A new audit of the Paterson
police force finds the department has issues with training and needs to improve
its use of force policies.
Mayor Andre Sayegh ordered
the report after a man died in police custody back in 2019.
Outside a store on Keen and
Mercer streets Sunday afternoon, 29-year-old Elijah Bracey was shot multiple
times in broad daylight. His aunt, who did not want to go on camera, told News
12 that Bracey is now recovering.
But people like her in
places like Paterson's Fourth Ward are caught between disgust at street
violence and distrust of the police department that's supposed to protect them.
“When we have that lack of
trust in the community, then that is just a breeding ground for disaster in
cities like ours,” says Zellie Thomas, with Black Lives Matter Paterson.
Last week, a long-awaited
audit of Paterson's police force was completed by the Police Executive Research
Forum. It said the Paterson department is underfunded, and had out of date
procedures, command structure and policies, including use of force, that are
out of date.
“We haven't got any
answers,” says Thomas. “We haven't got any of the recommendations that will
lead to accountability and transparency.”
Along with surging crime,
the Paterson Police Department has dealt with serious corruption issues and seen
multiple officers arrested by the FBI. Mayor Sayegh, who's up for reelection
in May, says he wants to build trust in the community.
“Ultimately yes, the buck
stops right here,” says Sayegh. “Above
everything we have to restore trust between the police and the public and as
you know it has been shaken.”
Thomas
says the audit doesn't change his view of a department.
“When police officers are
allowed to abuse their powers and get away with it, then that continues to
erode any kind of trust between police and the community,” says Thomas.
Meanwhile, the report
recommends repairing the extremely poor facilities at police headquarters and
adding a locker room for women.
The Passaic County Prosecutor's Office
ruled Jameek Lowery's death an accident in 2019, but a federal judge late last year
allowed a wrongful death lawsuit by Lowery's family against the city to proceed.