Newark Public Safety Director Anthony F. Ambrose reports that an Instagram post yesterday has been taken down thanks to the kind consideration of a user, who learned that the incident was from 2017 and that it depicted an arrest of an armed man following a September 29, 2017 shooting.
“We are grateful that the post was removed,” Director Ambrose said. “We’re a different Police Division today than that video showed. The officer involved was disciplined for using his fists to subdue the resisting suspect and the officer has been indefinitely suspended for a later incident.”
Two weeks ago, Director Ambrose issued a clear reminder of use of force guidelines to members of the Newark Police Division in a departmental memorandum issued on June 9, also reiterating that neck holds are not only prohibited but considered deadly force, and that officers are duty-bound to prevent or intervene when use of force appears unreasonable or illegal in a memorandum issued on June 4.
“This is a pivotal time in the history of policing to ensure that every Newark police officer is crystal clear about our use of force policy,” Director Ambrose said.
“The guiding principles we issued serve as reminders to make sure that every police officer is on the same page. And every police employee is required to acknowledge that they have read and signed off on the memorandums reminding them of our use of force policies.”
Key points of the June 9th memorandum remind officers that we place the highest value on human life and that they are empowered by the community to serve as guardians with a moral, ethical and legal duty to protect the community from harm. It also reminds them that they are duty bound to prevent or intervene when use of force by any other law enforcement officer, regardless of rank, appears to be unreasonable or illegal in type or amount; that every use of force by a Newark Police Officer is evaluated by an inter-disciplinary Review Board; and that we staff an All Force Investigations Unit whose sole purpose is to investigate use of force incidents by police.
Past records show that in 2010, there were 89 excessive force citizen complaints filed. In 2019, only 21 were filed. This reflects a 76 percent decrease in citizen complaints regarding excessive force by Newark Police. Further, the number of departmental complaints, those generated internally by members of the Police Division, rose 85 percent from 2018 to 2019; proving that our accountability mechanisms—including the review of body worn camera footage—are working.
“We are committed to ensuring that every Newark Police Officer abides by our current policies,” Director Ambrose said.
“The video posted from yesterday was three years old and did not reflect where we are today or our commitment to strengthen the trust we have established with the community we serve.”