DoJ investigates New Jersey police for excessive force and unlawful searches
A New Jersey police department is under investigation for excessive use of force, unlawful stop and searches, and other possible federal violations.
On Tuesday, the justice department announced its investigation into the Trenton police department and the city of Trenton, New Jersey.
The investigation comes after a review of “numerous reports” suggesting that Trenton officers “used force, stopped motorists and pedestrians and conducted searches of homes and cars in violation of the constitution and federal law”, said the justice department in a press release.
“Unfortunately, we have reviewed numerous reports that Trenton police officers may have used force inappropriately and conducted stops, searches and arrests with no good reason in violation of individuals’ constitutional rights,” Philip R Sellinger, the US attorney for the district of New Jersey, said in the release.
A representative of the Trenton mayor’s office said a statement on the matter was forthcoming. Such justice department investigations into patterns or practices of police departments often lead to federal mandates for agencies to implement substantial reforms, which are known as consent decrees.
The investigation into the Trenton police department is one of several being conducted by the justice department. In July, the justice department announced an investigation into the Memphis police department and the Tennessee city over accusations of excessive force and unfair police practices.
The investigation came after the killing of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols, a Black man who was beaten by Memphis police department officers for more than three minutes during a traffic stop.
Five former Memphis police officers face federal civil rights charges for their role in Nichols’s death.
In June, the justice department concluded its investigation into the Minneapolis police department, finding that the department had a “pattern or practice” of excessive force and unlawful discrimination against Black people.
That probe came after the 2020 murder of George Floyd by police in the city.
“We found that [the police department] in the city of Minneapolis engages in a pattern or practice of using excessive force, unlawfully discriminating against Black and Native American people in enforcement activities, violating the rights of people engaged in protected speech and discriminating against people with behavioral disabilities … when responding to them in crisis,” said the US attorney general, Merrick Garland, during an announcement of the investigation’s results.
A consent decree for Minneapolis police as well as the city was approved in July.