Stockton University Receives $700K Grant To Study Police Reform

GALLOWAY, NJ — Motorists and pedestrians stopped by police in Atlantic City or Pleasantville this summer might also be asked to be part of a research project.

The U.S. Department of Justice awarded Stockton University a $700,000 grant to assess a new policing intervention in Atlantic City and Pleasantville, officials announced at a news conference Monday.

Starting this summer and over the next 18 months, about 2,000 traffic stops in those towns will be monitored as part of a research project. The findings will be used to improve police-community relations.

“We want to increase transparency, and also citizen compliance, satisfaction and trust in the police,” said Stockton Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice Nusret Sahin, who is the lead investigator on the EPJETS project (Enhancing Procedural-Justness of Encounters Through Substantiation).

The project will release body-camera video of traffic stops, and drivers and pedestrians will be provided with information about why police conduct traffic stops in certain areas.

According to the Press of Atlantic City, researchers will interview drivers and pedestrians who were stopped and ask them to complete a 31-question survey on paper or online to assess the interaction.

About 1,100 drivers or pedestrians will be randomly assigned to the treatment group, in which they undergo the enhanced procedural justice protocol where police use the new interaction tactics. While the other 900 drivers or pedestrians will undergo conventional police stops without any of the new interventions.

During the press conference, police chiefs in Atlantic City and Pleasantville said they supported the project and its goals.

James Sarkos, interim officer in charge of the Atlantic City Police Department, said the entire department is involved with the procedural justice training offered through Stockton.

“I have seen first-hand the benefits,” said Sarkos. “This project will scientifically validate how we can improve police-community relations."

Stockton will also be partnering with faculty at Rutgers and Northwestern University on the initiative. Northwestern Assistant Professor of Linguistics Rob Voigt said the project is taking a unique approach to interpersonal communication by utilizing the body camera videos.

“We can look at the content of the interactions in both the treatment and control groups,” Voigt said.

Two former police officers and now instructors at Stockton, William J. McKnight and Rick Mulvihill are also serving as experts on the project along with Stockton Associate Professor of Criminal Justice Manish Madan and Dean of the School of Behavioral Sciences Marissa Levy.

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