| Filing a complaint with the very agency that you believe has mistreated you is a scary thing, and the City of Newark has done little to instill the kind of confidence in the system that encourages people to file complaints. The city doesn't publicize information about how to file a complaint (nothing more than a phone number appears on the City's website), and when you call to ask about filing a complaint, they demand your name and practically insist that you go in person to tell your story -- it's intimidating. Compare that to other police departments, like West Orange, which puts a complaint form right on its website and allows electronic submissions as an alternative to complaining in person.
In addition, I recently reviewed the Internal Affairs statistics for 2000 to 2007. The recordkeeping is shoddy at best. In particular, pending complaints are not carried over properly from one year to the next, creating the appearance of under-reporting of complaints -- to the tune of 1655 missing cases over the eight years that I reviewed. But beyond this general lack of accountability, there is something else disturbing in these statistics: very few citizen complaints of misconduct are upheld, even though minor infractions are sustained. For example, of the 861 complaints of excessive use of force received between 2000 and 2007, only 2.3% were sustained. On the other hand, "other rule" infractions that are mostly internally generated were sustained 41.3% of the time. Moreover, the back log of excessive force investigations is alarming -- 62.7% of cases received in 2007 pending at year end. The combination of these factors leaves citizens to wonder what is gained by filing a complaint and in turn contributes to lower rates of overall complaints while harboring mistrust.
So, I provided the statistics and my analysis to reporters covering the press conference. Director McCarthy's response was to complain that I hadn't brought the statistics to him directly. I actually had raised the issue of wonky numbers when I met with his people in the fall, but I didn't have all the stats yet at that point. That being said, I'm not sure why he needs me to see that his statistics are way off.
When WBGO called me for interview on the issue, they asked if I had any questions I'd like to pose to the Mayor and Director when they appeared on the hour-long call-in show last night. I suggested that they let me come on and discuss the issues with them in person. They agreed and made the arrangements. I was on hold for about 15 minutes into the show when a WBGO staff member came on and told me that my appearance had been nixed by the Mayor or Police Director because the ACLU-NJ has pending litigation against the cityy. Sadly, this is true; in addition to pending police practices lawsuits, we've had free speech problems with Newark. Nevertheless, that should not preclude my appearance. I'm not an attorney and had no intention of discussing pending litigation.
Shame on WBGO and Mayor Booker for refusing to engage in public dialogue with me. I'm one of the few people in the city who has studied the best systems for police accountability and reviewed their Internal Affairs systems.
WBGO won't have me on, but I'll always have Blue Jersey. Here's what I would have said, if the Mayor and WBGO had allowed me to speak:
The problems with Internal Affairs can be addressed and public trust can be instilled in the system with a tool that has helped many other police agencies: an external police monitor.
In other major police departments - like Denver, San Jose, Boise and Portland - independent monitors have turned poor departments around and transformed good departments into great ones. The New Jersey State Police has improved significantly with the benefit of a monitor. And, as the State Police can attest, an independent monitor's influence can bring resources police officers need to do their jobs well. Independent monitors help departments identify and remove the bad apples that spoil the reputation of the majority of officers who perform their difficult jobs with integrity.
Why won't our top public safety officials in Newark give us the best systems for professionalism and accountability?
Cory Booker even told The Star-Ledger that the ACLU-NJ makes him do his job better. If that's true, he shouldn?t be afraid to share some on-air time with someone who wants the same thing he does: a safer city.
If WBGO is serious about Newark Today being what its website touts -- "an outlet for the city's residents to address the topics of the day - firsthand. These are candid discussions on the hottest issues affecting Newark" -- then it should not yield to the fears of public officials who want to control what questions they're asked. I urge WBGO's Newark Today to invite me and the Mayor on for an hour to discuss the state of civil liberties in Newark. |
