Throughout a grotesque display from a self-important New Jersey commissioner whose adult daughter and friends were pulled over by a Tenafly, NJ police officer, police cameras captured the footage, underscoring the inherent values and benefits of the recording devices. In the roughly 16-minute-long diatribe from Caren Turner who arrogantly demands answers and ostensibly special considerations, we see the needless, useless confrontational aspects cops deal with on the daily.
Bear in mind, Ms. Turner is a Port Authority of New York/New Jersey commissioner who chairs its ethics board. After you view the police footage (below), you will undoubtedly realize the glaring irony founded in her position and how she mis-treated police officers.
The kernel of the demeaning and berating tone and words (including F-bombs) is the repetitive brow-beating of two city cops who had bona fide lawful reason to arrest now-former commissioner Turner. They didn’t. Instead, both policemen exuded exemplary police professionalism, disciplined control and command, as well as acute communications skills—every word they spoke was spot-on and non-inflammatory.
I have and always will be a proponent for police cameras—body-worn and in-car—and here is exactly why. Let’s go to the tape:
I do not feel this is a one-off instance of someone behaving poorly born of having a bad day. No, it appears more like a static norm. Analyzing the subtleties and nuances in this video from the get-go, notice Ms. Turner’s daughter leaning close to traffic flow and keenly observant of oncoming cars. Yet it had little to do with safety and more to do with a would-be savior. In scant moments, Turner pulls up and parks on the shoulder ahead of the traffic stop. Cops notice. It makes sense: when a car is being impounded by police from a roadside stop, occupants not in-custody need a ride from the traffic stop scene. More significantly in this case, this factor also means someone called mommy so as to have a shoulder to lean on…or intercede. Assuming you watched the above video, you know the answer.
Without having to dissect the entire 66-minute traffic stop recorded by the police officer’s in-car camera, it is quite evident that Ms. Turner made severe attempts to strong-arm and upend the police investigation. It is also crystal-clear she was keen on officiously flashing her creds—state-issued badge and her business card hardly qualify as official ID anywhere—and plunging her political mite around so as to unravel the cops’ lawful duties. The Do you know who I am? card was thrown around like one from a deck of 52 other Jokers.
Also, as an attorney, Ms. Turner felt it was a good strategy (scare tactic) to bolster her stance by stating how many homes she owns. Sad, really. It continued to snowball into an icy persona exuded by a member of a government arm trying to ameliorate a recent record of corruption charges.
Perhaps the biggest kicker in this particular incident made from a trivial civil traffic matter was Ms. Turner’s self-boasted oversight of 4,000 Port Authority cops. As a Port Authority official, she felt it necessary to impose seeds in the two small-city cops’ heads that she wielded some power over thousands of state police officers. An attorney would surely know better than to render statements which return with rebuttals making one appear unwitting, right?
Anything she said or did was counter to her knowledge base as a state commissioner.
Fallout and Resignation
Post-incident, Ms. Turner shared written testimony via her lawyer: “Last month, my daughter and three of her friends were in a car that was pulled over by a Tenafly police officer for non-moving violations, including having tinted windows. The officers subsequently decided to impound the vehicle, leaving the four young adults on the side of a busy highway. Concerned, I hurried to the scene to assist them. As a parent, I was upset and uncomfortable with the unfolding events. I let my emotions get the better of me and regret my tone toward the police officers and use of off-color language. For this, I apologize [emphasis added].”
“However, at no point did I violate the Port Authority’s Code of Ethics or ask for special treatment for anyone involved, nor did I suggest, in any way, that I would use my position at the Port Authority to affect the outcome of the violations issued to the driver. My resignation from the Port Authority is a recognition that this unfortunate incident could and should have been avoided.” That is surely a ding-ding winning acknowledgment.
“As a long-time Tenafly resident, I have always taken an active role in the community, including working with law enforcement officials, and I encourage the Tenafly Police Department to review best practices with respect to tone and de-escalation, so that incidents like this do not recur,” Turner added. That is a classic case of an adversary drawing a red-line then pointing the red-pigmented finger elsewhere while denying personal (professional) responsibility.
