New Bedford Police Department responds to “Citizens for Juvenile Justice” report

“We have been asked about the Citizens for Juvenile Justice report regarding the New Bedford Police Department. The department takes seriously any allegation of disparate treatment by law enforcement, and our mission is to ensure community policing that keeps all residents and neighborhoods safe.

The methodology used by the organization is deeply concerning and displays a lack of familiarity with police recordkeeping and with New Bedford itself. The very foundation of the report, namely field incident reports, are misrepresented in number: the department provided 2,210 reports to the organization, which miscalculated and misreported the number as 4,997 – likely drawn from the number of individuals observed, many of whom were observed more than once, and do not represent unique individuals, which is also omitted in the report.

Click here for the complete statement.” -New Bedford Police Department.