# Trenton *Capital city of New Jersey and county seat of Mercer County; named in a May 21, 2025 U.S. Department of Justice action that also retracted the Minneapolis police findings.* Trenton is New Jersey's capital and the seat of Mercer County. For eight weeks in 1784, from November 1 to December 24, it was the capital of the United States.[^1] The 2020 census counted 90,871 residents, 5,958 more than the 84,913 recorded in 2010. A Census Bureau estimate for 2025 put the population at 91,506.[^1] The city enters the Minnesota record through a single federal action. On May 21, 2025, the Civil Rights Division of the [[United States Department of Justice]] announced that it was moving to "dismiss with prejudice" its suits concerning [[Minneapolis]] and [[Louisville]]. The Division said it was closing both investigations and retracting their findings. It also retracted the findings as to [[Phoenix]], Trenton, [[Memphis]], [[Mount Vernon]], [[Oklahoma City]] and the [[Louisiana State Police]].[^2] Separately, the Wikipedia article on the city records a 2024 investigation of the City of Trenton and the Trenton Police Department by the Department and a New Jersey state office. It quotes their finding that both entities "engage in a pattern or practice of", and the cached text breaks off at that point.[^1] The May 21 release stated the action's purpose in the words of Assistant Attorney General Dhillon: "ending the Biden Civil Rights Division's failed experiment of handcuffing local leaders".[^2] In Minnesota, the release withdrew two documented outputs. The first was the Department's June 16, 2023 finding of reasonable cause that the [[Minneapolis Police Department]] "uses excessive force, including unjustified deadly force and unreasonable use of tasers".[^3] The second was a [[consent decree]] filed January 6, 2025.[^4] The state's parallel instrument is a settlement obtained by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights and approved by [[Hennepin County District Court]] on July 13, 2023. By its terms, it ends only on a judicial finding of "full, effective, and sustained compliance".[^5] ## Where Trenton lies near the middle of New Jersey. The state's geographic center is about 5 miles southeast of the city. Mercer County forms its own metropolitan statistical area, the Trenton–Princeton MSA.[^1] Within Mercer County, the city borders Ewing, Hamilton and Lawrence Townships. Across the Delaware River, it borders Falls Township, Lower Makefield Township and Morrisville in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Carson City, Nevada, is the only other state capital that borders a second state.[^1] The Census Bureau gives the city a total area of 8.21 square miles. Of that, 7.58 square miles are land and 0.63 square miles are water. By land area, Trenton is the second-smallest U.S. state capital, after Annapolis, Maryland.[^1] ## When - November 25, 1790: Trenton became New Jersey's capital. The City of Trenton was formed within Trenton Township by November 13, 1792.[^1] - 2024: According to Wikipedia, the Department of Justice and a New Jersey state office investigated the City of Trenton and its police department and made a pattern-or-practice finding.[^1] - May 21, 2025: The Department announced the retraction of findings as to Trenton, in the same release that dismissed the Minneapolis and Louisville suits.[^2] ## How many The May 21, 2025 release covers eight jurisdictions in all. In two of them, Minneapolis and Louisville, the Department dismissed suits, closed investigations and retracted findings. In the other six, including Trenton, it retracted findings.[^2] At-issue item 031 describes the action as retracting "six others" besides Minneapolis, but it names seven: Louisville and the six listed in the release. This article follows the Department's release.[^2] ## In the at-issue record Trenton appears in one at-issue item, [[At issue 031 - When DOJ retracted the Minneapolis findings it retracted]] (also carried as AI-Hennepin-031). The item draws on §V.d of the Freeman Apex dossier. Its point is that the Minneapolis retraction was not a separate action against one city: it was issued in the same release as the retractions for the other listed jurisdictions. The Department's release bears out that sequence.[^2] ## In the Minnesota record ### When - June 1, 2020: The Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) filed a charge against the [[City of Minneapolis]] and its police department.[^6] - April 21, 2021: The Department of Justice opened a pattern-or-practice investigation of the City and the Minneapolis Police Department under 34 U.S.C. § 12601. The investigation was announced one day after the [[Chauvin verdict]].[^7] - April 27, 2022: MDHR found "probable cause that the City and MPD engage in a pattern or practice of race discrimination". The finding was made under the [[Minnesota Human Rights Act]].[^6] - March 31, 2023: A court-enforceable settlement in *Minnesota v. Minneapolis Police Department*, [[No. 27-CV-23-4177]], was filed.