A group of social justice advocacy organizations is asking the state Supreme Court to uphold the state takeover of the Paterson Police Department. New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin took charge of the troubled force two years ago, appointed new leadership, invited community participation and introduced reforms.
“It’s about the people of Paterson — the Black and brown communities here who’ve been subject to long-standing police misconduct and brutality,” said Henal Patel of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, one of the organizations that filed a legal brief Friday.
“These people need accountability,” said Patel. “That’s what it comes down to — the need for accountability, so that they can have a government, a police department that they can trust.”
Local activist Corey Teague, who’s also a member of Paterson’s school board, said, “The reality is, there were a lot of issues with this police department, going back years, that culminated with the killing of Najee Seabrooks — and that’s what set this whole thing off.”
Seabrooks was fatally shot in March 2023 by Paterson police after they were called to his apartment, where he was suffering a mental health crisis. His death sparked demands for justice, and that same month Platkin took over the city’s police department. The mayor and displaced police chief sued, claiming Platkin lacked the legal authority to supersede the city.
“There’s no law that says the attorney general has the authority to do what he did. As a matter of fact, it ultimately comes down to people placing their trust in the mayor,” said Mayor Andre Sayegh. He notes that an appellate court panel agreed with him and his former police chief, and ordered the attorney general out. But the Supreme Court ordered a temporary stay on that decision.
“I was elected by a large margin by the people of Paterson. And quite frankly, I tell folks in this city, ‘I may not look like you, but I always look out for you.’ And I’m looking out for them every day. They know who their mayor is, they don’t know who the attorney general is. They know where to find me. They put their faith in me. So it’s not fair someone would exceed his authority and encroach on my duty.”
According to Sayegh, the issue is fundamentally a matter of home rule, long regarded as a baseline belief in New Jersey. The League of Municipalities filed a brief in support Paterson. On the other side of the argument is ACLU-NJ, which agrees with the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice on the need for state control of the Paterson Police Department.
“The New Jersey attorney general is the chief law enforcement officer of New Jersey,” said ACLU-NJ Executive Director Amol Sinha. “We cannot wait for bad-acting police departments to invite the attorney general for accountability. What we know right now is that local police departments cannot police themselves. So what we need is somebody who’s been given the authority by the Legislature, such as the attorney general, to take over police departments — to be able to do so.”
Litigants have until Jan. 14 to file paperwork in the case.
