The Newark Police Department, New Jersey’s largest department, is a thousand-member force that patrols one of the Northeast’s most violent cities. This NJPD will be placed under federal oversight, and court-ordered reform, for violating its residents’ civil rights by:
- using excessive force;
- and failing to discipline officers for an extensive range of misconduct.
In 2011, less than a year after a report from the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) said the police department was incapable of policing itself, the federal investigation was launched.
The investigation found that in recent years, Newark police officers:
- Had no constitutional basis for 75% of their pedestrian stops
- Often times used excessive force during arrests – then under-reported the force level
- Had a longstanding and institutional history of misconduct, including retaliatory arrests
- Routinely stole from suspects
- Used stop and arrest tactics that unfairly targeted African Americans
Newark has been plagued with high levels of gang violence and drug crimes for years, patrolled by a department whose ranks were slashed by budget cuts in 2010. Newark also struggles with high levels of poverty, in addition to high unemployment, and the city’s residents and police have had a poor relationship since 1967, when race riots resulted in the death of dozens.
OUR CIVIL RIGHTS LAW PRACTICE
Our attorneys have extensive experience examining police reports, finding witnesses, obtaining any police or other recording of the innocent, and interviewing officers that were at the scene. This information often enables us to impeach what the officers wrote in their original police report. It can also provide the evidence we need to file federal civil rights charges as well as charges related to excessive force, false arrest, malicious prosecution, abuse of process, and filing a false report.
CONTACT OUR NEW JERSEY POLICE BRUTALITY LAWYERS
Our firm has successfully handled police brutality cases against officers in Seaside Park, Freehold, Atlantic City, Jackson, Long Branch, and Hazlet, New Jersey. And we are prepared to represent you.
Contact the Law Offices of Mallon and Tranger if you have any questions about filing a police brutality lawsuit. We have offices in Freehold and Point Pleasant to serve clients in Ocean or Monmouth counties. Our attorneys can be reached by phone at 732-702-0333 or by contacting us online.