NEW JERSEY – The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office plans to take control of the scandal-ridden Paterson Police Department, a senior official with knowledge of the matter told Our Sister Network on Monday, all in an effort to build trust between local police and the Paterson community. after a series of incidents and controversial cases over the years.

The news comes after a series of high-profile arrests within police ranks.

At least eight Paterson police officers have been charged with corruption in recent years as part of a lengthy investigation.

Many officers arrested to date have pleaded guilty in federal court. The plot involved unlawful searches and stops of vehicles, robberies of drug-related suspects, and assaults.

According to court documents, some Paterson police officers stopped and searched motor vehicles, without justification, and stole money and other items from motor vehicle occupants. These officers also unlawfully stopped and searched people in buildings or on the streets of Paterson and seized money from them. Some regularly received some of this stolen money from some of these officers and signed corresponding false police reports on the underlying incidents, according to court documents. In 2016, a sergeant who was found guilty in a trial related to the long investigation told one of the officers to start “tagging” or recording evidence some of the money the officer was stealing because he was making narcotics arrests. without recording the money as evidence would raise doubts.

Three other witnesses claim that a sergeant allegedly stole money from a safe and passed some of that money to two of the witnesses.

In another controversial incident earlier this month, a five-hour standoff between Paterson police and a well-known city anti-violence worker ended with officers shooting him on it fatally in his brother’s apartment, began with bloody cries from the man’s mother to end the ordeal.

Details released by the New Jersey Attorney General’s office a few weeks ago, including hours of body cameras from seven officers as well as seven 911 recordings, provide the most comprehensive description yet of the Sept. 3 confrontation. . Najee Seabrooks.

According to the Attorney General’s Office.

Acostumbrados during mucho tiempo a ayudar a otros en la ciudad de tamaño medio a 20 milles al northweste de Nueva York, los compañeros de trabajo de Seabrooks quedaron destrozados por su muerte y dicen que las autoridades les impidieron usar su experiencia en salud mental para ayudar con the situation.

It also led to the state attorney general’s office investigating the shooting, as required by state law, as well as a public outcry following a Justice Department investigation into the police department. from the city.

The attorney general’s office has been criticized for its alleged mishandling of a previous takeover of the Clark Police Department, where the mayor of that town and some police chiefs were accused of discrimination and racist statements. The state attorney general’s office was sued for alleged retaliation against a whistleblower in the case.

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