The Newark Experience

Newark Police Department
The Newark Police Department ranks as the largest municipal police force in New Jersey, and the fifth oldest in the United States.

Policing the Police 2020

Frontline documentary on the Newark Police Department. Rutgers-restricted Access

Foot Patrol

Rockville, MD, National Institute of Justice, 1990. Streaming Video.

"Discusses the effects of deploying police officers on foot, with focus on Newark and Boston. Includes discussion of techniques, responsibilities, and special hazards of police officers on foot. " Rutgers-restricted Access

Investigation of the Newark Police Department

United States Department of Justice. Civil Rights Division and United States Attorney's Office, District of New Jersey. July 22, 2014.

Police Problems in Newark: Report of a Survey Conducted at the Request of Honorable John B. Keenan, Director of Public Safety, Newark, N.J.

Newark, N.J., Bureau of Municipal Research, INC.,1943.

"The survey found a police department in Newark which can be described for the most part only in uncomplimentary superlatives." Available?

“Reasonable, Warranted and Consonant”: Police Violence and Police Sovereignty in 1960s Newark

Imani Radney. Journal of Urban History 51(2), March 2025, pp. 341-360.

”This article examines the defensive politics of police advocacy, which prized independence and was explicitly tied to the issue of police violence, that emerged in Newark, New Jersey, during the mid-1960s. In response to charges of brutality and calls for civilian review of police misconduct, law enforcement officers and their supporters advanced a vision of policing that was entrenched in a belief in police sovereignty—a term I offer to name the notion that law enforcement officers alone should define the boundaries of police work. Abundant violence, uninhibited by civilian authorities, was an essential element of this vision of proper policing. Analyzing this political discourse reveals the fashioning of a white, conservative ideology of policing rooted in the valorization of police violence.”

First published online October 21, 2023. Rutgers-restricted Access

"Race Riots of 1967: An Analysis of Police Violence in Detroit and Newark,"

Albert Bergesen. Journal of Black Studies 12(3), March 1982, 261-274.

Examines the specific circumstances of death for each person killed during the 1967 Detroit and Newark riots. Rutgers-restricted Access

"Police Applicant Says Old Divorce Case Blocked Appointment to Force"

Bob Queen. The Afro-American (Baltimore) January 13, 1973, p.6.

"Complainants in a lawsuit filed last Friday in Federal Court here, charging that the Newark police exams are discriminatory and designed to keep black and Spanish-speaking applicants out of the department, claimed that severalthat passed the written test were KO'd in the oral and psychiatric sections of the examination."

Introduction to Crime Prevention Officers Course for the City of Newark, N.J., May 3, 1973.

Newark, N.J., Greater Newark Chamber of Commerce, [1973].

Prepared and sponsored by Chamber of Commerce of Newark, Newark Police Dept., Interstate Security Services, Inc. Available?

Police Leaders in the New Community Problem-Solving Era.

Michael J. Jenkins and John DeCarlo. Durham, Carolina Academic Press, 2015.

Community policing in Boston, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, and Newark. Available?

The Evolution of Community Policing Over Twenty Years: From Theory to Implementation and Beyond Rutgers-restricted access

David Paul Weiss. Thesis (Ph.D.), Claremont Graduate University, 2006.

Includes an in-depth analysis of four U.S. cities that have engaged in community policing: San Diego, Chicago, Newark, and Lowell. Available?

Case Study: Newark, New Jersey

Larry Edward Moss IN Black Political Ascendancy in Urban Centers and Black Control of the Local Police Function. San Francisco : R & E Research Associates, 1977, Chapter 3. pp. 54-95. Available?

"Politics, Police Accountability, and Public Health: Civilian Review in Newark, New Jersey"

Alecia McGregor. Journal of Urban Health 93(Supple. 1), April 2016, 141-153.

"On April 30, 2015, the mayor of Newark, New Jersey signed an executive order establishing a Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) to monitor the Newark Police Department (NPD). Using a mixed-methods approach, this study examined how advocates and government actors accomplished this recent policy change in the face of police opposition and after a 50-year history of unsuccessful attempts in Newark." Rutgers-restricted Access

Police and Citizen Perceptions of Police Power.

Gina Robertiello. Lewiston, N.Y., Edwin Mellen Press, 2005.

Uses a survey comprised of various street scenarios and administered to Newark police and citizens to look at police and citizen perceptions of what power police will use and how citizens feel about the action expected. Available?

The Racial Divide at Micro Places: A Pre/Post Analysis of the Effects of the Newark Consent Decree on Field Inquiries (2015-2017)

Vijay F. Chillar. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 59(2), March 2022, pp. 240-276

"This study draws on official event-level data on FIs recorded by NPD officers (N = 50,322) and uses random effects panel regression models to examine how socioeconomic characteristics interact with the implementation of the consent decree at micro places in the short term." Rutgers-restricted Access

Perspective Taking: Understanding Perceptions of Police-Community Relations In Newark, New Jersey

Tania Jimenez. (Psy. D. Thesis), William James College, 2022.

