New Jersey Attorney General Sues Clark Township Over Alleged Racial Profiling
Clark Township, New Jersey, is facing a lawsuit filed by Attorney General Matthew Platkin and the state’s division on Civil Rights, alleging a pattern of systemic discrimination and harassment targeting Black and other non-white motorists. The lawsuit, stemming from an investigation spanning 2015 through March 2025, accuses the township and its police department of implementing discriminatory policing practices under the direction of former Mayor Salvatore Bonaccorso and police leadership.
The legal action follows a period of scrutiny, including a 2020 takeover of the clark Police department by the Union County Prosecutor’s Office due to misconduct allegations. The Attorney General’s lawsuit asserts that prior to this oversight, town leadership allegedly instructed officers to actively discourage Black individuals from being present in the township. Specifically, Bonaccorso is accused of using a racial slur while directing police to remove Black people from the town.
Data presented in the lawsuit indicates a disproportionate rate of traffic stops and searches for Black and Hispanic drivers compared to their white counterparts before the Union county Prosecutor’s office assumed control. While racial disparities have reportedly decreased since 2020 with the implementation of oversight, the data still revealed significant differences. As an example, Black and Hispanic drivers were stopped at rates of 3.7 and 2.2 times higher, respectively, than white drivers. Furthermore,over 37% of drivers stopped by Clark Police were Black or Hispanic,despite these groups comprising only 11% of the town’s population.
The New Jersey State PBA criticized the lawsuit as politically motivated, highlighting improvements in policing practices under the Union County Prosecutor’s Office and asserting that officers have proactively addressed cultural issues. Current Clark Mayor Angel Albanese also dismissed the lawsuit as a “frivolous” attempt by the outgoing Attorney General to create controversy.
The lawsuit is the latest progress in a series of controversies surrounding Clark Township and Bonaccorso. In 2022, recordings surfaced revealing racist and sexist remarks allegedly made by Bonaccorso and a former police chief.Last year, Bonaccorso was sentenced to three years of probation and fined $15,000 after pleading guilty to public corruption charges related to his private business. he subsequently resigned from his mayoral position, which he had held since 2001.
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