By Barbara A. Preston l April 27, 2021
“The single most important thing that I will work on during my time as attorney general—is policing reform and accountability,” NJ Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said during a virtual League of Women Voters event in April.
The movement for Black Lives, the killing of George Floyd and the ensuing protests from last year, underscore how “deep that crisis in confidence in policing is right now.” Grewal announced a new Use of Force Policy that requires police, within 24 hours of using force against a civilian, to report detailed information to a statewide “Use of Force Portal.”
Montgomery Township Police have documented two cases in which officers had to use force during arrests, according to the new beta version of the NJ Attorney General’s Use of Force Dashboard. (njoag.gov/force) Use of force during an arrest would include: pepper spray; fired a weapon; baton strikes; leg strikes; fist; take-down; a compliance hold; etc.
The Montgomery incidents occurred on December 9, and involved two officers Akeel Babar (Asian) and Salvatore Intili (White). The officers used a “take down” maneuver against a 28-year-old Asian male during a “potential mental health incident,” according to the portal.
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Operated by the Attorney General’s Office and developed in partnership with Benchmark Analytics, the portal provides the most comprehensive statewide database in the country for tracking the use of force by law enforcement.
In addition, users can download the full dataset in various file formats. This dashboard allows citizens to obtain information of the use of force by officers in a searchable database. It can be searched by officer, department, and date range.
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