New Jersey's largest police department repeatedly violated residents' civil rights, used excessive force and failed to discipline officers for a wide range of misconduct, according to the results of a federal investigation made public Tuesday.
The Newark Police Department, a 1,000-member force that patrols one of the most violent cities in the Northeast, will be placed under federal oversight, ending a three-year investigation into rampant misconduct in the agency, according to a statement from the Justice Department and documents reviewed by the Los Angeles Times.
The federal investigation was launched in 2011, less than a year after a scathing report from the American Civil Liberties Union said the police department was incapable of policing itself.
The investigation found that city police officers had no constitutional basis for 75% of the pedestrian stops they conducted in recent years. It also determined that officers often used excessive force during arrests but underreported the level of force used.
"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," Paul Fishman, New Jersey's chief federal prosecutor, said in a statement. "They also need to know the police protecting them are doing that important – and often dangerous – work while respecting their constitutional rights."
The official announcment is expected at noon in Newark. It was not immediately clear who would serve as the city's court-appointed watchdog or whether one had been chosen. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Newark declined to answer questions before the announcment.
The federal investigation detailed longstanding and institutional misconduct, including retaliatory arrests "for behavior perceived as insubordinate or disrespectful to officers," according to the documents. Officers also routinely stole from suspects, the investigation found.
The investigation found that 20% of the city's officers reported uses of force that were either unconstitutional or unnecessary, while internal affairs inquiries into use-of-force incidents were often lacking.
The department received 989 excessive-force complaints against officers from 2000 to 2009, according to records reviewed by The Times.
Only 21 of those cases, just 2%, resulted in disciplinary action or criminal charges against the officers. Nationwide, policing experts say, an average of 9% of all excessive-force complaints against officers are sustained.
Udi Ofer, executive director of the New Jersey chapter of the ACLU, told The Times that the report's findings could mark a historic moment for Newark.
"They are saying that potentially up to 75% of stops are unconstitutional. That's huge. That is just widespread 4th Amendment abuses," Ofer said. "These are serious findings that are going to need dramatic reforms. Now Newark will be put to the test in how it will respond to these findings."
Newark's administration, including freshman Mayor Ras Baraka, has agreed to court-appointed monitoring of the police department, according to the statement from the U.S. attorney's office.
The federal report calls for improved internal affairs practices and use-of-force reporting, external review -- which could include creation of a Civilian Complaint Review Board -- and "improved data collection" regarding the department's pedestrian stop practices.
Newark, a city of roughly 250,000 which sits just 15 miles outside of New York City, has been a haven for drug and gang violence for years, patrolled by a department whose ranks were slashed by municipal budget cuts in 2010.
The city saw 111 homicides in 2013, its bloodiest year since 1990. Newark has long struggled with poverty and high unemployment, and the city's residents and police have had a lukewarm relationship since 1967, when a series of race riots left dozens dead.
"We certainly hope that Newark will use this opportunity to create a police force that is respectful of civil rights and that is accountable to the people of Newark," Ofer said. "Newark is facing an opportunity that only comes once every few generations to establish meaningful reforms of the police department."
The federal government has taken over a number of city police departments since it began launching "pattern or practice" investigations into civil rights violations in the 1990s. The Los Angeles Police Department was placed under a monitor from 2001 to 2013 in the wake of the Rodney King beating and the Rampart Division scandal, and the New Orleans and Albuquerque police departments are currently under federal watch.
Newark is the second police department in New Jersey's history to receive a federal watchdog. The New Jersey State Police were the subject of a federal investigation after a racial-profiling scandal in 1999, and they remained under a court-appointed monitor for roughly a decade.
Follow @JamesQueallyLAT for breaking news
Copyright © 2014, Los Angeles Times9:24 a.m.: This post updated with a copy of a summary of the Department of Justice's finding.
This post published at 9 a.m.
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