Forum/Discussions

December 5, 2024

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NJ Communities on Accountable Policing

on the Dept Of Justice’s Investigation of the Trenton Police

            NJ Communities for Accountable Policing (NJCAP) fully applauds the Department of Justice for their investigation and findings surrounding so many well-known problems facing the Trenton Police Department. More than that, we fully applaud the Trenton community for finding the will and the way to step up and defy real fears and dangers to dare to make themselves heard.

            NJCAP and our partners are more than willing to aid community voices on the ground in Trenton to continue to amplify their voice and their demands as these next moments will prove critical to fostering change.

            As to those next steps, one of the ways in which meaningful reform takes place is when leadership on all sides of the equation coming to the process. If it is so that Trenton elected leadership and their police leadership fully cooperated in the investigation, then the next step is to just as cooperatively enact a full Consent Decree so the Federal  Government can oversee a clear agenda of making reforms as they  need to happen.

            Our work has its genesis in Newark, and although we still do indeed have some remaining or residual challenges with the Newark police department, we have indeed seen the needle move towards a lot less corruption and a lot less abuse because of leadership buy in with the reform process. On the contrary, in places where there is hostility towards reform and where there is a lack of buy in, we see far less results and no improvement in police community relations. Trenton’s Mayor and police leadership should take that next step immediately.

Other steps..

-Trenton community and elected leadership should also be a part of a fresh new push for the CCIRB Bill (A3441/S1551) enabling any municipality that wants civilian oversight to be able to have one and tobe able to have one with Subpoena power, Social justice based community representation, independent investigations and a strong disciplinary matrix

-We also wholeheartedly agree with our partner Salvation and Social Justice demand to increase and expand commitment to community led public safety strategies hat have bore fruit consistently in violence reduction in Newark, where we have had the leadership buy in described earlier, and in cities like Paterson, Jersey City, and Trenton, in spite of having to function without the same buy in. The strategy is working and merits fuller and more sustainable investment.

-We also wholeheartedly agree with their call for ‘reducing the police footprint’ in the community. Community led public safety strategies are at the heart of that call.

-As a sanctuary city, be a part the statewide call by Immigrant Justice forces to get the Immigrant Trust Act (A4987/S3672) passed into law as soon as possible. That too would also be key. The shift in the national political landscape is marked with naked hostility towards immigrants of color! The call for Mass Deportations will create fresh scenarios for a new round of harmful policing. Let’s codify practices that will reduce that harm.

-Full implementation of the Seabrooks Washington bill, and creating those community led crisis response teams, is another way of ‘reducing the police footprint’ and getting people who need help get the actual help they need instead of killing them.

-Consider using the groundbreaking Trauma To Trust program, developed by Equal Justice USA as an additional tool of reform beyond the consent decree, as an additional that can impact police culture from the ground up.. Originated in Newark and moving more recently to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, this program which trains community persons, community stakeholders and police officers together on Trauma, which necessarily includes police learning to address the trauma historical harm of racialized policing in this country. It is tool that has been met with appreciation on both sides of the aisle in Newark.

-End plainclothes socalled special units. They have proven to be one of those spaces that more often than not refuse to comply with meaningful reform mandates and are known for causing undue harm. Jijuan Henderson and his paralyzed spine is screaming for this reform right there in Trenton!

-Lastly, we also agree that making the NJ Attorney General’s Use of Force Directive into law with the passing of A4175/S2348 would also help move the needle.

            While we applaud this effort by the Department of Justice in Trenton, we restate our wish that they had conducted a similar investigation into the Englewood Police Department in the aftermath of Bernard Placide Jr’s tragic death.  Not only was it a senseless preventable death; It was also an incident that revealed a police department with long standing “patterns and practices” problems to put it mildly, begging for a similar intervention.

            NJCAP and our partners stand at the ready to help the Trenton community amplify their voice at this poignant crossroads moment.

            For more information on the work of NJCAP, please contact Zayid Muhammad at 973 202 0745 and at babazayid@yahoo.com...

 SOURCE: babazayid@yahoo.com