NEWARK — New Jersey's largest police department will make public the race, gender and age of every person they stop and frisk in monthly reports under a new policy that the ACLU called "one of the most comprehensive in the nation."

According to a copy of the order obtained late Monday by The Star-Ledger, Newark Police will disclose specific information about each person they stop, whether or not that person was frisked, why they were frisked and what the result of the search was.

The department will will also disclose the number of Internal Affairs complaints received each month and the results of those complaints, as well as the number of students stopped and the level of English proficiency of each person police approach on a monthly basis, according to the document.

The state ACLU praised the move as critical to transparency in the state's largest and oft-criticized police agency.

“It’s a pure police transparency policy that will allow New Jersey to get a full sense of how stop-and-frisk is being used," said Udi Ofer, the executive director of the state chapter of the ACLU.

Ofer said the policy is one of the most ambitious in the country and marks the first time a New Jersey police agency has agreed to such open reporting. The New York City Police Department only discloses similar data but on a quarterly basis, Ofer said.

Internal Affairs data is only released to the public on an annual basis, meaning Newark will also be the first department in the state to release those statistics publicly.

Stop-and-frisk policies enacted by the New York City Police Department have been the cause of vitriolic debate for years. The policy is based on a 1968 Supreme Court that declared a citizen's protection against unreasonable search is not violated if an officer has reasonable suspicion they committed a crime when conducting a stop and frisk.

All departments are technically able to employ stop-and-frisk tactics, but a city council decision to make the NYPD disclose public data about those stops stoked controversy in recent years. In 2012, nearly 89 percent of people stopped by the department were innocent and roughly 87 percent of those stopped were either black or Latino, causing advocated to claim the tactic is discriminatory.

Ofer, who replaced Jacobs as head of the state ACLU earlier this year and battled the NYPD on the issue when he served as advocacy director for the New York Civil Liberties Union, said the new policy was a collaborative effort between his agency, Police Director Samuel DeMaio and Mayor Cory Booker.

“It will eventually lead to a safer city in that we’re going to have much better community and police relations," Ofer said. "It’s also a win for the public, in that the public will be kept informed about one of the most controversial police tactics that there is.”

In a statement, Booker said disclosing the data will strengthen trust between officers and the community and ultimately lead to better policing in the state's largest city.

"A safer Newark relies on the level of trust that is maintained between law enforcement and the civilians they protect. Our police officers work closely with community members each and every day to foster that trust," he said. "Making Newark's police data available to the public will enable better collaboration between police and citizens, which in turn will make our city a better place to live for all of our residents."

On Tuesday morning, the city council unanimously approved a resolution in support of the new policy. South Ward Councilman Ras Baraka and Councilwoman Mildred Crump were absent from the meeting, but those in attendance praised the move.

“The director is ahead of the curve, because in New York the police were forced to do it here we are doing it voluntarily," said Councilman Luis Quintana. "So I believe this is something that should be applauded. The Director is bringing light to the police department.”

Ofer said the issue of Newark cops abusing stop-and-frisk tactics was raised as part of the ACLU's 2011 petition to the Department of Justice, which called for massive federal reforms within Newark Police. While he applauded DeMaio's order, West Ward Councilman Ronald Rice Jr. said the federal reforms would have called for the city to make the data public anyway.

"The federal investigation would have required it regardless," he said.

The results of that investigation are still pending, but expected to be revealed sometime this year. This morning, the council asked for the Booker administration to brief them on the status of the probe over the next few weeks.

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