Credit: (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)After over five years of court-ordered oversight of the Newark Police Department by the U.S. Department of Justice, Mayor Ras Baraka believes great strides have been made, and the once abusive and scandal-ridden force is on a path to redemption. But it’s time, Baraka said, to terminate the arrangement.
“We’ve met the requirements,” Baraka told NJ Spotlight News. “We’ve done as much as we can do … we’ve paid an enormous amount of money … This can’t go on forever.”
Peter Harvey, the court-appointed federal monitor, doesn’t agree. Harvey, who served as New Jersey’s attorney general in the early years of a state consent decree over racial profiling by the state police, declined comment.
But in a June federal court filing, Harvey said he needs another two years to complete all of his audits, which were significantly delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. They “will depend upon the resolution of pending litigation concerning NPD’s internal affairs policies and training.”
“So far, NPD’s audit scores are mixed, and NPD has much work to do in order to achieve compliance with the audited areas of the Consent Decree, particularly with regard to its recordkeeping, data management and supervision practice,” Harvey wrote.
In addition, Harvey’s most recent status report on Newark’s reform efforts filed last week states that the department is noncompliant in a wide range of critical areas — and nowhere near the 95% compliance benchmark that must be achieved before his job is done.
Baraka said he believes Harvey has done “an outstanding job compared to other places,” and the department has turned the corner on ushering in numerous reform measures.
Baraka’s comments come on the heels of recent changes announced by U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, regarding so-called consent decrees, court-approved deals between DOJ and local governments to create and enforce reforms in problematic police forces. Garland’s new policies for future consent decrees will place caps on monitors’ fees and review their work to determine whether their contracts should be renewed or whether the consent decree should be terminated.
“While consent decrees and monitorships are important tools to increase transparency and accountability, the department can and should do more to improve their efficiency and efficacy,” Garland said on Sept. 12. “Organizational change takes time, but a consent decree cannot last forever,” he added.
Questioning consent decrees
Baraka said he aired his criticism about the process to DOJ officials who contacted him two months ago to seek local input on consent decrees. “The DOJ needs to be more engaged in the process,” Baraka said, and “they need to cap the monitor’s fees.”
Baraka said he also recently requested a review of the consent decree status by the DOJ and is awaiting an answer. “Somebody has to tell us where to end this,” he added.
“I have already asked for a review a couple weeks ago,” he said. He is awaiting an answer. The DOJ did not respond to questions about the requested hearing, or where it stands on the future of the consent decree.
“While consent decrees and monitorships are important tools to increase transparency and accountability, the department can and should do more to improve their efficiency and efficacy,” Garland said on Sept. 12. “Organizational change takes time, but a consent decree cannot last forever,” he added.
Harvey recently briefed city council members behind closed doors on his reasons for his continual involvement. One person familiar with the process said Harvey believes it will take two years for Newark to come into compliance.
Council member Luis Quintana said neither he nor the rest of the council were impressed.
“We can’t continue to take tax dollars from the people of Newark for this … We have serious issues to address — our infrastructure, people have lost their home,” he said. “They’ve had enough time. … I concur with the mayor. The council concurs with the mayor.”
Thus far, Newark has spent $7.4 million in fees to Harvey, the amount set in the consent decree, plus another $4 million in various improvements ordered by Harvey. It is unclear how additional fees will be handled.
How much more will it cost?
“The parties and monitor agreed on this ($7.4 million) figure for five years but did not reach an agreement for after five years,” said DOJ public affairs officer Aryele Bradford. “Based on the status conference last week, it sounds like there are still conversations about the budget for monitoring.”
Bradford would not comment on the DOJ’s position on continuing the consent decree, nor on whether the DOJ will consent to the hearing Baraka has requested.
Newark Public Safety Director Brian O’Hara, who has spearheaded reform measures in the Newark police department, summarized the department’s progress in a written statement:
“I believe the Newark Police Division has made substantial progress in making policy changes based on its consent decree. Our reforms began with implementing a Bias-Free Policing Policy — in place since 2017 — and use of body-worn cameras since 2018. Our policy reforms also address stops, searches and arrests; use of force; property and evidence management; intake and investigation of complaints against police; and more. So, our reforms have been far-reaching in addressing the major issues outlined in the consent decree.”
Baraka said he would grade the department, as it exists today, with a B-minus.
Of particular note, however, Lawrence Hamm, who for decades has partnered with Baraka to protest police brutality in Newark, does not agree with the mayor on this matter.
“I agree with Mr. Harvey. The independent monitor should remain in place and the consent decree should remain in effect until its goals have been achieved,” said Hamm, chairman of the People’s Organization for Progress, adding, “I also feel that the federal government should provide funds for the reforms mandated by the consent decree.”
But Baraka or Harvey or the DOJ does not have the legal authority to continue or terminate the consent decree.
“The consent decree is a court order. The authority to terminate that order rests with the judge,” O’Hara said. Provisions of the consent decree confirm his view.
U.S. District Court Judge Madeline Cox Arleo, who sits in Newark, approved the consent decree in 2016. The agreement was the result of a three-year DOJ investigation, released in July 2014, which arose from allegations raised in a 2010 complaint by the ACLU-NJ, detailing rampant misconduct, use of excessive force and lax internal oversight.
Work in progress
“Since the consent decree, policies governing policing have evolved in Newark, but police-community relations continues to be a work in progress,” said ACLU-NJ Executive Director Amol Sinha. “The work of police reform is far from done, and the residents of Newark should be the judge of when it can trust its police.
“The federal involvement is only one part of the story,” Sinha said. “Beyond the consent decree, there are steps that the state needs to take in order for police accountability to become reality. “We need to allow for civilian community review boards with subpoena power, we must have full public transparency of internal affairs records, and we must end the practice of qualified immunity which shields officers from liability for even the most egregious acts.”
Under the Obama administration, the DOJ aggressively used consent decrees and court monitors to force changes at police forces found to engage in a consistent pattern of abuse, as public outrage followed police killings of Black men in Baltimore, Chicago and Ferguson, Missouri. After a four-year hiatus under the Trump administration, Garland revived the practice, following the killing of George Floyd earlier this year.