Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka and Public Safety Director Anthony F. Ambrose announce that the identities of police officers who commit serious disciplinary violations will be disclosed as part of a plan to provide greater transparency to the public.
“This is indeed a step in the right direction,” Mayor Baraka said. “While it's good to go back, what happens next as we go forward is particularly important. I believe that this new policy promotes transparency, accountability, and will help increase the public’s confidence in the police officers who serve the City of Newark."
“While the vast majority of our officers serve honorably, this reporting system will make the public aware of the names of any officer who has been fired, demoted or suspended for more than five days due to a disciplinary violation of our policies,” Director Ambrose said.
“This reporting system—of publishing the names of officers who violate policy on the Newark Police Division’s website—will be implemented this year with a plan to extend the list of names back to 2014, when Mayor Baraka took office.
The new policy in Newark follows the directive issued by New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal on June 15. Under this new law enforcement directive, the identities of officers found guilty of serious police disciplinary actions—those resulting in termination, reduction in rank or grade, and/or suspension greater than five days—are to be disclosed to the public.
In December 2019, Attorney General Grewal issued an internal affairs directive that strengthened oversight of police internal affairs units, allowed for internal affairs files to be shared with civilian complaint review boards and required each law enforcement agency to publish an annual synopsis of all serious disciplinary complaints against the agency’s officers. It did not, however, require the disclosure of the identities of those officers.
“After further review, I believe that even this significant set of changes does not go far enough,’’ Grewal said.
“More is required to promote trust, transparency and accountability, and I have concluded that it is in the public’s interest to reveal the identities of New Jersey law enforcement officers sanctioned for serious disciplinary violations.”
Director Ambrose couldn’t agree more.
“We are grateful that the Newark Police Division has a relationship of trust and transparency with the public,” Director Ambrose said. “This new policy will only help us to build upon that trust and to ensure that the men and women who serve our communities do so in a manner that’s above reproach.”