Newarkers Urged to Report Allegations of Police Misconduct

On the corner of S. 10th Street and Avon Avenue, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) workers briefly paused on their stroll through Newark's South Ward after encountering Jay Smith, who alleges Newark police officers falsely accused him of selling drugs and subsequently "smacked him around" nearly two years ago on that very block.

"I don't do that kind of stuff, that's for the bad guys," said Smith, a 39-year-old lifelong Newarker who still maintains he was harassed by police while walking down the block.

Now Smith, who said he never filed a complaint through the Newark Police Department's Internal Affairs, and other residents with unreported claims of police misconduct may have another recourse. This summer, ACLU's New Jersey branch will hand out palm cards containing contact information for the U.S. Department of Justice in different Newark neighborhoods, in an effort to assist a federal investigation of NPD's practices and policies.

"It seems like many, many people in Newark have some kind of story where they feel like they haven't been treated correctly by the police, unfortunately," said Deborah Jacobs, executive director of ACLU of New Jersey.

ACLU, which began the palm card initiative in late June and has already been through all five of the city's wards, will dole out 20,000 total cards in English, Spanish and Portuguese to Newarkers by summer's end. Two weeks ago, workers handed out 600 cards to South Ward residents like Smith, who took extra cards to distribute to friends. Ten thousand cards were initially ordered, but given the initiative's success among residents, an additional 10,000 were purchased, according to Katie Wang, spokesperson for ACLU-NJ.

"You offer one, and everyone wants 10 cards," said Jacobs.

A thousand cards were dropped off last Thursday at various spots around Newark, like the North Ward Center and at the One-Stop Center and were given to city council members Ras Baraka, Mildred C. Crump and Ronald C. Rice, said Wang. ACLU will also soon reach out to pastors at area churches.

ACLU, which is independently handing out cards, chose to not partner with the city of Newark because citizens have expressed fear of retribution if they submit a report, according to Jacobs.

"We've had to spend a lot of time and energy telling citizens that they can trust the DOJ," said Jacobs. "Having the Newark police department help in the card distribution just wouldn't help in this kind of climate."

Jacobs also mentioned the press conference during which DOJ's investigation was announced may have given residents the impression DOJ and the city were "closely allied," because officials from both were present.

Addressing claims ACLU is only targeting residents with criminal backgrounds to reach out to DOJ, Jacobs said her workers are not concerned with whether the person has been in trouble in the past. Palm cards are being distributed indiscriminately, she said.

"There is a need for monitoring the police, but that's up to the Department of Justice to determine," said Jacobs. "We're only trying to give them the information … so they can do their job."

But ACLU was slammed for not being an "objective participant in this investigation," in a statement issued by Anne Torres, spokesperson for the city of Newark.

"They have already concluded that a federal monitor (one of the most extreme outcomes possible in this investigation) is their desired outcome," the statement said. "It is unfortunate that the ACLU is approaching this with pre-drawn conclusions and severe accusations and is politically invested in such an outcome."

The statement, however, notes community engagement is crucial to the success of the probe.
 

In September, ACLU submitted a 96-page petition to DOJ citing 418 "serious, routine civil rights violations" reported by citizens between Jan. 1, 2008 and July 1, 2010. DOJ claimed the petition was not a deciding factor in the launch of its probe in May, the Star-Ledger previously reported.

Baraka, who represents Newark's South Ward, has also encouraged residents to submit complaints through a separate campaign. Hundreds and hundreds of submissions were forwarded to the Attorney General's office after a mailer was sent out to South Warders around the time DOJ announced its investigation in May, according to Baraka. A crackdown on police misconduct has the potential to save the city millions, he said.

"The city just lost a $2.6 million lawsuit about a police officer who had a traffic dispute with a lady and wound up slapping her," said Baraka. "If we just stop all these settlements, we'd have enough money to not have to lay off all those police officers."

After receiving a palm card outside Avon Liquors in the South Ward two weeks ago, one Newarker, who asked not to be named, stressed the importance of police presence on city streets. The resident, who lives in the North Ward and works in construction, said NPD shouldn't get a bad rap based off one person's bad experience.

"One bad cop can't stand for all of them," he said. "A lot of the good ones - they want to do their jobs, provide for their families. If there weren't any cops, it'd be so much worse."