Police Crime

“We stand by our Police” signs posted by Middletown Republican incumbents
appeared all over town just days after a conversation I had about police crime. The
disingenuous police alignment, disguised as support, is an example of how
incumbents direct attention away from important discussions harming both police
and the communities they serve.

Surprisingly, key Democratic leaders; Middletown Democratic Chairman, Michael
DiCicco, my former running mate Sean Byrnes, and Monmouth Democratic
Chairman David Brown added to that harm by lashing out at me for that same
conversation, despite numerous high profile incidents of police violence.

Here’s what we’re not supposed to talk about: Two major newspapers, The Asbury
Park Press and The Star Ledger, recently published groundbreaking investigative
pieces showing the prevalence of police crime in our communities, proving this is a
fact-based issue. In Middletown, where I live, our department uses force at higher
rates than 406 other police departments in the state and based on population,
blacks are 1021% more likely to have force used on them.

The Neptune Township Police Department is a prime example of how a toxic PD and
betrayal politics create avoidable tragedies in the form of police crime: We cannot
forget the murder of Tamara Seidle after numerous infractions by Officer Seidle
were swept under the rug by the Department and the Monmouth County
Prosecutors. The same department allowed systematic sexual harassment of its
officers, Sergeants Elena Gonzalez and Christine Savage. In Asbury Park two Police
Officers were arrested for targeting a community member’s vehicle and vandalizing
it as revenge for a complaint.

Monmouth County Democratic Chairman David Brown called me disgraceful for
wanting to have these conversations. In reality he wouldn’t risk losing police super-
PAC money and PBA endorsements for his candidates. A powerful black man
ignoring issues that most directly impact people of color, there is no greater harm
than purposefully harming the very people you claim to empower, the politics of
betrayal.

Jeana Sager
Candidate, Middletown Township Committee