Public statement from former Mayor Douglas H. Palmer

“Public service does not end when you leave public office. When the city you love is hurting, you answer the call.”

Today, I issue this heartfelt follow-up to my recent public statement concerning the violence affecting the City of Trenton and my call for a renewed Covenant of Peace Urban Traumatic Stress Coalition Summit.

The response to my initial call has been extraordinary.

I have heard from grassroots leaders, civic organizations, clergy, community organizations, current and former public officials, county and state leaders, law-enforcement professionals, credible messengers, street organizations, and concerned residents. They have expressed their concern for Trenton and their willingness to help.

Their responses have reinforced a fundamental belief that has carried me throughout my years of public service:

Trenton’s greatest strength has always been its people.

I have been deeply moved by the calls and messages I have received. People are not calling to ask who will receive the credit. They are asking, “How can I help?” That is the spirit we need right now.

I have heard from people in law enforcement, and I have heard from people connected to grassroots and street organizations. I have heard from civic leaders, government officials, and residents who simply love this city.

I am hearing from people with different experiences and different perspectives, but they share one common concern: our children, our families, and the future of Trenton.

THIS IS ABOUT SERVICE – NOT CREDIT

I had the extraordinary honor of serving as Mayor of Trenton for 20 years. My involvement in this effort is not an attempt to return to the past or to place myself at the center of the city’s future.

I consider it an obligation of service.

The people of Trenton entrusted me with something sacred – the opportunity to serve them. Leaving public office did not end my love for Trenton, and it did not end my responsibility as a citizen to help whenever I can.

Public service does not end when you leave public office. When the city you love is hurting, you answer the call.

I am prepared to contribute the experience, relationships, and lessons I accumulated over decades of public service while listening to and supporting the people doing the work today.

I am not coming to this table believing I have all the answers. I do not.

I know there are men and women serving Trenton today who are doing extraordinary work. I see young leaders emerging with ideas that need to be heard. I recognize that people in our neighborhoods understand things about their communities that no government report can teach us.

My responsibility at this stage of my life is not to stand in front of them. It is to stand with them.

THE INVISIBLE WOUNDS OF URBAN TRAUMATIC STRESS

One of my greatest concerns is that we must address not only acts of violence themselves, but also the trauma violence leaves behind.

We see the crime scene. We see the police tape. We see the ambulance. We read the headlines.

But I ask: What happens after everyone leaves?

What happens to the child who heard those gunshots?

What happens to the mother who cannot sleep because she is afraid her son will be next?

What happens to the young person who has buried multiple friends before reaching adulthood?

What happens when trauma becomes anger, anger becomes hopelessness, hopelessness becomes retaliation, and retaliation produces another grieving family?

These are questions we must confront if we are serious about addressing Urban Traumatic Stress.

I want to be clear: Examining root causes must never be confused with excusing violent conduct.

I believe people who commit acts of violence must be held accountable. Public safety requires that.

But I also believe accountability and prevention are not opposites.

We must hold people accountable for violence while also having the courage to address the conditions that contribute to violence.

I believe this means examining Urban Traumatic Stress, poverty, educational disconnection, family instability, unemployment, behavioral-health needs, substance abuse, retaliation, reentry challenges, and the absence of opportunity affecting some young people.

If our strategy begins only after someone pulls the trigger, we have already arrived too late.

A LESSON FROM TRENTON’S PAST

I know that Trenton does not have to begin this conversation without experience.

During my administration, we developed a two-fold public-safety approach involving then-Trenton Police Director Joseph Santiago and grassroots intervention leader Emmanuel Shahid Avraham.

We brought together two essential components:

STRONG, POSITIVE LAW ENFORCEMENT and STRONG, CREDIBLE GRASSROOTS COMMUNITY INTERVENTION

We learned that these approaches did not have to compete.

We combined strong, positive law-enforcement leadership with grassroots leadership that brought extensive experience working throughout the New Jersey correctional system and relationships with national street organizations, grassroots leaders, and individuals who possessed credibility in places traditional institutions sometimes could not reach.

When we brought those approaches together, we began gaining a meaningful hold on what was happening in our streets.

That experience helped us organize Trenton’s major Gang and Violence Summit and develop the Covenant of Peace.

We brought together people who ordinarily might never have sat at the same table.

We learned that sometimes the person capable of preventing the next shooting is wearing a badge. Sometimes it is a minister. Sometimes it is a mother. Sometimes it is a coach, teacher, or counselor. Sometimes it is someone who once lived the street life and now has enough credibility to make a telephone call that stops retaliation.

I believe a wise city understands that saving lives requires every responsible hand willing to help.

LAW ENFORCEMENT AND GRASSROOTS ORGANIZATIONS ARE ANSWERING THE CALL

I have been particularly encouraged by calls from individuals in law enforcement, street organizations, and grassroots leadership who are interested in participating in the proposed Covenant of Peace – Urban Traumatic Stress Coalition Summit.

