Press Release
NEW BRUNSWICK — The Civil Rights Protection Project of The Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey (LLANJ) is seeking an overhaul of the way policing executives oversee and review incidents involving the use of force.

On Thursday, LLANJ submitted an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request to Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office to review past incidents and investigate the police shooting death of Dixon Rodriguez, a mentally ill man who allegedly used a knife to attack two police officers in front of his house on Hall Avenue in Perth Amboy.

The incident occurred in the afternoon of Wednesday, Dec. 4 after Rodriguez’s mother called 911, asking for police to escort her son to a local mental health treatment facility where he was a patient. It is said that Rodriguez had emotional issues and was developmentally disabled. A recording of the mother’s call in Spanish, with English translations posted simultaneously, is available onwww.mycentraljersey.com. This incident follows five recent police shootings in a 10- day span, including the second killing of a mentally ill individual in Middlesex County.

“LLANJ and its Civil Rights Protection Project demand a grand jury investigation of every police officer involved in this killing, as well as a transparent investigation with full disclosure of the results to the general public,” said Martin Perez, Esq., LLANJ President.

“We are requesting not redacted use of force incident reports submitted by officers involved in the death of Dixon Rodriguez on Dec. 4, 2013 in Perth Amboy,” said Richard Rivera, Chair of LLANJ’s Civil Rights Protection Project, in a letter sent to Middle- sex County Prosecutor’s Office. “We are also requesting unredacted copies of use of force incidents reports filed by members of the Middlesex County Special Operations Response Team for all incidents in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013.”

LLANJ Civil Rights Protection Project also requests Middlesex County, Countywide Internal Affairs Annual Summary Reports for 2010, 2011 and 2012, and names, titles, ranks, salaries and place of employments for all members of the Middlesex County Special Operations Response Team. This Team is financially funded and trained by the Prosecutor’s Office and manned primarily by police officers from the County’s Municipal Police Departments

With this OPRA request, LLANJ hopes to add more information to its database on citizen complaints against police and police use of force against civilians. LLANJ’s Civil Rights Protection Project receives a grant from the Open Society Foundation and currently amasses the nation’s largest database on citizen complaints against police and the use of force by police officers throughout New Jersey.

Over the past years, LLANJ has conducted several research studies, which have consistently demonstrated that a small number of police officers generate the most number of force incidents and at a higher level than their peers.

“This fact alone is cause for concern and should have prompted administrative review of the officers’ actions,” said Rivera. “In Perth Amboy, we found the same. From 2009 to 2011, three officers (less than 3 percent of the department) generated 28 percent of the force reports. They were also part of a group of eight officers that resorted to using punches, kicks, strikes, chemical spray and other types of force more frequently than their colleagues.”

“We also reviewed internal affairs complaints of excessive force from 2005 to 2009 and found no cases where an officer was disciplined,” Rivera stated. “Over a dozen cases were marked as ‘pending’ and no outcome recorded. These cases would linger for years unresolved. These observations are similar to those we made in other Middlesex County communities like New Brunswick, Edison and Woodbridge.”

Regarding the use of force, LLANJ President Perez said, “New Jersey is the last state in the country to allow police officers to use less-lethal stun guns. LLANJ advocates for the use of this type of technology to humanely treat people who come into contact with police. With the backdrop of 228 percent increase for incustody deaths in New Jersey from 2005 and 2011, we, as a society, need to work together with police executives to come up with viable alternatives to deadly force.”

LLANJ has been partnering with Bergen County Police Department, the Office of Attorney General and other agencies to address these deadly encounters in hope of making a safer work environment for police officers, while maintaining public safety for the community.

LLANJ believes its research studies have also shown a lack of proper training and supervision when it comes to use of force incidents, as well as a fundamental lack of understanding on how to investigate these matters.

“It is time for a change before more police officers or citizens are unnecessarily killed,” Rivera concluded.