Paterson police get extra $10M from state for second year. Is it working?

PATERSON — For the second consecutive year, the New Jersey budget is providing an extra $10 million for the state-controlled Paterson police department.

Officials have not provided an itemized breakdown of exactly how the money would be used. Nor have they revealed how much they already have spent from the state’s first allocation of $10 million for the Paterson Police Department during the fiscal year that ended June 30.

Elected officials, community leaders, and Paterson police officers say the infusion of state funding has benefitted the city by paying for a variety of initiatives, including overtime patrols in high-crime neighborhoods, additional training for city law enforcement officers, and new technology such as artificial intelligence reviews of police body camera recordings.

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State officials had promised to provide “additional resources” when the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office took control of the Paterson police department on March 27, 2023.

“As we have said from the beginning, my office has a long-term commitment to the people of Paterson,” said Attorney General Matthew Platkin. “The appropriation in the new state budget will help continue that transformative work, which is far from complete.”

But Paterson Councilman Michael Jackson said he was not ready to celebrate the extra state money.

“It may put more money in some people’s pockets, but it has no impact on the people I serve,” said Jackson, who represents the 1st Ward, a high-crime district plagued by poverty.

Jackson noted that city officials had been asking for extra state funding for many years prior to the police takeover.

“This is not about performance, this is about them trying to save face,” the councilman asserted.

Isa Abbassi, the state-appointed Officer in Charge of the police department, has unveiled a summer public safety strategy that law enforcement sources said will tap into the extra $10 million budget allocation.

Mayor Andre Sayegh, who has filed a lawsuit seeking to nullify the state takeover of the police department, did not respond when asked about the boost in state money for city law enforcement.

The extra state funding amounts to more than a 20% increase in spending for city police work — a boost that comes just several years after social justice activists were calling for the defunding of the department.

$49 million in Paterson budget for police

Paterson’s budget for 2022 — the year before the state takeover — earmarked about $44 million for the police department. The preliminary budget for 2024 provides almost $49 million — without taking into the account the additional $10 million from the state.

“I think one of the big things the AG’s Office has seen since they came in here was the lack of resources,” said Angel Jimenez, president of the Paterson PBA. “You’re not going to be able to fix the problems that existed without resources.”

Shavonda Sumter and Benjie Wimberly, the two state Assembly members who represent Paterson, said there was no doubt the city’s police department needed more money. They said the department has never recovered from the 2011 budget cuts that resulted in the layoffs of 125 officers.

“We need more officers,” Sumter said.

Wimberly said Abbassi’s use of extra state money for high-visibility police patrols has curtailed crime in Paterson.

“Regardless of who you are, you just want to be safe in your city,” Wimberly said.

Tyler Jones, a spokesman for Gov. Phil Murphy, said the governor included another $10 million in his budget “in order to maintain the progress made within the Paterson Police Department over the past year.”

Jason Williams, a social justice professor at Montclair State University and a Black Lives Matter member, said he thinks a larger share of the state funds should be provided to local community groups. He asserted the state ought to present “a transparent plan” for how it will use the money. Instead, he said law enforcement officials are spending the $10 million “however they see fit.

“There’s still this sense of secrecy,” Williams said.

Activist Corey Teague, who has long been critical of the Paterson police department, said he thinks the extra state money has been well spent so far. But Teague, a member of one of Abbassi’s community advisory committees, said he thinks the state should not continue its extra police funding for the long-term.

“This shouldn’t be something that continues on forever,” Teague said. “We need more money to be placed in programs like recreation.”

But Paterson’s PBA president said putting a stop to the extra state funding would not be a wise move.

“In order to continue the success we’ve seen, you can’t let the money dry up,” Jimenez said.

Wimberly noted that Murphy’s term as governor ends on Dec. 31, 2025. He said that could impact the state’s support of the Paterson police department.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen with the next governor,” the legislator said.