ACLU Seeks Federal Oversight of Newark Police Dept.

Filed under: News, Politics, Race and Civil Rights

For the better part of two years, we've been hearing how city officials in New Jersey's largest city finally listened to the crime-weary public and got tough on crime by lowering rates of several categories of criminal activity in the process.

Now we might be treated to the unfortunate story of how they really pulled it off.

With allegations of rampant misconduct and lots of excessive force used during arrests among Newark's police officers, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is asking the feds for oversight of the 1,300-officer department.

At this point, there are only accusations, but they appear to have some merit. The ACLU found 407 cases of misconduct, including seven deaths tied to officers who either shot victims to death or ignored urgent health complaints.

The city has paid $4.8 million over the past 36 months to settle 38 cases brought against police and more than 30 other cases are pending, according to the ACLU.

City officials say the ACLU numbers are inaccurate and add that the civil liberties group has been working with police on how to lower citizen-brutality complaints.

At this point, it's hard to know who is right, and without some context provided for the ACLU figures, like how those numbers stack up against other U.S. cities of a similar size and population, it's impossible to know whether too many Newark officers are brutalizing the citizenry.

More than 20 U.S. police departments are already under federal oversight, including Los Angeles, Austin and Detroit, according to the ACLU.

I do know, however, that if any part of the ACLU allegations are true, they could stem from a plan implemented by city officials more than two years ago, when the city was rocked by the execution-style murders of three students in a school playground.

At the time, the story that was being spun by city officials was that citizen-advocacy groups - spurred by the brutal murder - demanded safer streets. Officials responded with a series of anti-crime initiatives that worked in lowering crime rates over the next year or so.

The reduced crime in Newark helped Mayor Corey Booker retain his office in the last election.

If the ACLU allegations are true, though, we will get a fuller explanation of how Newark police used the tool of police brutality to reduce crime in the city.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments