Gibson—a moderate, liberal technocrat—was a strange bedfellow for Black radicals like Amiri Baraka. Gibson’s proposals for addressing police violence adhered to a liberal law and order framework of reform. He did not seek to curtail police power in any way. For Gibson, the problems with the police stemmed from poor training and a lack of mutual understanding and rapport between citizens and the police. To fix these issues, he proposed increasing contacts between police and Black residents through community policing strategies as well as hiring more Black and Puerto Rican officers to bring the department more demographically in line with Newarkers themselves. 2
This moderate menu of reforms was a far cry from the more fundamental transformation sought by activists in Newark, who aimed to completely dismantle the anti-Black racism endemic to policing. But activists believed that Gibson could be influenced to adopt a more radical vision for change. They held out hope that “somehow we could change him, that the movement which he was riding would penetrate and transform him.”
Despite Gibson’s moderate nature, NPD officers saw the prospect of a Black mayor as an existential threat to their authority and they mobilized to put a stop to it. A group of officers calling themselves the Concerned Police Committee stoked opposition to Gibson within the department. They cautioned fellow officers that if Gibson were elected “many of our powers will be restricted,” and a Civilian Review Board to investigate complaints of police misconduct “will be forced upon us.” Police Director Dominic Spina warned voters that a Gibson victory would lead to “anarchy” and cause white police officers to resign en masse. 3 These fears illustrate the extent to which police officers themselves shared activists’ belief that a Black mayor would mean the end of police impunity.
Despite the best efforts of the Newark Police Department, Gibson defeated Addonizio handily, a victory that observers attributed to growing Black voting strength, the successful get-out-the-vote effort spearheaded by Baraka, and the unpopularity of Addonizio, who’d been indicted on corruption charges in the midst of the campaign.
Newark was not unique. Dozens of cities elected Black mayors for the first time in the early 1970s. In many cases Black radicals formed coalitions with Black and white liberals in order to elect Black candidates. Too often, though, trading activism for electoral politics blunted the force of radical visions for change. This was particularly true in the area of policing.
Once in office, Kenneth Gibson failed to live up to the expectations of many of his supporters. He did not, ultimately, usher in a new era of police reform and accountability.