Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Division on Civil Rights (DCR) have filed a lawsuit in New Jersey Superior Court against Clark Township and the Clark Police Department (CPD), alleging systematic discrimination and harassment of Black and other non-white motorists. The complaint claims violations of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) and the state constitution.
The DCR’s investigation covered 2015 through March 2025, when the Union County Prosecutor’s Office (UCPO) ended its oversight of CPD operations. According to the complaint, Clark Township officials, including former Mayor Salvatore Bonaccorso and CPD leadership, directed officers to keep Black people out of Clark by implementing discriminatory policing practices.
The complaint details that prior to UCPO’s supersession in July 2020, CPD officers were instructed to engage in targeted enforcement aimed at non-white motorists. Former Mayor Bonaccorso is alleged to have told police leadership to “keep chasing the spooks out of town,” using a racial slur for Black people.
“Elected officials and law enforcement leaders must treat every single person, no matter their race or national origin, with dignity and respect. That’s the bare minimum. But for many years before the Union County Prosecutor’s Office took over operations in 2020, leadership in Clark Township and the Clark Police Department completely and utterly failed to meet that basic obligation,” said Attorney General Platkin. “Through overt racial animus and discriminatory policing practices, Clark violated New Jersey’s civil rights laws and the New Jersey Constitution. While we have already taken substantial steps to address these issues, today’s complaint gives voice to the many New Jerseyans who have suffered discrimination in Clark and will ensure that Clark’s leadership never allows it to happen again.”
The legal action follows previous interventions: UCPO assumed control of CPD from July 2020 until March 2025 due to misconduct allegations. In November 2023, after investigations by UCPO and the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA), allegations regarding bias were referred to DCR for further review. In March 2025, following UCPO’s exit, a state law enforcement monitorship was established for CPD.
Expert statistical analysis cited in the complaint shows that Black and Hispanic drivers were stopped and searched at much higher rates than white drivers before UCPO took over operations. While some disparities continued after July 2020 due to ingrained practices, data from 2020-2024 indicate improvements.
Specific policing strategies highlighted include targeting roads linking Clark with Rahway and Linden—communities with larger Black and Hispanic populations—prioritizing low-level administrative violations over moving violations related directly to traffic safety, establishing quotas for motor vehicle enforcement actions, and making false marijuana odor claims as grounds for searches.
“New Jersey has some of the nation’s strongest civil rights laws, but for years leadership in Clark brazenly violated the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination and violated individuals’ Constitutional rights,” said DCR Director Yolanda N. Melville. “We cannot and will not allow the repugnant behavior of public officials in Clark Township and the unlawful practices that the Clark Police Department engaged in for years.”
From 2015-2020, although Black and Hispanic residents made up less than 11% of Clark’s population, more than 37% of drivers stopped by CPD were Black or Hispanic; outside township boundaries this figure exceeded 53%. Search rates during stops showed Black drivers were searched at rates nearly four times higher than white drivers; Hispanic drivers at more than double those rates.
The lawsuit names former Mayor Bonaccorso as well as former Chief Pedro Matos and Police Director Patrick Grady as defendants accused of aiding or abetting these policies.
The State seeks an injunction barring further discrimination by CPD or township employees based on race or related protected characteristics under LAD; ongoing monitoring by DCR; damages paid by CPD/Clark Township to victims; among other remedies.
The Division on Civil Rights is responsible for enforcing anti-discrimination laws statewide—including LAD—and can be contacted about such matters via its Affirmative Enforcement Unit.
As noted on its official website, Attorney General Matthew Platkin oversees legal standards across all counties within New Jersey through divisions focused on law enforcement oversight, consumer protection initiatives, crime lab support services for victims’ advocacy needs statewide.
