DOJ: Local Police Officers Slam, Spray, and Shame Citizens Without Consequences

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The Justice Department’s investigation into the Trenton, New Jersey, Police Department (TPD) revealed a disturbing pattern of unconstitutional practices, according to a new report. These include the use of excessive force, warrantless stops and searches, and inadequate oversight of officer misconduct.

The report suggests TPD officers frequently escalated non-violent situations and used pepper spray and physical force without justification. “TPD officers rapidly escalate everyday interactions, resorting to unreasonable force without giving people a chance to comply with orders,” the DOJ noted.

The DOJ highlights several examples it found during its investigation. In one instance, an individual lost his life after TPD officers “escalated an argument to the point of throwing him to the ground and pepper spraying him, even though the man posed no threat.”

TPD officers went to arrest a young man in connection with an earlier domestic incident. The man’s 64-year-old father, who was not involved in the domestic incident, met the officers outside his front door and told them he would not let them into his house without a warrant.

This type of behavior happened quite frequently, the report suggested. “TPD officers use pepper spray unreasonably. Officers spray people who pose no threat but merely challenge officers’ authority—which, on its own, is not grounds for the use of force.”

In another instance, TPD officers chased a 16-year-old boy who matched a vague description of a suspect. Upon catching him, one of the officers grabbed the teenager by the neck and slammed him onto the hood of a car.

A teacher approached the officer during the altercation and tried to explain that the teenager, who was unarmed, fled because he was afraid of the police. “The officer who grabbed the boy’s neck responded that the police are out to help people, not hurt them,” the report noted.

“That’s not how a Black man sees it,” the teacher responded. “I’m sorry that’s not how a Black man sees things,” the officer retorted—“That’s how an intelligent man would see it.”

The boy’s mother told a Justice Department investigator that the ordeal prompted her to transfer her child to another school because he was too afraid of police to return to the neighborhood.

After a car accident, a TPD officer found that a woman’s registration was expired and her license suspended. When the woman argued with her over having her vehicle towed, the officer pepper-sprayed her without warning in front of her 7-year-old child, who could have also been hurt.

The officer then dragged her from the vehicle by her pants, exposing her buttocks for several minutes.

“The use of OC spray, or pepper spray, violates the Fourth Amendment when officers spray people who pose no threat. TPD officers, however, frequently turn to OC spray when people challenge, criticize, or insult the police, even when they pose no immediate threat. In this instance, the officer pepper-sprayed the woman, dragged her out of the car, and exposed her in front of onlookers. When a family member asked how she could file a complaint against the officer, the officer replied that she could file a complaint, but said, ‘[I]t’s going nowhere.'”

DOJ investigators found that TPD officers frequently conduct traffic stops without reasonable suspicion. In many cases, they prolonged the stops without a valid reason, which often led to unlawful arrests. They also misused drug-sniffing dogs and other investigative tools without proper cause, according to the report.

“Officers from these units reported to us that TPD supervisors pushed them to make as many stops and arrests as possible,” the DOJ noted.”

In one instance, officers “stopped and searched a man merely because they said they saw him adjust his waistband; they offered no other justification.”

One civilian who had been subjected to an unlawful stop told the investigator that he was “scared to have any interaction with the police” and that “I feel like if they pull me over at nighttime, they would try to kill me.”

Another problem is the lack of accountability for officers who abuse their authority, the report explained. Internal Affairs rarely sustained allegations of officer misconduct. “IA investigators did not sustain a single allegation that TPD officers used excessive force or made an illegal stop or arrest,” the report noted.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clark of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division addressed the content of the report, saying it “found that police officers in Trenton routinely failed to respect the Fourth Amendment rights of those who call Trenton home.”

“Trenton police stop and search pedestrians and motorists without a legal basis, make illegal arrests and use excessive force without basis. We are committed to the hard work necessary to achieve constitutional policing across the country. By bringing city officials, the police department and the community together, we are confident that we can institute meaningful reforms that remedy the violations uncovered.”

“For too long, the residents of Trenton have felt afraid of the police, rather than protected by them,” said U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger for the District of New Jersey. “The use of excessive force and unconstitutional stops, searches and arrests, sometimes with tragic consequences, have eroded public trust and undermined public safety.”