HOBOKEN—In the mile-square city, black residents are over 11 times as likely as non-black residents to be arrested, according to a USA TODAY analysis of FBI arrest data. In 2012, 389.9 black individuals were arrested per every 1,000 black residents, compared to 34.7 non-black arrests per every 1,000 non-black residents.
Hoboken had the highest disparity in arrest rates among the 10 Hudson County municipal police departments listed in the USA TODAY data (Harrison and East Newark were not included). In neighboring Jersey City, the ratio of black and non-black arrest rates in 2012 was 5.76.
Countywide, eight municipalities had higher arrest rates for blacks than for non-blacks. Two towns, West New York and Guttenberg, had higher arrest rates for non-blacks than for blacks. In Newark, blacks were 3.57 times as likely to be arrested as non-blacks.
According to USA TODAY, Hoboken is one of the at least 1,581 police departments in the country with a greater disparity between black and non-black arrest rates than Ferguson, Missouri, which has been embroiled in protests since a police officer shot black teen Michael Brown in August.
The disparity in Hoboken is also higher than USA TODAY found in major urban cities like Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Houston.
A disparity in arrest rates “does not mean police are discriminating,” University of Pittsburgh law professor and racial profiling expert David Harris told USA TODAY. “But it does mean it’s worth looking at. It means you might have a problem, and you need to pay attention.”
The Hoboken Police Department has weathered accusations of racial discrimination in the past. In November 2013, the city granted a $99,000 settlement to a black police officer who said he had been victimized by racist treatment and passed over for promotion, according to an NJ.com report.
Edelmiro Garcia, who is Hispanic, was appointed interim chief of the police department in June, but will be replaced by Kenneth Ferrante as the permanent chief in December.
Black people made up 3.5 percent of Hoboken’s population in the 2010 U.S. Census.