Federal authorities say they are launching an investigation into the Newark Police Department -- headed since 2006 by the man who has been tapped to lead the Chicago Police Department.
Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Thomas Perez and New Jersey's U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman have scheduled a news conference today to discuss the Justice Department's probe.
New Jersey's American Civil Liberties Union chapter in September called for federal oversight of the city's 1,300-officer department. The head of the department, Garry McCarthy, was tapped last week by Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel to be Chicago police superintendent.
In a 96-page filing to the Justice Department, the ACLU argued an independent monitor was needed because of rampant misconduct, lax internal oversight and a high number of excessive force and misconduct complaints against the department.
The filing cited 407 instances of misconduct ranging from police officers breaking a man's jaw and eye socket during an arrest to seven deaths attributed to Newark officers. The deaths included shootings or ignoring urgent health complaints, according to the report.
The ACLU petition said the city had paid $4.8 million over 2 1/2 years to settle 38 cases brought against police by residents or department employees, with at least three dozen lawsuits pending.
Deborah Jacobs, executive director of ACLU's New Jersey chapter, commented at the time of the filing that the department showed "an ingrained culture of lawlessness," and warranted a federal takeover.
Many of the allegations and lawsuits cited in the ACLU petition precede McCarthy’s tenure, according to the Newark Star-Ledger, but Jacobs and others have said the culture of inappropriate behavior persists in the department and must be addressed.
Newark police and city officials have called the allegations frivolous and inaccurate, arguing the group skewed the data and is exaggerating problems that the city for years has been working with the ACLU to address.