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So this is a list I stole

from the Eisbrouch Marsh LLC website: http://emlawoffices.com/civil-rights-violations/police-brutality/

of specific things that constitute police misconduct:

Use of a taser or stun gun when not necessary (e.g., the suspect has already surrendered or is otherwise not fleeing)

Choking, kicking or beating a suspect

Abuse of power

Sexual assault

Unnecessary use of K-9 attack dogs

Denial of medical care while in custody

These items appear to go against your basic civil and personal liberties right? Fairly obvious... but here’s some not so obvious ones from various civil rights, gov’t and the ACLU website(s):

false arrest

false imprisonment

malicious prosecution

use of excessive or unreasonable force even if some force is deemed appropriate

Verbal abuse

Discriminatory: arrest, non enforcement of the law (i.e. failing to answer calls for certain citizens), harassment or stop & frisk

Any tactics used to hinder freedom of expression or right to free speech + protest

This is not a complete list they’re just some common things that can happen, some without the victim even noticing. Though not all of these things lead to or involve

violence

, they do involve an

assault

on your rights and if you cannot prove that you were brutalized you may still be able to charge an abusive cop with something else.

“People who believe they are the victims of police brutality should write down the names of all witnesses, take pictures of any injuries, get medical evidence from a medical professional and hire an attorney to file a complaint.” - advice from the government

Remember to be respectful when dealing with law enforcement but never allow your rights and freedoms to be trampled on!! It is our job to identify the problems in our own communities and defend ourselves and the reputations of good policemen and women.

#forlife #forjustice #forpeace #forunity

WESTFIELD, NJ — An art exhibit created by several Westfield students and displayed at a recent district-wide art show is drawing criticism from police officers. The display, titled “Law...

This is a display from Westfield Highschool in NJ. Westfield is typically thought of as an upper middle class, white suburban area with little crime. The students were allowed to choose the subject they wished to present on. Though some users were proud to see this piece, others were alarmed or found it shameful.

After having done so much research into the topic, I have to say that I think the images though dramatic are right on the money.

What we need to remember is that even if we don’t think this type of violence occurs at the hands of our local officers, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen elsewhere in the Nation. If nothing else; this piece demonstrates an awareness and sharp concern over the issue. Perhaps we should be encouraging well informed discussion of this and topics like it in our classrooms. What do you think?

#education #inform yourself #police brutality #police violence #make a statement #take a stand

The latest Tweets from NJSP - State Police (@NJSP). NJ State Police Public Affairs. For further info on any updates, call 609-882-2000 X6516 or after hours and weekends, X7833. West Trenton, NJ

This one is a fun post... the NJ state police twitter. Get to know the cops & their human side.

They make jokes and post a lot of memorial and support tweets. I think that sometimes it’s easy to forget that Police are people even in uniform. Lets never forget how hard they work & the fact that many of them volunteer on Holidays and their days off.

“There is no black #fridayshopping for some of us. More important things to do.”

Well,

We don’t mind if you black-Friday shop guys just don’t black-people stop

#jokes #not that funny #oh well at least i tried #pass the shame

Peter Harvey, who was appointed a federal watchdog to oversee the Newark Police Department, will take part in a community forum on the oversight Monday night.

This article is not terribly detailed on how reform progress is going but this is so important - why? The community gets an open forum where they can learn about the current status of the reform and how they can help but they also get a chance to express their own feelings on the subject. If more police departments did this there might be no need for profiling or random stops because mutual trust and familiarity between officers and people would exist.

What are your rights during a traffic stop and, realistically, should you exercise them? CNN asks legal and law enforcement analysts for the best approach.

So this article has everything and nothing to do with policing in New Jersey. My purpose for posting it is that it lays out in few words three of your legal rights during a traffic stop.

1. Your attitude is your right. You can use whatever tone of voice you want legally.

2. An officer can only ask you to step out of your car if he feels threatened and or has just cause to search your vehicle. Since “feeling threatened” shouldn’t hold up in court there has to be proof of adequate danger or cause for alarm.

3. An officer should never tell you not to record, it’s your legal right.

Now we all know that these lines are blurred in high profile cases and often on a daily basis. The advice given by this reporter is to be obedient during the stop, take note of anything unlawful and pin the officer for it later in court.

I’M SORRY BUT I HAVE A FEW THINGS TO SAY- not everybody has the money to go to court, if people don’t fight these regular illegal practices they will never end and also I support being courteous to the Police 100% but sometimes they’re not courteous to you and that isn’t okay.

#know your rights #routine traffic stops #protect yourself #use caution

A New Jersey police chief who defended “profiling, racial or otherwise” in an internal email was suspended without pay.

I can understand why this chief was suspended; you should have just cause to pull somebody over however,

Profiling goes both ways doesn’t it? The police profile everybody based on experience because that’s part of making the crucial judgments that keep us all safe. I find myself wondering if it’s useful.

I suppose that the problem aside from the fact that it is illegal to profile is that profiling met with bias is simple racism, not intelligent judgment. Profiling is far too vulnerable to negligence and human error and the consequences are serious.

At least in New Jersey comments like this are met with unpaid suspension.

#racial profiling #racism #judgment calls #black lives matter #all lives matter

This gets really fascinating around 5:30 when the host introduces two men who used to be Cops that are now Civil Rights Activists.

The test the men perform meets with mixed results as they do get pulled over but they are not harassed in any way. It does suggest some minor racial profiling though.

The bigger problem is the unlawful ticketing! But what can the people do about this - any ideas?

