Attorney General Matt Platkin is appealing Wednesday’s ruling that says he must return control of Paterson’s police department to city officials. (Sophie Nieto-Munoz | New Jersey Monitor)
A state appellate court ruled Wednesday that the state Attorney General’s Office lacked the authority to take over the Paterson Police Department nearly two years ago and must restore day-to-day operational control to the state’s third-largest city.
The bombshell ruling hands a major win to Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh, who fought the takeover and celebrated the decision as a “victory for local governance and the city of Paterson.”
“As a twice duly elected Mayor of Paterson, I have always maintained that the Attorney General’s takeover was both illegal and unconstitutional. This ruling reaffirms our city’s authority to manage its own police department and sets up a precedent for all municipalities across NJ that the responsibility of the police department rests on the local officials elected by the people,” Sayegh, a Democrat, said in a statement.
The 39-page ruling — which is on temporary hold to allow the state to appeal — also says the city’s ousted police chief, Englebert Riberio, should return to head the police department. Currently, Riberio is assigned to a training commission in Trenton under the direction of the attorney general.
In response to the decision, Attorney General Matt Platkin touted a drop in violent crimes across the city and an improvement in officer morale and community trust that he credits to his oversight of the department. According to the ruling, the Attorney General’s Office estimated it would commit more than $10 million to fund police operations in Paterson through 2024.
“For decades, supersession has allowed both attorneys general and county prosecutors to directly manage law enforcement agencies when the circumstances call for it — as they did in Paterson when our office stepped in following a fundamental breakdown of community trust,” Platkin said.
Hours after the decision, Platkin asked the New Jersey Supreme Court to weigh in, arguing that by invalidating his takeover, the appellate court’s ruling risks chaos in the chain of command for the police department imminently.
The state took over the embattled Paterson Police Department on March 27, 2023, two weeks after the fatal police shooting of Najee Seabrooks, an anti-violence interventionist in Paterson whose colleagues said was suffering a mental health crisis when cops shot and killed him. The department was also plagued with other scandals, including an FBI corruption investigation and community protests over excessive force by officers.
Platkin replaced the chief with Isa Abbassi, a 25-year veteran of the New York City Police Department, to run the department of over 300 officers.
Sayegh and Riberio challenged Platkin’s takeover in two lawsuits filed in October and November 2023. In the filings, they claimed Platkin acted beyond his legal authority by taking over the department and removing the appointed police chief.
City officials also argued that the takeover violated the state constitution and the Home Rule Act, along with multiple legislative statutes laying out municipal oversight of local police departments.
The court sided with the mayor, saying the 1970 Criminal Justice Act does not give the attorney general the ability to supersede municipal police operations the way he can with county prosecutor’s offices.
The takeover of Paterson police’s internal affairs unit by the Attorney General’s Office and the Passaic County Prosecutors Office will remain in effect.
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