Why did NJ Attorney General takeover Paterson Police Department?

PATERSON, N.J. (PIX11) — To understand the combustible circumstances that set the stage for New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin’s unprecedented supersession – or outright takeover of the Paterson Police Department , you only have to look back a few years to a series of high-profile cases involving controversial police-involved deaths of civilians, a mysterious disappearance, and the imprisonment of several Paterson police officers on federal corruption charges.

But it was the fatal, police-involved shooting of anti-violence advocate Najee Seabrooks in March of last year, which was widely viewed as the tipping point that prompted the AG to announce retired NYPD Chief Isa Abbassi would oversee the PD’s day-to-day operations, in New Jersey’s third-largest city.

“We came in here, day one, with a plan. There are only four goals here,” said Abbassi.

Those goals include:

1. Rebuilding public trust and restoring order
2. Redefining community policing
3. Increasing recruitment within Paterson
4. Embracing cutting-edge technology

“All of the video that our officers are recording is being reviewed by AI analytics,” said Abbassi.

Platkin declined PIX11’s request for an interview for this story.

A full year into his office’s supersession, PIX11 News wanted to examine Abbassi’s team’s progress, what challenges remain, and how an embattled police department can mend its relationship with the community it serves.

High on Abbassi’s priority list was making sure officers have on-site professional assistance from social workers when dealing with someone experiencing a mental health crisis.

“Every dispatch of someone in crisis is evaluated for the arrival program. Again, progress,” said Abbassi.

Abbassi recently released a report showing 31 completed initiatives, 20 items still in progress, and four others that have yet to start.

Crime data – is also encouraging. Between 2022 – 2023:

• Murders dropped 39%
• Shootings dropped by 33%
• Robberies saw a 22% decline

Modernizing the Paterson PD’s operations, reigning in rogue officer conduct, reducing crime and bolstering community policing; by all accounts, those are all commendable efforts made by Abbassi and his team in their first year of oversight.

But he’s just one of many people we spoke with for this story who all agree – it will take time to change decades-old, negative perceptions within the community about this police department.

A separate unit in the AG’s office is investigating the 2022 disappearance of Felix DeJesus , who was last seen on video in the custody of two Paterson police officers.

For his distressed family and other long-time critics of the Department, the AG’s presence in Paterson does not bring them peace – or closure.

“We look for my brother everywhere – he’s nowhere to be found. They know what they did to my brother. And we need justice,” said DeJesus.

“It can’t change just by waving now at pedestrians or community members or passing out business cards to community members and saying that’s how we’re improving relationships. That’s not improving relationships when lots of people have deep-seated traumas because of police harassment and police brutality,” BLM Paterson Executive Director Zellie Thomas added.

Twice-elected Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh also criticizes the AG’s presence here, although he said he has no beef with Abbassi’s work one year into his two-year action plan.

“We acknowledged there was room for improvement in the police department. And what he did – what the attorney general did was not only unlawful and undemocratic, but it’s un-American. You don’t take over departments. You collaborate,” said Sayegh.

Still, Abbassi and his team seem to be slowly winning over key voices, including Corey Teague.

He’s a formerly staunch critic of the department and is now an advisor to Officer-in-Charge Abbassi.

“It’s the difference between night and day. You walk around downtown, and it’s a totally different vibe, if i can use that word. A totally different environment than what it was before. Before, it was an innate hostility. Whenever you would see an officer, you would just see it in the community. Now, you see more cohesiveness between the police department and the community,” said Teague.

For his part, Abbassi says he recognizes the uphill battle he faces in winning over the de Jesus family while Felix is still missing. He acknowledges that his action plan’s success will ultimately be measured by more than crime stats.

“The tragedy that family is experiencing – we feel for them. I have to care about Patersonians’ perception of safety: Do they feel safe?  The remedy there, the antidote, is contact. They see us. We’re bridging that tremendous gap. Slowly, right? And we’re gonna get there,” said Abbassi.

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