“The U.S. Justice Department and the city of Newark announced today that they have reached a comprehensive settlement to resolve years-old allegations that city police officers used excessive force, stopped people without just cause and stole people’s property, the Washington Post reports. Paul Fishman, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, said the city signed a consent decree ‘that will create historic, long-lasting and meaningful reform of the Newark Police Department.’ DOJ alleged widespread impropriety in the police department in 2014, outlining how officers had disproportionately stopped and arrested black residents and retaliated against those who questioned their actions. The Justice Department alleged that officers could not articulate a sufficient legal basis for 75 percent of pedestrian stops and used excessive force in more than 20 percent of the incidents reviewed, amounting to what the department called a ‘pattern or practice of constitutional violations.'”