I can’t help but acknowledge that there are several vying kickers in all this useless dustup. Since her resignation from the Port Authority yesterday, Ms. Turner’s newfound free time has her going on media blasts. Just hours ago, she claimed police need to work on their “tone.” Yes, that is right. The cops’ tone was somehow construed as…unacceptable. The words kettle and black are jingling in my mind right now. Calling a policeman “an ass” and proclaiming his “smug-ass look” epitomizes tone—especially since the supposed smug-ass cop was professionally poised behind sunglasses.
The former commish lashed-out from her computer, adding, “…I encourage the Tenafly Police Department to review best practices with respect to tone and de-escalation, so that incidents like this do not recur.” Interesting that she would use the word “respect” when absolutely none was given throughout her entire presence. Also odd that she would accuse attentive and listening cops performing diligently while cars whisk by of “tone” and sour grapes. Further mindboggling is Turner’s request for Tenafly cops to hone “de-escalation” practices when she was the sole aggressor and escalator in vast proportions.
What kind of public official says “Call me commissioner” (the cops respectfully complied with that request) and thereafter tells them “you may shut the f__ up”? Despite their adult ages, her family and friends were within ear-shot of the demeaning and cuss-laced language. Incidentally, after she arrives and throughout the remainder of the footage, Ms. Turner shoos her daughter/friends away. Notice the casual huddle away and seeming disinterest once Turner arrives on scene. Again, that factors into a repeat performance and not a one-time anomalous behavioral flare.
In radiant essence, this particular traffic stop and all of its attachments qualifies categorically as a picture-perfect example of not only why cops should embrace recording devices but also how grossly law enforcement officers are treated while serving the citizenry. Cameras create fast funerals and burials for false accusations against police personnel. The he said/she said narratives twisting and bending truth to suit an individual’s needs and unacknowledged misconduct find an authentic objective arbiter presiding over the mix of blame-gaming.
Sometimes problems self-correct after they implode: reviewing the incident and Turner’s behavior while officiating as their ethics chairwoman, the Port Authority is reconsidering issuing gold badges to its officials. After all, she was not in any way a certified law enforcement officer. Instead, Turner was a civilian, appointed state administrator presiding over a transportation agency’s policy and governance. Further, Tenafly cops—governed by their own sovereign municipality—are not under the domain of Port Authority in any shape or form.
I viewed and reviewed the police footage depicting this outlandish behavior of Turner’s six times. As a retired cop, I reminisce the many experiences when this brand of behavior showed up; in almost each instance, alcohol was involved, somewhat crossing the threshold to delusional psyches. Read any follow-up article published subsequent to the viral video, and judge for yourself. A sorry/not sorry stance is a wishy-washy way of taking/denying responsibility. I believe “saving face” is the term.
Concluding on a good note, Tenafly’s police executive issued a written response to his officers’ professional posture and performance, saying: “I am extremely proud of the composure, poise and restraint that Officer [Matthew] Savitsky and Officer [Tom] Casper exhibited that day. I truly believe their professionalism is a representation of the greater law enforcement community and is reflective of new training initiatives to assist law enforcement personnel in similar situations.”
Left: Tenafly PD’s statement. Right: Caren Turner’s statement. pic.twitter.com/2pPF0CsYqG
— Matt Friedman (@MattFriedmanNJ) April 25, 2018
I wholeheartedly concur with Tenafly police Chief Robert Chamberlain’s assertion that the entire footage serves as an excellent training instrument as well as a stark reminder of what cops endure daily and how best to handle such profoundly ornery folks (including those with self-proclaimed clout in denial of soliciting favoritism).
One last point: I am grateful Ms. Turner did not get struck by a vehicle while jaywalking on a public road. Was that another in-your-face dynamic she imposed upon the two policemen? Indeed.
I remain proud to add a letter to the bunch received by Tenafly Chief Chamberlain. I am elated this type of instance came to the fore. Thanks to police footage, we see back-peddling of an instigator. Speaking of which, Turner once raised funds for the Hillary Rodham Clinton crusade.
The entire 66-minute traffic stop can be viewed so as to glean the police officers’ demeanors throughout as well as interactions with the four occupants.
