According to an analysis from NJ Advanced Media for 5 years of police use-of-force data from every department in the State, Black people were three times more likely to be punched, kicked, pepper sprayed, struck with a baton and attacked by a dog in police use-of-force situations and more than twice as likely to be shot.  Very few departments analyze racial profiling.  Of more than 4,600 uses of force against people under the age of 18, slightly more than half the subjects were Black, though they represent only 14.5% of the child population in New Jersey.

We must break the cycle of violence inflicted upon our communities by:

1. Implementing community oversight of local police departments;
2. Unifying reporting standards and systems; requiring culturally competent implicit bias and psychological analysis and de-escalation training, and expanding auditing measures to ensure the training is effectively implemented;
3. Removing officers who violate the civil rights of African Americans or demonstrate bias;
4. Mandating in-car and body-worn cameras—in conjunction with effective policies, training, and implementation—and the public release of footage;
5. Requiring a five-year residency requirement for all law enforcement;
6. Developing a truth and reconciliation process to faithfully deal with the history and evidence of abuse.

Together we can transform this situation!  These are all Joint Hearings Black Legislators, Clergy and Community Leaders and the hearings will be sed as an opportunity to hear from victims as well as organize communities in how to access the data, build an accountability commission and hold local law enforcement responsible for problematic issues.