Neptune Police: Frequent critic, NAACP head joins oversight committee

Austin Bogues | Asbury Park Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Asbury Park Neptune NAACP gala NAACP President Adrienne Sanders discusses the triumphs of local women who fought against sexual harassment in Neptune.

NEPTUNE - Adrienne Sanders, a sharp critic of Neptune Police Department operations and president of the Asbury Park/Neptune Chapter of the NAACP, has been appointed to the oversight committee that monitors the township police force.

Sanders, 52, will serve alongside Mayor Nicholas Williams and Committeeman Michael Brantley on the committee — and now will have a direct role in overseeing the police force she has long railed against.

The appointment came Monday.

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Sanders told the Press she wanted to help change "the toxic climate that exists inside our police department in Neptune."

"We want to create an atmosphere of diversity, inclusion, equal opportunity and also make sure that it’s a more community focused atmosphere."

The Asbury Park resident has been an outspoken supporter of two women, one a former officer and one who still serves on the force, who alleged they faced sexual harassment and racial discrimination while serving in the Neptune Police Department.

In 2014, the women, Elena Gonzalez and Christine Savage, settled lawsuits against Neptune Township for $330,000 each. The township did not admit wrongdoing in the lawsuit settlements.

The two said the harassment and racial discrimination never abated and in 2016 they subsequently filed new lawsuits against the township. Gonzalez, a former police sergeant, left the department in the spring of 2017.

Last summer, Sanders wrote the U.S. Justice Department asking for it to investigate working conditions on the police force.

More: NAACP honors Neptune PD officers who spoke up on sexual harassment

"We must have zero tolerance for the sexual harassment or discrimination of any person," Sanders wrote in the letter, dated June 17, 2017. "It is seemingly obvious that the Township of Neptune either will not or cannot take the necessary actions to end an alleged culture of harassment and discrimination within their police department."

Sanders also honored Savage and Gonzalez at the NAACP's annual Freedom Fund Gala held in March. You can view a video above where she speaks about the officers at the gala.

In July 2017, the Township Committee said it wanted more oversight of the police department after the force found itself embroiled in controversy, with several costly lawsuit payouts, allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation and a domestic-violence killing at the hands of an off-duty Neptune officer in 2015.

The police oversight committee is comprised of two members of the Township Committee and a citizen member. Sanders will receive no compensation for her service on the committee.

"We are working on policies and making progress in the police department," Brantley said.

Until 2017, the department was managed by Neptune Township Chief Financial Officer Michael J. Bascom, who continues in that role.

Bascom declined to comment on Sanders' appointment. When the oversight committee was formed, he opposed the move, stating that he feared politics would seep into management of the department.

The previous citizen member on the panel was former Newark Police Captain Barry J. Colicelli, who now serves as a paid consultant to the police oversight committee.

More: Neptune Police: Former Newark police captain will help oversee them

Austin Bogues: 732-643-4009; abogues@gannettnj.com