Opinion: New Jersey needs local civilian review boards with subpoena power
New Jerseyans need to demand legislative changes to the process of reviewing complaints of police misconduct throughout the state. Currently, municipal and county law enforcement agencies, county prosecutors, and the state’s Attorney General have the power to conduct internal affairs investigations regarding police misconduct and determine whether and how to discipline individual officers. It is natural to doubt the veracity of the results of an investigation of possible wrongdoing by a government institution and its resulting conclusions when the government institution accused of wrongdoing is conducting the investigation itself. Understandably, New Jerseyans question whether the internal affairs process in our state, in which law enforcement investigates itself, may be trusted. To improve public trust, the time has come for municipalities and counties in New Jersey to have the power to establish civilian
Police disciplinary records should be public | Opinion
Updated Feb 02, 2021;
Posted Feb 02, 2021
Two members of the Middlesex Black-Jewish Coalition say public safety can only come from trust between the police and the communities they serve. Trusting the police without requiring accountability and transparency amounts to unquestioning acceptance including acceptance of police misconduct and complicity in the suffering it causes. The cycle of police misconduct and secrecy has led to broken trust.
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By Sonya Headlam and Rebecca Cypess
In his 1963 “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” If we are not vigilant in safeguarding justice for all people, no one’s justice is secure. We write as two women from different backgrounds who are united in our conviction that Dr. King’s words must continue to be a guiding principle for all of us today.