Feds: Newark police disproportionately target blacks, use excessive force

Federal investigators found that police repeatedly violated civil rights in New Jersey's largest city, Newark, and the investigators also recommended that an independent monitor oversee changes, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Tuesday.

The report said that police violated rights through stop-and-arrest practices that disproportionately targeted African-Americans. It said rights were also violated through use of force, stealing property and cracking down on people who lawfully objected to police behavior.

The city has agreed to accept the findings of the DOJ probe, which has been underway since 2011, and suggested ways to stop the "pattern and practice of unconstitutional policing by the Newark Police Department," U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said in a statement.

The DOJ investigation uncovered a practice of stopping suspects without sufficient justification in nearly 75 percent of pedestrian cases. It also found police disproportionately targeted blacks, who accounted for 85 percent of pedestrian stops and 79 percent of arrests, but make up only about 54 percent of Newark's population.

The report said police also violated citizens' First Amendment rights by detaining and arresting people who lawfully objected to police actions or behaved in a way that officers perceived as disrespectful.

Excessive force also was cited in the report. More than 20 percent of Newark police officers reported use of force that appeared unreasonable, authorities said.

The investigation also found that theft of citizens' property by officers was rampant, particularly by officers from narcotics and gang units as well as in the prisoner processing unit.

"Today the city of Newark has taken a bold step toward ensuring constitutional policing that better serves all of Newark's residents," Jocelyn Samuels, the DOJ's acting assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, said in the statement.

"The agreement in principle provides a roadmap for reform and underscores the shared determination of the city of Newark and the Department of Justice to making this reform real and sustainable," she said.

The probe started in the months after the American Civil Liberties Union in New Jersey filed a complaint claiming rampant misconduct in the department.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka has said he would accept the rare but not unprecedented move of appointing a monitor, which had been opposed by his predecessor, Cory Booker, who is now a U.S. senator.

Most recently, a monitor was appointed in Oakland, California, in 2012.

Just 8 miles from Manhattan, Newark — once a thriving manufacturing center for leather, celluloid and light bulbs — has worked to overcome its image of urban blight and high crime.

Under the monitor's watch, the Newark Police Department will "develop and implement improvements to its stop, arrest and force policies and procedures, and train its officers on how to conduct effective and constitutional policing," the U.S. Attorney's office said in the statement. 

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