Dozens of NJ groups want feds to investigate Paterson police after latest shooting death

Social justice groups in New Jersey are calling on the federal Justice Department to investigate the use of force by the Paterson Police Department – describing this month’s death of Najee Seabrooks as the latest in “a history of excessive violence and other abuse.”

Paterson police officers shot and killed Seabrooks March 3 at his home in an incident that community groups have described as an apparent mental health crisis. Seabrooks, 31, was part of the Paterson Healing Collective, a hospital-based violence intervention program.

The attorney general’s office, which investigates all fatal police shootings, said Seabrooks barricaded himself in a bathroom and three officers used “less lethal force” during the altercation before Officer Anzore Tsay and Officer Jose Hernandez both discharged their guns. He was pronounced dead at Saint Joseph’s Medical Center about 25 minutes later.

Members of the Paterson Healing Collective and the city’s Black Lives Matter chapter say the police presence escalated the situation, that Seabrooks did not have a gun, and that family and friends, including PHC members, were not allowed to confront Seabrooks.

An open letter to the DOJ Monday from the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice — which includes former Attorney General John J. Farmer and former US Attorney Paul J. Fishman — alleges that Paterson police have followed a “pattern and a practice of wrongdoing and impunity that deprives Paterson residents of their civil rights.”

The letter was co-signed by representatives from dozens of New Jersey social justice and activist organizations, including the state’s ACLU chapter, the state NAACP conference, the Latino Action Network, the New Jersey Policy Perspective, and Salvation and Social Justice.

“This is not the only tragic death we have seen from the Paterson Police Department,” said Yannick Wood, director of the Criminal Justice Reform Program at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice.

He cited a “quite a long line” of incidents involving excessive force or other allegations — in some cases convictions — of wrongdoing.

“At this point, an investigation by the Paterson Police Department needs to be conducted to identify the patterns and practices of unconstitutional misconduct they have perpetuated among Paterson residents,” Wood said.

The letter cites several previous incidents of police violence and alleged abuse. Below:

It notes that in February the Attorney General’s office filed charges against a Paterson officer who shot a fleeing man in the back, paralyzing him. Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh has defended the officer, saying he followed guidelines while pursuing someone he believed had a gun.

The letter also highlights an ongoing lawsuit against the city related to the 2019 death of Jameek Lowery, who died in police custody; Family members have claimed he was held and beaten on the way to a hospital after seeking help from the police during a nervous breakdown.

It points to federal charges against two officers seen on video repeatedly beating a 19-year-old in 2021 and convictions of five officers and a sergeant for robbery when stopping residents – a group that included a US Assistant Attorney called a “literal robbery unit.” It notes the ongoing missing persons case of Felix DeJesus, who was dropped off at a park by Paterson police a year ago and has not been seen since; Officers involved in the case were suspended for turning off their body cameras and committing other procedural violations.

And the letter notes that Paterson has only recently regained control of his internal affairs after being overseen by the Passaic County Attorney’s Office for 17 months.

The letter alleges a pattern of wrongdoing, which it says has disproportionately affected black and brown residents. It also said Paterson Police and other agencies have failed to hold the department accountable and that the department is “urgently in need of independent oversight.”

“The DOJ must step in to achieve the kind of accountability that Mr. Seabrooks and his family and others like them deserve — along with the people of Paterson,” the letter reads.

Seabrooks’ death sparked a wave of activism in Paterson, including protests and a petition calling for the officers involved in his death to be charged; the establishment of a civil complaints commission; an end to the doctrine of qualified immunity, which protects officials from individual liability in most cases; and an autonomous crisis response team that operates independently of the police. As of Monday, 5,600 people had signed the petition.

Sayegh had promoted civilian review panels in 2019, but the initiative stalled when police unions in Newark sued to challenge the establishment of a panel there, reports NorthJersey.com. The case is pending before the country’s Supreme Court.

The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office has not yet released body worn camera footage of Seabrook’s shooting. It initially resisted calls to release the names of the officers involved before announcing them late last week.

The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice letter references the Justice Department’s recent findings that the Louisville, Kentucky police force engaged in a “pattern of conduct or practice of conduct that violates the U.S. Constitution and federal law” by targeting black people discriminates, uses excessive force and conduct illegal searches. The federal civil rights investigation was sparked by the 2020 murder of Breonna Taylor.

Gothamist contacted the Paterson Police Department about the letter Monday afternoon and is awaiting a response.