This week’s announcement of state intervention in the Paterson Police Department has reverberated around the streets of the city, where activists and some elected officials are suggesting that more change is needed.
Community members rallied for hours at a city council meeting Tuesday night, showing their frustration with the embattled police department and the lives they say have been lost at its hands, most recently anti-violence interventionist Najee Seabrooks who was killed after a standoff with officers during an apparent mental health crisis.
Many welcomed the announcement that Attorney General Matt Platkin’s office will assume control of the police department, but others say it’s not nearly enough.
Zellie Thomas of Black Lives Paterson promised continued protests. Thomas said the attorney general’s office has been part of the problem, dictating change like bringing the state’s police-based ARRIVE Together program to the city. “We do not want that program here in Paterson.” Thomas said. “What we want is a non-police response to mental health crises. A mental health crisis does not need police officers. It needs mental health professionals.”