Hearing people from different sides say, “Mayor, I want to help,” gives me tremendous hope.

This is exactly what I believe the Covenant of Peace should represent.

I am not asking anyone to surrender who they are to sit at the table. I am asking all of us to agree that the life of a child is more important than our differences.

I also want to emphasize that a renewed Covenant of Peace would not replace or diminish the organizations currently serving Trenton.

Quite the opposite.

I believe we should honor the people who have been doing this work. We should listen to them, strengthen them, coordinate resources where appropriate, and ask what they need to become even more effective.

For me, this cannot be about who owns the solution. The only thing that matters is whether the solution saves lives.

A SUMMIT BUILT AROUND LISTENING AND ACTION

I have begun assembling individuals from different sectors of our community to help me develop the Covenant of Peace – Urban Traumatic Stress Coalition Summit.

I will seek participation from law enforcement, grassroots organizations, credible messengers, clergy, educators, young people, behavioral-health professionals, returning citizens, victims and families, healthcare professionals, businesses, civic leaders, and government officials.

I do not want this to become another conference where adults talk at one another for two days, and then everybody goes home.

I believe we must listen. We must identify the root causes. We must determine what is working. We must be willing to acknowledge what is not working. Then we must leave with clear responsibilities, measurable objectives, and a commitment to continue working after the Summit ends.

My goal is not simply to hold a Summit. My goal is to accomplish something meaningful because we held one.

NOVEMBER 3, 2026, AND THE NEXT CHAPTER FOR TRENTON

I recognize that Trenton residents will go to the polls as part of the November 3, 2026, General Election – an important moment for the city’s future.

I want to emphasize that the Covenant of Peace – Urban Traumatic Stress Coalition Summit is intended to remain independent of candidates and campaigns.

I believe this work must rise above personalities and politics.

The citizens of Trenton will determine whom they entrust with leading their city. That is their decision and their right.

My hope is that when that process is completed, the city’s leadership will find something constructive waiting for them: people from across Trenton already prepared to work together for peace, healing, and public safety.

I envision the Covenant of Peace – Urban Traumatic Stress Coalition Summit as a table large enough for current leadership, future leadership, law enforcement, grassroots leadership, and residents to sit together.

Violence does not ask how we voted before it enters a family. Neither should our compassion.

JANUARY 2027 ANNOUNCEMENT – FEBRUARY 2027 SUMMIT

Because of the tremendous response to my initial proposal, I am now targeting February 2027 for the Covenant of Peace – Urban Traumatic Stress Coalition Summit.

I expect to announce additional details regarding the Summit’s location, agenda, participants, structure, and registration in January 2027.

The additional planning time is intentional.

I do not believe we need to rush simply to produce an event. I believe we need to take the time necessary to build an effort worthy of the people we are asking to trust it.

TRENTON, I STILL BELIEVE IN YOU

I want to conclude with a personal message to the city I served for nearly a quarter-century:

I love this city.

I loved Trenton when I had the privilege of sitting in the Mayor’s Office, and I love Trenton today as a private citizen.

I have seen our city celebrate extraordinary victories, and I have stood with our people through extraordinarily painful moments.

I have seen mothers cry. I have seen families bury children.

But I have also seen neighborhoods come together. I have seen people forgive. I have seen young people turn their lives around. I have seen police officers and residents who once distrusted one another discover common ground.

And I have seen Trenton rise.

That is why I refuse to believe that violence gets the final word in the story of this city.

I believe our children deserve to ride their bicycles without fear.

I believe they deserve to walk to school without fear.

I believe our parents deserve to watch their children leave home without wondering whether they will return.

I believe our seniors deserve peaceful neighborhoods.

And I believe every person in this city – regardless of neighborhood, income, race, religion, or political affiliation – deserves the dignity of feeling safe in the place they call home.

I cannot promise that one Summit will solve every problem confronting Trenton. It will not.

But I do believe something powerful can happen when good people decide they are no longer willing to allow their differences to prevent them from working together.

So I offer whatever experience I have, whatever relationships I have developed, and whatever ability I still possess to bring people together.

I make this offer not because I am the former Mayor of Trenton, but because I remain a servant of the people of Trenton.

If my experience can help, use it.

If my relationships can open a door, I will knock on it.

If my voice can bring people to the table, I will use it.

And when others are better positioned to lead, I will listen, support them, and stand beside them.

This moment does not belong to me.

It belongs to Trenton.

And if we put our children ahead of our egos, service ahead of recognition, solutions ahead of politics and love of community ahead of our differences, I believe Trenton can rise again.

ONE CITY.

ONE COMMUNITY.

ONE COVENANT OF PEACE.

Douglas H. Palmer
Former Mayor
City of Trenton, New Jersey

COVENANT OF PEACE – URBAN TRAUMATIC STRESS COALITION SUMMIT

Target Summit: February 2027
Full Public Announcement: January 2027
Location: Trenton, New Jersey
Additional details forthcoming.