Overview
- Attorney General Matthew Platkin’s civil-rights complaint names former Mayor Salvatore Bonaccorso, suspended Chief Pedro Matos, and Police Director Patrick Grady as defendants.
- State analysis of 2015–2020 stops says Black motorists were stopped about 3.7 times and Hispanic motorists about 2.2 times more often than white drivers, with over half of stops outside town involving Black or Hispanic drivers.
- The suit describes tactics such as claims of marijuana odor, emphasis on low‑level equipment or administrative violations, traffic enforcement quotas, and patrols concentrated on roads from Rahway and Linden.
- Prosecutors cite audio recordings of leaders using racial slurs and directing officers to keep Black people out, while characterizing Clark’s practices as consistent with a “sundown town” reputation.
- The state seeks injunctive relief, renewed monitoring, and damages, as local officials and police unions dismiss the case as political, and disciplinary proceedings for suspended leaders continue following years of county oversight that ended last March.