JERSEY CITY -- The long simmering feud between Mayor Steve Fulop and the largest of the city's two police unions boiled over tonight as 100 cops appeared at City Hall to accuse Fulop of putting politics over good policing and paint Public Safety Director James Shea as an "absentee" leader.

The protest comes as the city and the Jersey City Police Officers Benevolent Association spar over a new contract for the union's roughly 700 members. The administration has asked a state arbitrator to resolve the dispute, an action the union's president said tonight is evidence the city "had no desire to bargain in good faith."

JCPOBA President Carmine Disbrow used his remarks to council members tonight to pummel the administration, a 10-minute speech punctuated with applause and lusty cheers from the cops standing behind him.

Disbrow attacked Fulop for his recent campaign ad that ends with two men in police uniforms hoisting a seated Fulop "like a king on his throne;" tied vehicular crashes involving pedestrians to the city's disbanding of the police motorcycle squad; and called the police department "currently leaderless."

"I know what some of you are thinking, that as long as we have Public Safety Director Shea in place, leaving the chief's seat empty is not truly a concern," Disbrow told council members tonight. "Unfortunately ... a politically appointed and too often absentee civilian is no substitute for a uniformed professional with a careers' worth of experience."

Disbrow said Fulop is leaving the police chief position vacant to avoid any political problems in advance of November's mayoral race. Fulop is seeking a second term on Nov. 7.

The police officers who appeared at tonight's council meeting first marched outside City Hall holding signs reading, "Support the JCPD." One officer taped a sign to the door leading to Fulop's office.

Asked to comment, city spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill said Disbrow's comments "undermine his credibility."

"The facts are Jim Shea was one of the most senior officers in the entire NYPD," Morrill said in an email. "He ran robbery for the entire city, the police academy, and joint terrorism task force for all of NYC. Carmine can say he wants more money from Jersey City taxpayers, but he can't touch Jim Shea's credibility as an officer."

The city has argued that the union's protest tonight was sparked by the administration's request to curtail the use of mandatory comp days and sick time.

"We offered the police union a similar offer that was approved by every other union in Jersey City including the fire department and police supervisors union," Morrill said. "There is no reason that this one police union should have infinite days to take off when they want, or place a burden on Jersey City residents with higher taxes."

Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.