Newark’s Citizen Disciplinary Board Could Flex Rare Muscle Over Police
Back in 2014, Ezell Ford, a 25-year-old mentally ill black man, was shot and killed by two LAPD officers in South Los Angeles. Ford was unarmed, though the officers involved insisted that a struggle had occurred between one of the officers and Ford prior to the shooting.
After a lengthy investigation, the Los Angeles Police Commission鈥攁 five-member civilian review board that oversees the LAPD鈥 in June of the following year that one of the officers was wrong to draw his weapon and open fire. But because then-LAPD Chief Charlie Beck had final say over disciplinary matters, he had the authority to refrain from meting out any punishment to the officers involved鈥攕omething. These situations have led听to between Beck and the Commission about his lack of punitive action in cases where the board has determined wrongdoing by an officer.
Newark鈥檚 review board will also comprise 11 members voted in from local and civil rights organizations鈥攁 rare characteristic …
The LA Police Commission isn鈥檛 alone in its lack of muscle in disciplinary cases. Civilian review boards the nation over are limited to making recommendations only. But with the full glare of the nation鈥檚 media still very much pointed towards police use of aggressive and often deadly tactics, support for civilian review boards鈥 increased authority is听 in states . Presidential hopeful Martin O鈥橫alley has promised that stronger police review panels would be should he gain office.
This is why many eyes are turned towards Newark, New Jersey, where Mayor Ras Baraka in April 2015 unveiled plans to institute a new with real bite to oversee a department long characterized by and abusive police policies. And proponents of the review board suggest that in the absence of any legal challenges, the panel could be up and running within six months.
What is a civilian review panel?
Widely seen as watchdogs of the police, civilian review boards are charged with investigating听complaints of police misconduct听made by members of the public. There are more than review panels around the nation, but they differ in their overall jurisdiction. Some have听subpoena听powers and the authority to demand police testimony. Some conduct their investigations alongside that of an internal affairs bureau, while others have sole investigatory powers. But few, if any, have the final say when it comes to imposing disciplinary measures鈥攕omething that makes Newark unique.
鈥淣ewark鈥檚 recommendations are slated to have a degree of binding authority,鈥 Baraka 听at the board鈥檚 unveiling. If a complaint against an officer is substantiated, senior police officers will impose discipline determined by guidelines established by the panel. The panel鈥檚 recommendations could be overruled only if Newark鈥檚 police director establishes error in the board’s decision. Alongside similarly rigorous investigative powers, Newark鈥檚 11-member review board will also comprise nine members voted in from local and civil rights organizations鈥攁 rare characteristic among other civilian review boards.
Brian Buchner, president of the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement鈥攁 nonprofit organization seeking to combine the efforts of individuals and agencies pushing for greater civilian oversight of the police鈥攕aid other communities are 鈥渨atching closely鈥 how the board integrates organizations like the ACLU.
鈥淏ecause of the history of police oversight, and the history of the intersection between race and policing, there are a lot of groups who are interested in having a prominent and permanent role in actually conducting oversight of law enforcement and not just getting it set up,鈥 Buchner said.
That the program doesn鈥檛 currently have a permanent funding stream is a point of contention for some, however.
The original proposal tied the budget of the review board to a percentage of the police department鈥檚 non-capital budget, so that the board grew and shrank in relation to the size of the police department. This would have taken the review board out of the political arena by ensuring that future administrations in opposition to the board are unable to cut the program鈥檚 funding, said Udi Ofer, executive director of the听American Civil Liberties Union听of New Jersey.
Nevertheless, if Newark鈥檚 civilian review panel proves successful, that it could act as a model for the rest of the nation. But the board is only one of a number of community-based that Baraka has proposed to reform a city with soaring levels of poverty, crime, and unemployment.听
In the thick of it
Son of noted poet and activist Amiri Baraka, Ras Baraka鈥檚 political career has been built from the community level up. He was a high school principal before terms as both Newark Deputy Mayor and South Ward council member prefaced his second run for mayor last year. (He first ran for office in 1994.)
鈥淯ltimately, I鈥檝e always been a grassroots organizer,鈥 Baraka told in early 2015. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e the principal of a school, you鈥檝e got to be right in the thick of it, or it isn鈥檛 going to work.鈥
[Baraka]听launched a free, 13-week program听that gives [residents] firsthand experience of the police department’s day-to-day operations …
But reform of Newark鈥檚 police force has delivered Baraka a formidable challenge: His successful run for office arrived at a critical juncture for the department.听One year on after being placed under for rampant misconduct, the NPD is still under federal scrutiny. A three-year investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice revealed critical 鈥渄eficiencies鈥 in the department, 鈥渋ncluding its systems for reviewing force and investigating complaints regarding officer conduct.鈥 The findings of the , released in July 2015, are as lengthy as they are damning.
Investigators found widespread violations of the Fourth Amendment. For example, up to 75 percent of stop-and-frisks in Newark were unconstitutional. The report also found a pattern of excessive use of force by police officers, as well as vast racial disparities in policing practices, with black Newarkers 鈥渂earing the brunt of the police department鈥檚 enforcement activities.鈥 While black residents comprise 54 percent of Newark鈥檚 population, they made up nearly 85 percent of police stop-and frisks. The report paints a picture of a community deeply mistrustful of its police force.
Baraka has tried to repair the ties between the two camps.听The civilian review board, for example, was designed to have 鈥渂road transparency鈥 by giving the public increased access to police records. To provide greater local authority over officer training, for a city-operated Newark Police Academy. In March of 2015, he that gives business owners, managers, and employees firsthand experience of the police department鈥檚 day-to-day operations in another attempt to 鈥渂reak down the barriers between the Police Department and all sectors of [the] community.鈥
Other cities are indeed watching developments there closely. Jubilee Shine, head of the Coalition for Community Control Over the Police in Los Angeles, believes that, in light of the friction generated by Beck鈥檚 unilateral decision-making authority in disciplinary matters, Newark鈥檚 review panel model should be replicated in LA.
鈥淭he most critical aspect of their review board surrounds their ability to have binding disciplinary power over police officers who act out of policy,鈥 said Shine.
As specific details concerning Newark鈥檚 civilian review board continue to be thrashed out, there has been pushback in some quarters. Police unions have questioned whether the board and labor contracts that govern police disciplinary reviews, and have threatened to take the issue to the courts, if necessary. Additionally, a in street violence in Newark has added more heat to the issue.
Still, says Ofer, 鈥渟aying it doesn鈥檛 have the legal authority does not, in my mind, provide a substantive argument as to why the board should not exist.鈥澨The review board was created through careful legal analysis with much thought put to the exact breadth and nature of authority the review board could wield under state law, he said.
鈥淚f people want to engage in substantive conversations about why having a professional civilian review board is a bad thing for Newark, then I鈥檓 very happy to engage in that conversation,鈥 Ofer said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e very confident that it will survive legal challenges.鈥
Updated June 12, 2020: The future of the review board is currently being weighed in the after a series of court challenges from the Newark police union. In June 2019, a restored many of the board鈥檚 powers that had been stripped in a . November 2019, the state Supreme Court agreed to take up the case, for which were heard in April.
Correction: An earlier version of this story reported that 11 members of the review board would be civil rights workers. The correct number is nine out of 11 total members.