By KATE ZERNIKE
NEWARK — The federal government
will appoint a monitor to oversee this city’s Police Department as it moves to
address longstanding allegations of brutality, discrimination and neglect of
civilian complaints, officials said on Wednesday.
The monitor will be part of the
response to an investigation begun by the Justice Department three years ago
that has uncovered a pattern of constitutional violations by the police of New
Jersey’s largest city. But accusations that the Newark Police Department abused
residents and brushed aside their complaints predate, and ignited, the riots
that tore apart the city 47 years ago this month.
While the Justice Department
has stepped up investigations of police misconduct during the Obama
administration, and while New Orleans and Seattle have been put under similar
oversight in the past few years, the appointment of a monitor remains a
relatively rare step. Civil liberties groups and some black leaders have
periodically called for federal intervention since the riots.
Some, including the city’s new
mayor, Ras J. Baraka, argue that mutual suspicion of Newark’s 270,000 residents
and its police hurts the city as it struggles to deal with crime, including its
highest murder rate in nearly 25 years.
Former Mayor Cory A. Booker, a fellow
Democrat who is now a United States senator, resisted calls for a federal
monitor. But at a news conference to announce his administration’s goals, Mr.
Baraka, who as a councilman was an outspoken critic of police misconduct,
seemed to welcome the coming appointment, saying the city would “cooperate
fully and completely” with a monitor and with any plans to remedy failings
identified by the investigation.
Mr. Baraka said the results of
the investigation were to be announced at a news conference on Thursday.
Officials later said it would be rescheduled, probably until later this month,
but they confirmed the broad outlines of the plan for the monitor.
The United States attorney for
New Jersey, Paul J. Fishman, began looking into Newark’s police practices in
2010 and announced a formal investigation the following May. On Wednesday, a
spokeswoman for Mr. Fishman, Rebekah Carmichael, declined to discuss the
findings, saying only that the investigation was nearly completed and that its
results “and any necessary reforms” would be announced soon.
The New Jersey chapter of the
American Civil Liberties Union also formally petitioned the Justice Department
to begin an investigation in 2010, alleging in a 96-page filing that the
department failed to respond adequately to lawsuits and complaints that
included wrongful arrest, unlawful stops and searches and physical abuse.
The department, the petition
said, repeatedly brushed aside civilian complaints. In 2008 and 2009, there
were a total of 261 complaints of excessive force, unlawful arrests or
searches, and bias; the department sustained just one, involving an improper
search.
More recently, the civil
liberties union has criticized the department for its excessive reliance on
stop-and-frisk tactics. From last July through December, the Newark police made
an average of 2,093 stops a month, or 91 per 1,000 residents — compared with
the New York Police Department’s rate of eight stops per 1,000 residents. The
group said the tactics discriminated against black residents, who make up 52
percent of Newark’s population but accounted for 75 percent of the stops.
Mr. Baraka, unveiling the
recommendations of his transition team on Wednesday, talked about the need to
foster respect between those who serve Newark and those who live here.
Udi Ofer, the executive
director of the civil liberties union in New Jersey, said the federal oversight
fit into that ambition. “This is a historic moment for Newark, one that could
bring about reforms to the Police Department that will last for decades,” Mr.
Ofer said. “We hope that he will use this opportunity to build a police force
that is respectful of civil rights and that is accountable to the people of
Newark.”
Still, Mr. Ofer said that a
federal monitor was just the first step, and that he hoped the federal plans
would also include the creation of a permanent civilian complaint review board,
with the power to issue subpoenas and to discipline police officers for
misconduct.
