Democratic lobbyist and former Port Authority commissioner Caren Z. Turner cursed out police officers who’d pulled over a car with her daughter in it this past Easter weekend. She resigned as commissioner on Monday.
On Tuesday, Politico and NJ.com published dashcam video of the traffic stop released by Tenafly, New Jersey police. In it, Turner is seen confronting the officers and flashing her Port Authority badge.
“You may shut the fuck up,” Turner is seen telling an officer in the dashcam video at one point. The confrontation began after the officers informed the car’s driver that it would be impounded because it was not registered.
“I am the commissioner of the Port Authority and I am heading up over 4,000 police officers, okay?” Turner said separately. “So if there’s a problem—
“There’s no problem,” the officer responds. “It’s an unregistered vehicle.”
Announcing Turner’s resignation Monday, the Port Authority said in part: “Immediately upon learning of allegations that Commissioner Turner violated the Board’s newly-enacted Code of Ethics, an Inspector General investigation was begun. The investigation revealed conduct that was profoundly disturbing.” Turner had served as chair of the Port Authority board’s ethics committee.
Watch below via Politico:
I believe this is what’s known as “burying the lede.”
Yet another case of the arrogance of power.
“These aren’t the kind of ethics I had in mind.”
The Port Authority of NY and NJ Commissioners are appointed by the respective governors of those states. They are invariably unfit for office since the appointments are used to pay off large donors (hedge fund and real estate moguls in the case of Cuomo) and political allies. You would think that decision-making on crucial infrastructure matters ought to be the province of good-faith transportation experts and urban planners, but no, billions of dollars are entrusted to a group of unqualified hacks with private agendas of profit and power, and the result of this fiefdom system is there for all to see: shockingly run-down airports, crummy bridges, decrepit and malfunctioning bus terminals, and desperately needed tunnels that never get built, hopeless inefficiency. I’m hoping that the admirable Phil Murphy will change this in NJ and Cynthia Nixon in NY.
She leads “4000 cops” and doesn’t know she’s on camera or so hubristic that she didn’t care? Either way, glad she’s out.
And she was the ethics chair, no less!