U.S. Justice Dept. Investigating Newark Cops

by: KendalJames

Sat May 07, 2011 at 09:44:55 PM EDT

The Star-Ledger reports that when the charges were first raised eight months ago, Mayor Cory Booker was quoted as saying that those alleging the violations were "casting unnecessary aspersions on the police department through the distortion of facts." Translated, that would seem to mean that Booker does not think his cops ever cross the line. According to the ACLU the systemic problems in the department run deep - maybe Booker truly doesn't know what's going on in his own police department? After all, Newark appears to be particularly unresponsive when fielding complaints about such pleasantries as excessive force or unlawful search. Check out this bit from the Star-Ledger:

...out of 261 complaints in 2008 and 2009 involving excessive force; differential treatment; or improper arrest, entry or search, only one was sustained... records showed the outcome of one of every 10 internal affairs complaints filed against Newark police officers from 2000 to 2008 was not reported to the Attorney General's Office as required by state guidelines.

Eek. What do you make of it all, Blue Jersey?