Stockton experiment changes how Atlantic City, Pleasantville police conduct traffic stops (2024)

ATLANTIC CITY — A group of researchers that teamed up with two local police departments with the goal of enhancing the public’s trust in law enforcement during traffic stops released its findings Monday.

The project, Enhancing Procedural-Justness of Encounters Through Substantiation, or EPJETS, is an initiative between Stockton University and the Atlantic City and Pleasantville police departments to assess whether releasing body-worn camera footage of police-public interactions, having officers use a procedural justice script and providing citizens with evidence of why agencies conduct traffic stops at certain locations improves the public’s attitude toward law enforcement.

“Building trust between police and the community is crucial to effective policing and public safety,” said Nusret Sahin, an assistant professor of criminal justice at Stockton and the lead investigator of the project. “During this project, we tested if the EPJETS model enhances citizens’ confidence in the police, particularly during traffic stops. Using robust research technology, we found out the answer is yes. We believe this model has potential implications for policing practices across the country.”

More than a dozen law enforcement officials from Atlantic City and Pleasantville gathered at Stockton’s Atlantic City campus Monday to find out the results of this new policing intervention.

During the study, which began in fall 2022, 1,423 drivers were stopped by Atlantic City and Pleasantville police for speeding. About 752 drivers were split into a control group, while 671 were randomly assigned to an experimental group.

“There is a difference between how officers behave in experimental stops compared to controlled stops,” Sahin said.

Officers who stopped drivers in the experimental group were trained to read a procedural justice script to the driver that emphasizes how police conduct speed enforcement and why they are doing it in a specific location. It also allowed for the driver to provide feedback on whether police should continue enforcing the speed limit in the location.

The public’s trust in police is at its lowest level since 1993 due to recent incidents of police brutality, including the deaths of George Floyd in 2020 and Tyre Nichols last year, according to a Gallup survey.

Sahin said those two incidents were why this research needed to be done.

“After these situations, the contribution of traffic stops to public safety was being questioned,” he said. “There is a heightened expectation of police accountability due to an advancement in communication technology. Police initiated more than 28 million traffic stops in 2018, and there have been concerns of racial profiling, so citizens file complaints, and those negative interactions shape how people view the police.”

Drivers were also provided with a code to view the interaction within four to seven days at epjets.org and were given a pamphlet outlining traffic crashes in the city and where some of the high-risk areas for accidents are.

Body cameras were activated for drivers in the control group, but the script was not read, they had no access to the footage and they didn’t receive a pamphlet, Sahin said.

Sahin said the results from the study showed the experimental model enhanced the public’s trust and confidence in police, perceptions of the legitimacy of stops, cooperation with police, perceptions of police professionalism and perceptions of obligation to obey in both groups.

“All of this data shows a drastic improvement in police-community relations,” Sahin said. “These are significant findings.”

Atlantic City police Chief James Sarkos believes the model is effective because it allows citizens to explain their side of the story and for officers to make it clear why the individual was stopped.

“People just want to be heard,” Sarkos said. “It also benefits the officer to tell the person that there have been some serious motor vehicle accidents in the area where they were stopped and we’re doing this to save lives. I think if you go up, give them a ticket and just walk away and don’t explain things, it can lead them to have negative thoughts about the police department. This helps improve that relationship between us and the public.”

Sahin hopes the model will become a staple in departments nationwide.

“I think this can become a model all police departments use,” Sahin said. “We’re presenting these findings at nationwide conferences, and we have gained some attention for it. A couple of agencies have already reached out to find out how we do this. This may become a practice in New Jersey and for any agency that wants to work with us. We’re open to all options.”

Pleasantville interim police Chief Stacey Schlachter, who was involved with reviewing body camera footage sent to researchers before being released, said she believes the project holds value for law enforcement.

“I’m very proud to have been a part of that process with procedural justice,” Schlacter said.