Newark Civil Rights, Labor, Community Leaders Outline Necessary Reforms for Newark Police

August 28, 2014 12:00 am

Call for creation of civilian complaint review board, end to unconstitutional stop-and-frisks, and major changes to police training and transparency

The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey (ACLU-NJ) and 10 civil rights, labor and community organizations sent a letter today (PDF) to Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, and Acting Assistant Attorney General Jocelyn Samuels outlining 19 recommendations for the City of Newark and the United States Justice Department (DOJ) to include in a forthcoming consent decree to reform the Newark Police Department (NPD). The letter comes in response to the DOJ’s July 22nd report finding widespread civil rights and civil liberties violations by the NPD, and calling for the appointment of a federal monitor to oversee reforms of the department.

“Newark stands at a critical juncture that will define its commitment to civil rights for years to come,” said ACLU-NJ Executive Director Udi Ofer. “Newark must seize this historic opportunity to build an accountable and effective police department that is committed to ending civil rights abuses. At the top of its to-do list should be the creation of permanent and independent civilian oversight of the police department. Without meaningful civilian oversight, even the strongest consent decree will fall short of what the people of Newark need and deserve. What Newarkers deserve is civilian oversight of the police that outlasts any one federal monitor.”

The signatories to the letter, which provides a comprehensive road map for addressing the civil rights violations outlined in the Justice Department’s report on the Newark Police Department, include: 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, American Friends Service Committee, Garden State Equality, NAACP New Jersey State Conference, New Jersey Communities United, New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, New Jersey Working Families Alliance, Newark LGBTQ Community Center, Newark Unit NAACP, and the People’s Organization for Progress.

"Building a culture of respect and mutual understanding between Newark law enforcement and Newark residents is essential if we hope to build a safer, stronger, and more resilient city," said Milly Silva, Executive Vice President of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East. "Establishing greater civilian oversight of the NPD and changing the way police engage with the community will go a long way towards creating a model of policing that is both effective and accountable."

The letter calls for 19 specific reforms of the department, designed to create permanent changes to the way the NPD operates and is overseen, including:

  • Creation of a strong civilian complaint review board with the authority to independently investigate civilian complaints of police misconduct and independently discipline police officers who have been found to engage in wrongdoing. Such an entity must be adequately funded and must include strong due process protections for police officers accused of wrongdoing.
  • Community advisory boards in each precinct to allow for increased communication and coordination among community members and police officials.
  • Prohibitions on consent searches, pretextual stops, bias-based profiling, and de facto summons and arrest quotas.
  • Transparency and accountability measures that include enhanced recordkeeping and documentation practices, expanded use of recording technology, and regulations on the creation of databases and surveillance technologies that respect Newarkers’ privacy.
  • A wholesale reevaluation of policing methods and training materials, which the DOJ found to be incorrect or unconstitutional in places.

The DOJ began its investigation of the NPD in May 2011 after the ACLU-NJ filed a petition with the DOJ in October 2010 documenting 418 allegations of misconduct over a two-and-a-half year span. The DOJ announced its findings on July 22, revealing a pattern and practice of constitutional violations by the NPD. The DOJ determined that up to 75 percent of stops in Newark had no lawful justification, and that thousands of Newarkers had been unconstitutionally stopped for lawful behaviors such as “wandering” and “milling.” The DOJ also found a pattern of police officers retaliating against individuals for engaging in First Amendment-protected speech, evidence of theft of property from Newarkers, and widespread use of excessive force by the police. Finally, the DOJ found a fundamentally broken internal affairs system that fails to adequately hold police officers accountable for misconduct.

“The people of Newark are the ones who have borne the injustices perpetrated by the Newark police, and the people of Newark have the greatest stake in building a department that is accountable to them,” said Lawrence Hamm, Chairman of the People’s Organization for Progress. “That means that the people of Newark need more than just a seat at the table in shaping reform – they need to stand as a permanent, powerful check on police abuses.”

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