By Rajika Chauhan
Staff Writer
In the 11th investigation of its kind since 2021, the U.S. Justice Department has opened a probe of the Trenton Police Department after allegations of unlawful conduct and excessive use of force against residents. The New York Times reports that the inquiry is categorized as a “pattern or practice” investigation. This type of inquiry seeks to identify whether police officers are guilty of unconstitutional abuses of power, while targeting the weaknesses in the department’s training and disciplinary programs that may be responsible for malpractice.
Complaints of injustice in police behavior have been voiced in Trenton for several years. The Department’s attention has been brought specifically to traffic stops and searches being conducted without probable cause, with such interactions often escalating into excessive abuses of force. Incidents have been recorded with officers using force in retaliation for individuals questioning the purpose of or filming police interactions, with many such unlawful stops progressing into arrests, according to The Trentonian. Minorities and individuals suffering from mental health episodes have been particular targets for mistreatment.
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke gave a statement explaining the issues that had alerted the Justice Department’s attention at a press conference, stating: “We reviewed information suggesting that officers may have unnecessarily escalated situations with Trenton residents, resulting in problematic uses of force including against people experiencing mental health crises.”
The probe is expected to last approximately one year, in which time Justice Department officials plan to conduct a comprehensive review of the police department and civil records of misconduct, as per USA Today. The Department will seek first to identify whether there is sufficient evidence of a systemic problem in police conduct, referring to body-camera footage, statistics and court records, as well as taking input from community panels and forums. Information will be collected from a five-year window of incidents and arrests.
Trenton has been faced by a deluge of widely-publicized police brutality incidents in the past several years. In July, 2020, 64-year-old Joseph Ahr Sr. was pepper-sprayed on his porch while speaking to officers and died 18 days later. The city of Trenton also paid $1.9 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of Stephen Dolceamore, a 29-year-old man who died in April of 2020 following a struggle with officers, his official cause of death being listed as “methamphetamine intoxication with physical restraint and chest-wall restriction.” In February of 2022, 29-year-old JaJuan Henderson was shot in the arm after reaching for iced-tea while speaking to officers in his car, and is now paralyzed from the chest down. The Department has stated that the investigation was not prompted by one incident, but rather a general trend of complaints and abusive conduct by the Trenton Police.
The Department has not made allegations of racial discrimination in its criticism of the Trenton Police. The Trentonian cites, however, that pattern-or-practice investigations have been linked to issues of racially motivated police misconduct in the past, with a high-profile review taking place within the Minneapolis Police Department following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. Inspections of this kind began in 1994, almost two years after riots were sparked in L.A. following the acquittal of officers who were charged with the unlawful beating and arrest of Rodney King.
While only one pattern-or-practice investigation was opened under the Trump administration, several more have been conducted during Biden’s time in office, as reported by The Times. The Justice Department claims it has been spurred to focus on Trenton given the success of similar inquiries in rehabilitating practice in other police departments across the country, with Seattle noting a 60% drop in excessive force following an investigation and remediation.
USA Today reports that if the probe finds proof of a systemic issue within police department practices, it is likely to prompt a federal consent decree. This would put the Trenton Police Department under federal oversight, having to meet specific goals and adhere to established practices until the watch is lifted. Some officials have had issues with the effectiveness of decrees, claiming that they are costly and demanding of time without bringing forth sufficient improvements.
Phillip R. Sellinger, the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, noted that evidence from community meetings had been particularly influential in the bringing of the investigation. He cited a note he received from a resident during a meeting in a church last month, which stated: “We’re scared of the law because they don’t like us.”
The investigation marks the first-step in a longer path towards accountability and remediation for the Trenton Police Department, with continuing hesitations from both residents and officials on the potential for adequate reform.