A law requiring all new cop cars in New Jersey to have cameras is an unfunded mandate, according to a state panel.

The law requiring body cameras was over ruled due to the high cost - but what if we (the public) could fund it? Would we fund it??

#community outreach #safer communities #bodycam #record everything

But it’s her right to film isn’t it?

This is a training video from 2012 that officer’s from all parts of New Jersey would watch in the case that they received internal affairs complaints. There are representatives here from Ramsey, Essex, Newark, and West Orange discussing ways in which an officer can conduct himself in order to restore integrity and trust to his name in both the public and internal eye.

https://www.aclu-nj.org/yourrights/multimedia/internal-affairs-protecting-integrity-badge/

The Central Jersey Courier News and Home News Tribune reviewed hundreds of citizen complaints from 2008 to 2012 claiming excessive force, bias and civil rights violations by officers in more than seven dozen police departments in Central New Jersey. It found that only 1% of complaints alleging police brutality were sustained by internal affairs units. The national average is 8%, according to a 2007 Bureau of Justice Statistics report.

THIS IS AN ARTICLE AVAILABLE (from 2014) THAT IS UNFOUNDED. THE STATISTICS THAT BACK THIS UP ARE NON EXISTENT - WHEN YOU GO TO THE PAGE AN ERROR OCCURS AND THE PAGE CANNOT BE FOUND.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/07/police-brutality-new-jersey-report_n_4555166.html

This is the Huffington Post article also boasting this non existent statistic. Please be careful when reading these articles to verify the sources. 99% is a possible but very unlikely number in any statistic.

#police brutality #new jersey #fake news #bad journalism

I’d like to take a moment to list a few online sources I’ve found to be UNTRUSTWORTHY in doing my research:

1. Huffington Post - one of their articles cited, as its main source, an analysis that was non existent

2. http://www.mycentraljersey.com as a lot of the info is from 2014 BEFORE most police reforms in the state took place

3. Philly.com, powered by the Inquirer

#the more you know #dont believe everything you read #verify #do work

"Wherever you walk around, there goes a cop," says one resident, who is happy with the changes in the city. But some critics still see evidence of old-school police tactics that they say don't work.

2015- Police showing that the simplest steps taken to communicate with their people can improve relations for both sides.

President Obama calls Camden NJ police department with a tremendously high crime rate a role model.

See also these articles in the NY Times concerning the reform and replacement of the old police force in Camden with a new one run by the county 2012-2014

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/29/nyregion/overrun-by-crime-camden-trades-in-its-police-force.html?pagewanted=all

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/01/nyregion/camden-turns-around-with-new-police-force.html

#realchange #police reform #policetransparency #Camden NJ #stepbystep #look how far we've come

A new report claims that the number of instances of police use of force in an embattled New Jersey community have increased dramatically in the past two years, and that minorities are the primary subjects...

Continuing to look at brutality and misconduct in Bloomfield NJ I found a few interesting facts in here to be relevant to the overall issue:

1. There is no centralized recording system for complaints against officers or incidences of civilian shootings in NJ.

2. Newark is the only city in the state with a review board for complaints

3. The law requiring the use of body cams in policing was recently determined to be unconstitutional but departments still use them

Where does that leave us?? Are we getting better or staying the same? Does the news portray the department fairly here? SO many questions left unanswered.

New Jersey Senator Cory Booker is calling on the Department of Justice to open an investigation into the tactics used by police against peaceful water protectors at the protest site in North Dakota. Senator Booker penned a letter to A.G. Loretta Lynch and her deputy Vanita Gupta, in which he called on the federal government

“I call on the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) to promptly and thoroughly investigate all credible reports of inappropriate police tactics and, if DOJ has not already done so, to send federal monitors to stand ing rock...” - Letter from Booker to A.G. Lynch

See full letter here:

https://www.scribd.com/document/332310203/Sen-Cory-Booker-Letter-to-DOJ-on-Standing-Rock#download

What do you think? Is it appropriate for him to do this? Is he setting a good example for politicians and Democrats alike?

#cory booker #stand with standing rock #police reform #your right to protest

Marcus Jeter talks to the Morning Show about his encounter with the Bloomfield's Police and his road for justice. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/12IN...

Original Report ABC7 News: http://abc7ny.com/archive/9440401/

This is an interview done by Hot 97′s Morning Show with a victim of police brutality from 2014, Bloomfield NJ. This man would have faced five years minimum jail time had it not been for the late release of the dashcam footage clearing him of all charges.

Not only did the officers hit this man’s car but they also beat him several times without just cause. The reason I posted this interview instead of the article is because the interview reveals details like the reason the police were called initially and various things that are not covered in the article.

Two key things about this: 1.Though the victim is African American, one of the officer’s who later plead guilty to charges and was suspended without pay is also black. 2. The internal investigation, called for by the mayor STILL concluded that neither officer did anything wrong.

Makes you wonder what would we do without cameras-

Newly-released dashcam video shows the incident surrounding a police-involved shooting in Camden County.

“I just thought the guy - the cop shot the guy out of anger and wanted him to be scared. I didn’t know it was like - all that happened. So the cop had a purpose to pull his gun out.” - witness of the shooting 1:52

- This is a case of an officer conducting himself well, without use of excessive/unnecessary brutality or violence. Camden NJ, November 2016

but the title is still misleading - makes me think about the role the media plays in antagonizing all of this but regardless,

Perhaps reform is really occurring

#police involved shooting #camden county #haddon township #new jersey #n.j.

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