"This study examined the bidirectional perceptions between 29 Newark police officers and 171 Newark residents. The purpose of the study was to gain a deeper understanding of the tensions between these two groups and to provide recommendations to repair police-community relations." Rutgers-restricted Access

Exploring a Social Identity Theory of Shared Narrative: Insights from Resident Stories of Police Contact in Newark, New Jersey, and Cleveland, Ohio

Kwan-Lamar Blount-Hill. Criminal Justice and Behavior 48(6), June 2021, pp. 810-827

"I analyze 92 in-depth interviews with individuals who encountered the police departments of Newark, New Jersey, and Cleveland, Ohio. Respondents’ narratives followed common narrative scripts, suggesting a shared master narrative guiding interpretations of police encounters. A significant proportion of the sample interpreted their views of the police from a group-based lens, while an equally significant proportion used alternative narratives. An integration of social identity, narrative identity, and current legitimacy theory holds promise for a more comprehensive model of legitimation and a more complete theory of self." Rutgers-restricted Access

A High-Profile Police-Involved Shooting, Civil Unrest, and Officers' Perceptions of Legitimacy: Insights From a Natural Experiment

Brandon Turchan. Journal of Experimental Criminology 17(3), September 2021, pp. 507-518.

"The present analysis explores whether the highly publicized civil unrest that occurred in response to the controversial police shooting of Keith Scott in Charlotte, NC, influenced officers’ perceptions of their own communities and how they execute their policing duties in Newark, NJ." Rutgers-restricted Access

Are Minorities Subjected to, or Insulated from, Racialized Policing in Majority-Minority Community Contexts?

Shytierra Gaston, Rod K. Brunson, and Leigh S. Grossman. British Journal of Criminology 60(6), November 2020, pp. 1416-1437

"This article examines community-level predictors of racial/ethnic differences in drug arrests from 2011 to 2016 across 86 census tracts in Newark, NJ, a city where most officers and residents are persons of colour. We examine whether racial conflict indicators predict Black, White and Hispanic drug arrests, accounting for other factors. Findings indicate that racialized policing prevails within this majority–minority context." Rutgers-restricted Access

Suspicious Places Make People Suspicious: Officers' Perceptions of Place-based Conditions in Racialized Drug Enforcement

Shytierra Gaston, Rod K. Brunson, and David O. Ayeni. Criminology & Public Policy 22(1), February 2023, pp. 63-82.

"We investigate officers’ accounts regarding how they weigh place‐based factors into their arrest decisions of Black, Hispanic, and White drug suspects in Newark, New Jersey from 2011 to 2016. Our analysis of 438 filed drug arrest reports revealed that most arrestees, especially Black Americans, became susceptible to heightened police scrutiny because of their presence in stigmatized, criminalized areas." Rutgers-restricted Access

Measuring Procedural Justice Policy Adherence During Use of Force Events: The Body-Worn Camera as a Performance Monitoring Tool

Victoria A. Sytsma, Eric L. Piza, Vijay F. Chillar, and Leigh S. Grossman. Criminal Justice Policy Review 32(9), December 2021, pp. 938-959.

"To demonstrate the utility of BWCs as performance monitoring tools, we measure officer adherence to procedural justice standards throughout use of force events as mandated in the Newark Police Division’s updated policies pursuant to an ongoing federal consent decree." Rutgers-restricted Access

Situational Factors and Police Use of Force Across Micro-Time Intervals: A Video Systematic Social Observation and Panel Regression Analysis

Eric L. Piza, Nathan T. Connealy, Victoria A. Sytsma, and Vijay F. Chillar. Criminology 61(1), February 2023, pp. 74-102.

"The current study analyzes police use of force as a series of time‐bound transactions between officers, civilians, and bystanders. The research begins with a systematic social observation of use‐of‐force events recorded on police body‐worn cameras in Newark, New Jersey. Researchers measure the occurrence and time stamps for numerous participant physical and verbal behaviors." Rutgers-restricted Access

The Impact of Suspect Resistance, Informational Justice, and Interpersonal Justice on Time Until Police Use of Physical Force: A Survival Analysis

Eric L. Piza and Victoria A. Sytsma. Crime and Delinquency 70(1), January 2024, pp. 3-28.

:The current study applies Systematic Social observation (SSO) to body-worn camera (BWC) footage of use of physical force events in Newark, NJ. The analysis tests the effect of suspect resistance and police officer interpersonal and informational justice tactics on time until use of physical force in police-citizen encounters. The results indicate police officer actions have a greater effect on the time until physical force than does suspect resistance." Rutgers-restricted Access

Examining Police-Black Citizen Interactions in Newark, New Jersey

Kashea Kovacs. (Ph.D. Thesis) Rutgers University-Newark, 2023.

