“I’m happy to report that Newark police is not the same agency I joined in 1998,” Sheronda Morris, the acting Newark public safety director, said. Morris applauded improvements in the police department resulting from a court-ordered consent decree in 2016 that established reforms to be carried out under the guidance of the U.S. Department of Justice. The consent decree came after years of complaints about police misconduct.
“Because of the consent, decree, every officer participates in mandatory 40 hours of training each year for community, policing, implicit bias…,” Morris said. “Because of the consent decree, every officer is wearing a body-worn camera to record interactions. And we also have an investigation team, and that investigates our use of force to for police officers.”
Former state Attorney General Peter Harvey, who serves as the independent federal monitor in Newark, said at a public meeting Monday night that data from recent audits shows the Newark Police Department has made substantial progress. “In 2019 we found that 67.9% of the use-of-force incidents were compliant. That means a significant number were not. If you look to 2021 and you compare the two, Newark substantially improved; It went from 67.9% to 86.5%,” Harvey said. “That means the policies and the training are being implemented on the streets. It means that commanders and supervisors are paying attention to this. It means that officers are being reminded of what their obligations are.”
Despite noted improvements, many residents still have safety concerns, according to a recent Fairleigh Dickinson University poll. An end date for the consent decree, which was expected this year, has not yet been confirmed.
