'Boots on the ground work': Paterson closes 2023 with major reduction in crime

PATERSON — Violent crime plummeted in the city in 2023, a reduction that seems to have surpassed public safety gains made in other cities around the country.

Homicides in Paterson dropped by 39% last year, shootings by 33%, sexual assaults by 25%, robberies by 23%, and aggravated assaults by 16%, according to statistics from the city’s Police Department.

The 66 shooting incidents and 332 reported robberies in 2023 represented the lowest numbers in those crime categories in more than decade, going back to before 2011, when the city laid off 125 police officers, Paterson Press found.

'If you saturate the streets with officers, it’s a deterrent'

Community activists, law enforcement union leaders and public officials attribute Paterson’s sharp decrease in violent crime to initiatives that dramatically increased officers’ presence in troubled areas. Those cops often worked on overtime covered by the millions of dollars in extra funding provided by the state after New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin took control of the Police Department.

“People want to see more police officers in their neighborhoods, and they’ve accomplished that,” said Assemblyman Benjie Wimberly, who lives in Paterson. “We couldn’t have done this without the AG coming in.”

Paterson’s two police union presidents — Angel Jimenez of the Policemen's Benevolent Association and Mason Maher of the Superior Officers Association — said it was “not a coincidence” that the extra patrols funded with overtime have resulted in reduced crime.

“The fact of the matter is that boots on the ground work,” Jimenez said. “If you saturate the streets with officers, it’s a deterrent. It’s not about defunding the police. We’ve been defunded for 13 years, and you saw how well that worked.”

Paterson activist Cory Teague was among those who had called for a reduction in funding for Paterson police in recent years. He said the attorney general's takeover has brought positive changes to Paterson police headquarters.

“Before, they weren’t spending the money the right way,” Teague said. “Now we have a new leadership and a better structure. There’s a different energy between the police officers and the community.”

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Car thefts, burglaries rise

The statistics released Tuesday by the Paterson Police Department showed increases in two nonviolent crime categories: a 14% rise in auto thefts and a 12% increase in burglaries. Here are the numbers for the violent crime categories that showed decreases:

• Homicides went from 28 in 2022 to 17 in 2023.

• Shooting incidents dropped from 99 to 66 and shooting victims from 127 to 95.

• Sexual assaults fell from 75 to 56.

• Robberies went from 429 to 332.

• Aggravated assaults fell from 1,304 to 1,098.

“Shootings have seen historic reductions coming on the heels of an exceptionally safe summer on the streets of Paterson,” said a statement issued by a city police spokesperson.

As part of the takeover, Platkin appointed former NYPD Chief Isa Abbassi as officer in charge in Paterson.

“Funding and support from Governor Murphy and Attorney General Platkin have enabled PPD to mobilize resources in new and innovative ways,” said a statement from the Police Department.

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Mayor says crime was declining before takeover

Mayor Andre Sayegh has joined Paterson’s deputy public safety director, Mark Bulur, and the city’s ousted chief, Engelbert Ribeiro, in a lawsuit attempting to end the state takeover of the Police Department. Sayegh did not respond to questions about the city’s crime statistics.

The mayor’s chief of staff, Habib Kader, noted that the crime already was on the decline during the first three months of 2023, before the attorney general's intervention. Kader also said Sayegh went to Omaha last spring to learn about an anti-crime initiative in that Nebraska city.

“In 2022, the mayor made public safety a focal point during his reelection campaign,” Kader said. “His resounding victory reflected the overwhelming support from Patersonians, who entrusted him to carry out his public safety initiatives.”

Activist Ernest Rucker said the mayor should not be taking any credit for Paterson’s recent crime reduction. “He lost control of the Police Department,” Rucker said of Sayegh. “He has no authority whatsoever.”

Rucker said the extra funding provided by the state has been crucial to improving public safety in the city. “We have more police visibility, more coverage,” he said.

Councilman Michael Jackson said “it’s hard to deny” the impact of the attorney general's intervention. But Jackson said it would be “unfair” to compare the state’s success with the additional $10 million with the city’s performance before that funding.

“They’re not playing with the same deck of cards,” Jackson said.

'It's all about staffing'

Law enforcement union leaders said they are trying to get officials to increase the size of the Police Department so that less overtime would be needed to keep the city safe. Jimenez said that at the time of the 2011 layoffs, Paterson had 496 officers. Now the city’s limit is 439 cops, and it has fewer than 420.

“It’s all about staffing,” said Maher, of the Superior Officers Association. “The only way we can keep crime down perpetually is if we have proper staffing in the Police Department.”

The Rev. John Algera, a longtime member of Paterson’s CeaseFire public safety community group, said he isn’t sure exactly why the city’s 2023 crime numbers are down. But Algera has no doubt why crime increased after the police force was reduced by 25% in the 2011 budget cuts.

“That layoff made a profound difference,” Algera said.

Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press. Email: editor@patersonpress.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson NJ saw violent crime fall in 2023, police say