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PATERSON, New Jersey — Paterson community members rallied at Tuesday’s city council meeting until 3 a.m., in what was an emotional discussion about the local police department.
There were even calls for Mayor Andre Sayegh to step down.
The New Jersey Attorney General will be taking over the Paterson Police Department, less than a month after officers fatally shot a well-known crisis intervention worker during a tense standoff.
Emotions ran high from both city leaders and the community surrounding the state’s takeover of the police department at Tuesday’s meeting. There were so many speakers that it ran well past midnight.
There was outrage inside and outside City Hall as residents gathered to demand change from a police department riddled with investigations and controversy.
The latest controversy involves community activist Najee Seabrooks who was shot and killed. He was going through a mental health crisis when police say he lunged at officers with a knife.
“The nonsense we are observing and listening to is unbelievable, so where’s the trust?” one community member said.
It’s that lack of trust that prompted NJ Attorney General Matt Platkin to take control of the police department.
Some city council members say they were kept in the dark about the sweeping changes, and admitted they don’t know what the state takeover of the police department will even look like.
Some members of the council placed blame on the city’s mayor who was not at the meeting — despite requests for him to address the residents directly.
There was a no confidence vote taken on the mayor, but it failed due to lack of unanimous approval.
“They took over, they removed the chief of police that you appointed three weeks ago… we are in trouble. And I’ll tell you. He is responsible for that,” Paterson Councilman Alex Mendez said.
Others pointed to the abrupt takeover as a sign of just how dire the city’s issues are.
“I just find it egregious that we would even think that the attorney general would be sitting in a private room meeting with us when they’re coming to uncover any corruption that’s going on, they’re not going to do that,” said Councilwoman Dr. Lilisa Mimms.
Some of the people at the meeting said they were cautiously optimistic that this could be the first step in fixing a department that negatively impacted the lives of so many in the community.
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