NJ Advance Media’s powerful release of “The Force Report” is a long overdue look into the concerns New Jersey’s communities of color have raised for decades. The report found that statewide, black people are more than three times more likely to be the recipients of use of force by police. In certain areas like Lakewood the racial disparity is as high as 21 times. Equally as disturbing is that only 10 percent of officers accounted for 38 percent of all use of force incidents. At least 9,302 people were injured by police from 2012 through 2016. 

The report also highlights that there is no unified standards or system for reporting use-of-force incidents. We simply cannot trust a process which has no solution for understanding its problematic issues. New Jersey fails to monitor trends to flag officers who use disproportionately high amounts of force. 

Nationally, police use of force incidents have raised concerns and serious questions regarding transparency. Communities of color have long perceived interactions with police as unjust, racially disproportionate, and potentially fatal. This report solidifies and justifies that perception. 

The moral implications of the light being shined on excessive force in our state require us to change direction immediately. The glaring issues in this report demand that there be outside accountability. We call on lawmakers to immediately take up independent prosecutor legislation and community oversight.