Harvey said in court records that the pandemic delayed his team’s planned audits. He did not respond to questions through a spokesperson, but in court transcripts said Newark’s former public safety director asked the monitor’s team to stop in-person meetings and audits in March 2020, when the pandemic first began to shut down public life.

Officials said Harvey’s team — which includes community advocates from the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, former law enforcement professionals and academic experts from the Rutgers Center on Policing and the Rutgers School of Criminal Justice — has about another 20 audits left to do including assessing body-worn cameras, the department’s internal affairs operation, and the use of force by officers.

“The police have made tremendous progress as noted by the judge, as noted by the Department of Justice,” Mayor Ras Baraka, who has long advocated for police reform, told WNYC.

He said he disagreed that the city needed the federal monitor to stick around — especially as the city continues to pay his fees.

“I don't think we need a federal monitor that we pay millions of dollars to every year,” he said. “Ultimately the monitor is going to have to be the people of the city, the Civilian Complaint Review Board, the council, all those people need to monitor the police progress.”

A troubled past

The ACLU-NJ first shined a light on Newark’s unconstitutional policing practices in 2010, when it petitioned the federal government to investigate the department, citing police misconduct and their violation of residents’ constitutional rights. The ACLU said 40 misconduct lawsuits had cost taxpayers $4.8 million in just under three years.

The DOJ opened an investigation in 2011. Three years later, then-U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Paul Fishman said Newark police were engaging in a pattern of unconstitutional conduct by disproportionately stopping and arresting Black people, using excessive force in 20% of incidents, stealing residents’ property, and retaliating against people who questioned police actions. Three-quarters of police stops were unconstitutional, the probe found.

In the court deal to fix Newark’s policing, the city agreed to a series of reforms that includes additional training, ensuring pedestrian stops and car searches are constitutional, new policies around use of force by officers and new data systems to help prevent officer misconduct.

Newark and the DOJ agreed to appoint Harvey as the monitor to make sure the department stays on track. Newark agreed to cap fees at $7.4 million to the monitor and the team of experts he hired for five years of oversight. Invoices obtained by Gothamist through a public records request show the monitor and his team of lawyers and experts bill by the hour for work ranging from participating in community meetings, conference calls, helping draft new policies and training. The fees range from $50 -$535 an hour, itemized invoices show.