NEW JERSEY — The U.S. Justice Department reached an agreement with the city of Newark, New Jersey to address a pattern and practice of unconstitutional policing by the Newark Police Department, federal officials announced today.
The agreement follows a joint investigation by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, the results of which were also released today.
The findings, detailed in a report provided to the city and to Newark Police Department leadership, documents several things:
- The Newark Police Department’s pattern or practice of constitutional violations in its stop and arrest practices.
- Its response to individuals exercising their rights under the First Amendment.
- Its use of force
- The investigation also revealed deficiencies in NPD systems that are designed to prevent and detect misconduct.
The city of Newark cooperated with the investigation, which began on May 9, 2011, and has agreed to enter into a court-enforceable, independently monitored agreement to reform the NPD to ensure constitutional policing.
“Our investigation uncovered troubling patterns in stops, arrests and use of force by the police in Newark. With this agreement, we’re taking decisive action to address potential discrimination and end unconstitutional conduct by those who are sworn to serve their fellow citizens,” said Attorney General Eric Holder.
Adding, “This action reaffirms the Justice Department’s commitment to working with our law enforcement partners in order to ensure the highest standards of integrity and professionalism. Under today’s agreement, Newark police officials are taking the first in a series of important steps to restore public trust in their department and ensure both the safety and the civil rights of Newark residents.”
The terms of the agreement are outlined in the agreement in principle, including 50 pages of problems, including under reporting excessive force and officer stealing people’s money, according to news reports.
Among other things, officials said the Newark Police Department must continue to develop and implement improvements to its stop, arrest and force policies and procedures, and to train its officers on how to conduct effective and constitutional policing.
The NPD also must implement systems that ensure accountability, commit to building police-community partnerships and improve the quality of policing throughout the city.
“The people of Newark deserve to be safe, and so do the thousands who come here to work, to learn, and to take advantage of all the city has to offer,” said U.S. Attorney Fishman.
Adding, “They also need to know the police protecting them are doing that important – and often dangerous – work while respecting their constitutional rights. The Justice Department has a long history of making sure of that, and today we have the commitment of Newark’s mayor and the leadership of the police department to make the department the one that the city deserves.”
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who took over this month after winning the election to replace Cory Booker when he left for the U.S. Senate, welcomed the Justice Department’s findings and pledged to be a partner in reform, according to the Star-Ledger newspaper.
“One could look at this, 22 days in as the mayor, that the roof is caving in,” Baraka told the newspaper. “But I look at it as an opportunity to build a new roof. We are actually excited not about the bad acts of a few police officers in our department. We are excited that we have the ability to transform the Newark Police Department.”
During the investigation, the Justice Department did the following:
- Reviewed thousands of Newark police documents, including written policies and procedures, documentation of stops, searches and arrests, internal investigation files and use of force reports and reviews.
- Attorneys and investigators also interviewed Newark Police Department officers, supervisors and command staff, as well as city officials, and met with hundreds of community members and local advocates.
As the report describes, the Justice Department found reasonable cause to believe that the Newark police has engaged in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional stops in violation of the Fourth Amendment:
- Specifically, NPD officers failed to articulate sufficient justification for nearly 75 percent of pedestrian stops.
- Newark police officers also disproportionately stopped black people relative to their representation in Newark’s population.
- Although the Newark police reports were insufficient to allow the Justice Department to determine whether this disparity was the result of intentional discrimination or was otherwise unlawful.
The report urges the city of Newark and Newark police to improve its collection and analysis of its stop, search and arrest data to facilitate a more thorough analysis of the racial and ethnic impacts of Newark police’s practices and to take steps to eliminate avoidable disparities.
Through the course of the investigation, the Justice Department also found that Newark police officers have detained and arrested individuals who lawfully objected to police actions or behaved in a way that officers perceived as disrespectful, in violation of the First Amendment, according to the report.
In addition, the Justice Department found cause to believe that the Newark police engaged in a pattern or practice of the use of excessive force.
The Newark police have been unable to make reliable conclusions about whether a particular use of force was reasonable due to substantial underreporting and inadequate investigation of the use of force by Newark officers. Nonetheless, of the incidents reviewed as part of the Justice Department’s investigation, more than 20 percent of NPD officers reported use of force that appeared unreasonable.
The investigation also found a pattern or practice of theft of citizens’ property by Newark police officers in violation of the Fourth and 14 th Amendments, including by officers in Newark police’s specialized units, such as the narcotics and gang units, and at Newark police’s prisoner processing unit.
The Justice Department’s report details other inadequacies that contributed to a pattern of constitutional violations: Deficiencies were found in Internal Affairs processes, in investigations reviewing use of force and complaints regarding officer misconduct, in supervision and management, and in the training of officers and IA investigators.