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Newark Police Are Next to Be Federally Monitored

The U.S. Justice Department announced today it had reached an agreement with the city of Newark to allow a federal monitor to watch over a municipal police force that it found had repeatedly violated the rights of its citizens, especially blacks, in the state’s largest city.

The U.S. Justice Department announced today it had reached an agreement with the city of Newark to allow a federal monitor to watch over a municipal police force that it found had repeatedly violated the rights of its citizens, especially blacks, in the state’s largest city.

 

New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman announced the results of a three-year review of the Newark Police Department at a news conference, saying, "the people of Newark deserve to be safe, and so do the thousands who come here."

 

"They also need to know the police protecting them are doing that important — and often dangerous — work while respecting their constitutional rights," Fishman said.

 

Newark will become the first municipal police agency in state history to operate under a federal watchdog — and the 13th in the nation — in just the latest development in a decades-long pattern of oversight.

Caroline Cournoyer is GOVERNING's senior web editor.
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