Since our founding in 1960, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey (ACLU-NJ) has fought vigorously to ensure that the Newark Police Department respects and upholds the civil rights and civil liberties of all Newarkers while keeping the city safe. We have partnered with the police department to create policy reforms to advance both safety and liberty, and when needed, we have filed civil rights lawsuits and sought intervention from outside entities like the United States Department of Justice to review departmental practices and investigate patterns of abuse.
The following study constitutes the first public analysis of stop-and-frisk practices in Newark. The data analyzed here come from the Newark Police Department’s Transparency Policy, adopted on July 8, 2013 at the urging of the ACLU-NJ. Under this policy, the Newark Police Department is required to post monthly statistics on its website detailing the number of stops, frisks, and searches citywide, disaggregated by various characteristics, including race, gender, age and limited English proficiency. The Department also releases information on the number of internal affairs complaints it received and the number of times it used force in an incident. Former Newark Mayor and current United States Senator Cory Booker and former Newark Police Director Samuel DeMaio issued the policy and we commend them for their commitment to ensuring greater transparency in police practices in Newark.