Change
Newark’s approach to police reform aNd commuNity BuildiNg might Be the model for america City of Newark Communications
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n the exact spot where the rebellion of 1967 began more than half a century ago, Mayor Ras J. Baraka gave a name and a home to the work his administration has done in police reform and crime reduction. As he stood with Police Director Anthony Ambrose and Newark Corporation Counsel Kenyatta Stewart on that day in June, he signed into law a new ordinance creating the Office of Violence Prevention and Trauma Recovery, which will be housed in the former 4th Precinct (now the 1st), where cab driver John Smith was beaten by police 53 summers ago, sparking four days of the kind of conflicts that played out again in American cities this year. The creation of this office is just another example of the reforms and improve-
ments in the Newark police and the violence suppression efforts of the community. “This is a historic moment in the City of Newark,” the Mayor said. “Other cities have created these types of offices as ‘policy,’ but we have made it a law. I’m not going to be Mayor forever; people change and policies change, but it’s much harder to change a law.” The new office will be funded by five percent of the Public Safety budget, as the Mayor acted while most people simply discussed “defunding the police” after the murder of George Floyd and the civil unrest that followed. The precinct building will be turned into a museum chronicling local activism in Newark and positive police cont’d on next page
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Fall 2020 The Positive Community
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