Jon Offredo

The News Journal

Carey and the NAACP deny the claims in grievance filing

Carey resigned as mayor in late April after council members pressured him to do so

Former Dover mayor Carleton Carey's decisions to select the city's new chief of police and deputy were influenced by the NAACP, according to claims in one of the grievances filed by five high-ranking city police officers.

The grievance, filed by Capt. Robert Scott, is among those claiming Carey violated employment and affirmative action policies and abused his authority by influencing the appointment of a deputy police chief.

The grievances, filed in early April, led to a $300,000 settlement between the city and the officers. Carey resigned as mayor in late April after council members pressured him to do so.

Scott's grievance claimed Carey met with representatives from the NAACP in late March, several weeks after a Kent County Superior Court grand jury decided not to indict a Dover police officer accused of police brutality during a 2013 arrest.

During the meeting, Carey placed a call to the department, requesting the "African American Demographic by Rank" for the department. He later called Scott asking him to verify the data, the grievance said.

Police Chief Paul M. Bernat named Lt. Marvin Mailey, the former head of the internal affairs unit and an African American, as deputy chief. The selection was made based on race, and did not properly consider other officers holding more years of experience or a higher rank, the officers claim in the grievances.

But both Carey and the NAACP deny the claims.

Carey said Thursday he did meet with the group, but it didn't focus on his selection.

The settlement requires the city to pay four officers – Capt. Tim Stump, Lts. Dan McKeown, Jason Pires and J. Eric Richardson – $50,000 each by the end of May. Scott will be paid $100,000, half by the end of this month, the other half in January 2015.

Lamar Gunn, vice president of the NAACP chapter in Dover, said Thursday that someone in the community needs to consider filing an injunction stopping the city from using taxpayer money to pay a settlement based on shoddy allegations.

"I can bet every dollar that I have that if he (Mailey) had complained of discrimination, he would not have received a $100,000 or $50,000 pay out, or how about a zero-dollar payout to avoid the cost of litigation," he said.

Gunn said he was not at the meeting described in Scott's grievance, but was involved and briefed on discussions between the parties.

"Mayor Carey is not influenced by the NAACP, please," he said. "That's a joke."

Contact Jon Offredo at (302) 678-4271 or at joffredo@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @jonoffredo.