July 27, 2004

NEWARK, NJ — At a press conference held today, representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey condemned the practice of racial profiling by New Jersey State Troopers and stated that the firing of Colonel Williams was not enough.

“Colonel Williams was fired for telling the truth about policing in New Jersey: Troopers and officers wrongly believe that blacks and Latinos are the principal drug traffickers. The statistics prove this is false,” said Kevin Keenan, Acting Executive Director of the ACLU of New Jersey.

“The State Trooper's policy of targeting people of color for traffic stops is discriminatory and unacceptable,” said Lenora Lapidus, Legal Director of the ACLU of New Jersey. “Although the State denied having such a policy, Col. Williams' statements make clear that racial profiling has been used by state troopers for a long time.”

“We have filed a class action on behalf of all individuals who have been stopped on the Turnpike as a result of racial profiling,” Lapidus continued. “We are prepared to represent other individuals who believe they have been stopped for this reason and who wish to join the class action. These people should call the ACLU of New Jersey.”

“Williams's statement is a vindication of the facts that we have known for over a decade now, that race is a major component of New Jersey State Police thinking,” said William Buckman, an attorney in the Turnpike case. “In 1994 and 1995, extensive evidence was presented to the court that the state police concentrate on race in making stops along the turnpike. And the court found that a state police condoned policy of racial profiling existed. Despite this finding, the Governor and the Attorney General have appealed this finding and have vociferously fought to deny what that case proved. Sadly, the Governor has chosen to seek a course of spin control in firing Williams, rather than address the problem and make a commitment to end it once and for all.”

The firing of Williams will not change the State Police culture and operating procedure of targeting minorities on the roads of New Jersey. Instead, data must be collected on all stops by the state police which would show the racial composition of stops, and these data must be made available to public watchdog groups such as the ACLU of New Jersey. Even that is not enough, however. The ACLU is calling on Governor Whitman to promote early warning system (EWS) databases to red flag officers with psychological or other problems.