For Immediate Release
Friday, June 18, 2021

On Monday, June 21, dozens of organizations will mobilize activists to Trenton to call on the Legislature to pass strong reforms to hold police accountable.

The rally, organized by Newark Communities for Accountable Policing and a new statewide coalition, New Jersey Coalition for Police Accountability, will take place outside of the Statehouse Annex in Trenton, 135 W. State Street, at 1 p.m. on Monday, June 21.

The demonstration will call for passage of several bills to create strong civilian oversight of police, make disciplinary records transparent, criminalize chokeholds, limit deadly force, and ending qualified immunity.

The groups are calling for specific legislation:

• Police transparency bill, S2656, making officer disciplinary records public
• The George Floyd Bill, S2617, banning and criminalizing chokeholds
• Bill authorizing civilian complaint review boards, A4656 – making sure to emphasize characteristics that make civilian complaint review boards effective: subpoena power, the ability to investigate police concurrent with internal affairs investigations, seats held by community members, and disciplinary power
• A4526/S3825, a bill establishing requirements for use of deadly force
• A4578/S3730, a bill ending qualified immunity in New Jersey

The organizations also urge the Legislature to reject a bill that has been fast-tracked through committee that would allow police officers to see body camera footage before writing their official reports, which would compromise accountability.

What:
Rally calling for police accountability in New Jersey with dozens of advocacy groups and activists from across New Jersey

Where:
Statehouse Annex, 135 W. State Street, Trenton, NJ

When:
Monday, June 21, 2021 at 1 p.m.

Speakers include:
ACLU-NJ Executive Director Amol Sinha, Newark Communities for Accountable Policing Organizer Zayid Muhammad, Salvation and Social Justice Executive Director Rev. Dr. Charles Boyer, Faith in New Jersey Executive Director Charlene Walker, Pastor Antoinette Moss of Black Community Watchline, New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice Director Amy Torres

Moderators: Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and People’s Organization for Progress Chairman Lawrence Hamm

Participants include:
Sponsor coalitions: New Jersey Coalition for Police Accountability and Newark Communities for Accountable Policing

Social justice organizations: ACLU-NJ, Salvation And Social Justice, NAACP New Jersey State Conference, NJ Institute for Social Justice, The Innocence Project, Latino Action Network, Black Lives Matter NJ, Faith In New Jersey, SEIU32BJ

Local grassroots groups:
Antiracism In Action, Black Community Watchline, Black Lives Matter-Morristown, Black Lives Matter-Paterson, The Ironbound Community Corporation, Jersey City Anti Violence Coalition Movement, Jersey City Mutual Aid Society, NAACP-Newark, NAACP-Trenton, NAACP-Jersey City, NAN Newark Chapter, National United Youth Council, Our Revolution Trenton Mercer, Our Revolution Monmouth County, People’s Organization for Progress, Philip Pannell Foundation, Trenton Anti-Violence Coalition, UUCM Undoing Racism, and Wind Of The Spirit