"Examines the involuntary encounters of young, Black Newark residents with Newark Police Department officers to better understand how contextual and individual factors inform perceptions of the police."

Proactive Monitoring and Operator Discretion: A Systematic Social Observation of CCTV Control Room Operations

Eric L. Piza and Lauren N. Moton. Journal of Criminal Justice 86, May 2023, Article 102071.

"This study explores police decision-making in the context of proactive video surveillance operations. Data were generated from a systematic social observation of CCTV operator activity during the Newark CCTV Directed Patrol Experiment. Rutgers-restricted Access

Police, Courts, and Corrections: Experiences of Procedural Injustice Among Black Adults

Andrew Martinez, Rachel Swaner, Cassandra Ramdath, and Katherine Kusiak Carey. American Journal of Community Psychology71(1-2), March 2023, pp. 147-157

"Using a procedural injustice lens, this study examines how justice‐involved Black adults experience mistreatment by justice system actors. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 84 Black adults in Newark and Cleveland. Study findings offer a comprehensive account of how participants experience procedural injustice as arrestees, defendants, and incarcerated persons." Rutgers-restricted Access

Examining Relationship Between Police Education and Perspectives on Use of Force in Minority Communities Rutgers-restricted access

Christopher Chapman. Thesis (Ph.D.), Northcentral University, 2009.

"[T]his study focused on relationships between educational level and other demographic characteristics of officers and their reported frequency, level, and acceptance of the use of force. An on-line survey was conducted with police officers from Newark, Orange, and Elizabeth, NJ, which have large minority populations." Available?

"Police Employee Disciplinary Matrix: An Emerging Concept"

Jon M. Shane. Police Quarterly 15(1), March 2012, pp. 62-91.

"This article explores the concept of a rational sentencing structure for imposing internal police discipline that helps practitioners make more reasoned and consistent decisions when dispensing discipline. The data consists of 360 hr of participant observation of police trials involving sworn police officers and civilian employees in the Newark, New Jersey Police Department." Rutgers-restricted Access

The Effectiveness of Police Departments' Responses to Excessive Officer Involved Shootings

Jacqueline Elizabeth Perrotta. (D.B.A. Thesis). Northcentral University, 2020.

"This study evaluates the police department response to excessive officer involved shootings throughout seven similarly demographic cities: New York City, Newark, Chicago, Washington D.C., New Orleans, Philadelphia, and San Francisco." Rutgers-restricted Access

"Responding to Persons with Mental Illnesses: Police Perspectives on Specialized and Traditional Practices"

Courtenay L. Sellers et al. Behavioral Sciences & the Law 23(5), September 2005, pp.647-657.

Compares the responses of a subsample of 182 officers from the Newark, NJ, Police Department to a sample of 452 officers from three agencies with specialized responses to persons with mental illnesses. Rutgers-restricted Access

Neighborhood Police Newsletters: Experiments in Newark and Houston: Executive Summary

Antony M. Pate et. al., Police Foundation, July 12, 1985.

Summarizes the results of evaluations of two experiments in which neighborhood police newsletters were mailed to households in Newark and in Houston.

Technical Report

Appendices

Reducing Fear of Crime in Houston and Newark: A Summary Report

Antony M. Pate et.al., Police Foundation, 1986.

"The research summarized in this report indicates that if officers work harder at talking and listening to citizens, they can reduce the fear of crime and, in some cases, even crime itself." Available?

"Returning to First Principles: Reducing the Fear of Crime in Newark"

Hubert Williams and Antony M. Pate. Crime & Delinquency 33(1), January 1987, pp.53-70.

Police Foundation conducted evaluations of several different law enforcement programs designed to address the fear of crime in Newark and Houston. This article describes how the programs in Newark were developed, implemented, and evaluated and summarizes the results of those evaluations. Available?

Armed Aggravated Assaults on Police Officers in Newark, New Jersey : An Exploratory Analysis

Jennifer L. Lanterman. Thesis (Ph.D.). Rutgers University, 2007.

The purpose of the current exploratory case study is to determine whether patterns or common factors exist in the armed aggravated assaults on police officers in Newark, New Jersey. Available?

Stop-and-Frisk: A First Look. Six Months of Data on Stop-and-Frisk Practices in Newark

American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey. February 2014.

The First Black Captain

Edward D. Williams. New York, Vantage Press, 1974.

Autobiography of the first black precinct captain in Newark. Available?

The Blue Warrior: Above the Line of Duty

Otto Jerry Moravek. New York, Carlton Press Corp., 1995. Available?

Total Misconduct: Factual Account of Police and Political Corruption

Samuel Clark. Cheyenne, WY, Disclosure Research and Publishing, 2005.

Newark police lieutenant turned whistleblower. Available?