Newark Joins the List of Police Departments Monitored by U.S. Justice Department

African Americans in Newark, New Jersey, were 2.5 times as likely to get stopped and frisked by city police as white residents were when the U.S. Department of Justice began investigating the police department five years ago. Wednesday, the Justice Department entered into an agreement with Newark police to ensure that the department changes its policies so the city does not return to this racially lop-sided scenario.

Police officials signed a consent decree on March 30 committing them to a long list of reforms meant to correct a system-wide pattern of violating the constitutional rights of citizens. The Justice Department’s findings from its investigation, released in 2014, showed a police force bent on frisking citizens, mostly African Americans, without reason, as well as using excessive force on suspects and stealing from them. The department must take the following corrective steps under the new consent decree: