15/01/2023
The New Mayor Of Mantua Township New Jersey 2023 is
Robert Zimmerman
HARRISON - Clearview Regional High School's class project on police brutality
Zimmerman calls Clearview Student Punk Kids.... Retires as Chief of Pitman months later!!
Did this image break the law?
OR
Does Zimmerman make decisions based on his own personal feelings?
'Don't shoot' project spurs controversy
BY: CARLY Q. ROMALINO
HARRISON - Clearview Regional
High School's class project on police brutality
in Camden has been removed from
THe hallway, but not before the image of a
black s ilhouette with its hands over its
head spru·ked controversy among parents
and police in two towns.
The display, featering "Hands up,
Don't Shoot" written next to a black cutout
of a person, sent local police officials
into an uproar Wednesday morning
when a photo of U1e project was posted to
a public page.
Gloucester County Chiefs of Police
Association President Robert Zimmerman
- Pitman's police chief and a Mantua
councilman - addressed the issue
publicly on his page, renouncing
Wednesday afternoon the display
was removed after conversations with
the superintendent.
John Horchak, superintendent for the
district serving Mantua and Harrison
Township, could not be reached.
The project was assigned to a humanitarian
studies class by teacher Jennifer
Satterfield ,according to Melody Randle,
whose daughter is one of four students
who worked on !lie display abou1 police
brutality.
Randle told the Courier-Post it was "a
good project'' with ·'true facts about a
real issue."
Other students completed projects on
feminism and human trafficking, Randle
added.
Po1tions of the poster too small to
read from photos highlighted the progress.
Camden County police have made.
"The writing you can't see is the decrease
in crime in Camden County when
police star ted to be involved and interact
with the community," Randle said.
The poster was hung in the hallway
during Satterfield's third-period class.
In online public commentary, Zimmerman
said be took issue not with the
overall project, just the silhouette and
the "hands up, don't shoot" portion of the
display.
The gesture became a symbol of proteS1
after the Aug. 9 killing of Michael
Brown, an unarmed black teenager in
Ferguson, Missouri, and has become a
symbol of police brutality protests nationwide.
"'That portion of the project was not
approved by the administration and
that's what the controversy is all about,''
Zimmerman wrote. "The approved silhouette
would have painted the picture
in a whole different light - a positive
light - one that would create a bonding
relationship between the police and community.''
The Harrison Township Police Department,
which has a school resource
officer dedicated 10 Clearview High
School, is "taking it with a grain of salt."
according to Mayor Louis Manzo.
Harrison's police official's are "connected
to the community in a big way,"
be said.
While the teacher may have been
well-intentioned, Manzo called the project
and resulting controversy "irresponsible
and sad."
Public comments on Zimmerman's
Facebook statement called the project
"tasteless" and U1e students "punk kids."
"I think the students were violated.
The school caused them to be harassed,"
Randle said.
Her daughter is not likely to face disciplinary action, she indicated. "H's one
thing ~I got OUI of hand," Randle
said. ''The s students are feeling tormented,
and the school is perpetuating it."
Carly Q, Romano;
(856) 486-2476;
[email protected]