[^5] - June 16, 2023: In release 23-674, the Department of Justice found reasonable cause on excessive force. It also found that the department "unlawfully discriminates against Black people and Native American people in its enforcement activities".[^3] The findings report runs 89 pages.[^8] - July 13, 2023: Hennepin County District Court Judge Karen Janisch approved the state settlement.[^5][^9] - March 18, 2024: The [[independent evaluator]] under the state settlement, ELEFA, began its work.[^5][^10] - January 6, 2025: The Department filed a 169-page consent decree in [[United States v. City of Minneapolis (MPD consent decree)]], No. 0:25-cv-00048 (D. Minn.). The decree provided for an independent monitor.[^4] - May 21, 2025: The Department moved to dismiss the Minneapolis suit with prejudice and retracted the findings, in the same release that named Trenton.[^2] - May 2025: Judge [[Paul A. Magnuson]] granted dismissal with prejudice and denied the settlement-approval motion as moot. He cited "grave misgivings about the proposed consent decree serving the public interest".[^11] Sources differ by one day on the date. Sahan Journal reports that the order issued May 28, 2025, while the Clearinghouse docket dates the dismissal May 27, 2025.[^11][^7] ### How many MDHR's April 2022 report found that 13 of the 14 people killed by Minneapolis police officers since 2010 were people of color or Indigenous.[^6] It also found that Black residents made up 19% of the city's population. Over the periods the report examined, they accounted for: - 63% of recorded use-of-force incidents, 2010–2020; - 54% of officer-initiated traffic stops, 2017–2020; - 78% of all searches, 2017–2020.[^6] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Trenton, New Jersey* (revision 1382132837, retrieved 2026-10-28) — capital and county-seat status, 1784 national-capital dates, census counts, geography, 1790 capital date, 2024 investigation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trenton,_New_Jersey [^2]: U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, *Release 25-534* (May 21, 2025) — motion to dismiss with prejudice the Minneapolis and Louisville suits; retraction of findings, including as to Phoenix, Trenton, Memphis, Mount Vernon, Oklahoma City and the Louisiana State Police; Dhillon statement. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/us-department-justices-civil-rights-division-dismisses-biden-era-police-investigations-and [^3]: U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, *Release 23-674: findings on the Minneapolis Police Department and City of Minneapolis* (June 16, 2023) — reasonable-cause findings on excessive force and discrimination. https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/justice-department-finds-civil-rights-violations-minneapolis-police-department-and-city [^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, *Agreement with the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department* (January 6, 2025) — consent decree in No. 0:25-cv-00048 (D. Minn.), 169 pages, independent monitor. https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/justice-department-reaches-agreement-city-minneapolis-and-minneapolis-police-department [^5]: Minnesota Department of Human Rights, *Civil rights update on the MPD settlement* (undated in pack) — settlement filed March 31, 2023, approved July 13, 2023 by Judge Karen Janisch, No. 27-CV-23-4177, termination standard, ELEFA start March 18, 2024. https://mn.gov/mdhr/news-community/newsroom/civilrightsupdates.jsp?id=1061-584578 [^6]: Minnesota Department of Human Rights, *Investigation into the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department* (April 27, 2022) — charge date, probable-cause finding under the Minnesota Human Rights Act, and use-of-force, stop and search counts. https://mn.gov/mdhr/assets/Investigation%20into%20the%20City%20of%20Minneapolis%20and%20the%20Minneapolis%20Police%20Department_tcm1061-526417.pdf [^7]: Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, *Case 18178: United States v. City of Minneapolis* (docket) — investigation opened April 21, 2021 under 34 U.S.C. § 12601; dismissal dated May 27, 2025. https://clearinghouse.net/case/18178/ [^8]: U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, *Investigation of the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department: findings report* (June 2023) — the full 89-page findings. https://www.justice.gov/d9/2023-06/minneapolis_findings_report.pdf [^9]: Minnesota Department of Human Rights, *MPD court-enforceable agreement* (document hub) — settlement documents in No. 27-CV-23-4177. https://mn.gov/mdhr/mpd/agreement/ [^10]: Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, *Case 43326: Minnesota v. Minneapolis Police Department* (docket) — state settlement docket. https://clearinghouse.net/case/43326/ [^11]: Sahan Journal, *Minneapolis federal consent decree dismissed* (May 2025) — Judge Magnuson's dismissal with prejudice, the denial as moot, and the "grave misgivings" language; order dated May 28, 2025. https://sahanjournal.com/public-safety/minneapolis-federal-consent-decree-dismissed/