Paterson activists: Rogue cops’ testimony took public behind ‘blue wall of silence’

PATERSON — How many days of freedom did five rogue Paterson cops gain by helping federal authorities convict the sergeant who supervised them while they committed their crimes?

That question won’t be answered until a federal judge imposes their long-delayed prison sentences on dates that have not yet been set.

The five disgraced officers — Jonathan Bustios, Daniel Pent, Eudy Ramos, Frank Toledo and Matthew Torres — all said during the trial of Sgt. Michael Cheff last week that they were testifying in hopes of spending less time in jail, part of an agreement they made with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Social justice activists in Paterson said they think the decision to make the deal with the crooked cops — called “thugs” during the trial — was a good one.

“I’m not so concerned if they get light sentences,” said the leader of Paterson’s Black Lives Matter group, Zellie Thomas. “I’m more concerned that the truth got told. It wouldn’t have benefited anybody if they took their secrets with them to jail.”

Thomas used the word “explosive” to describe the cops’ testimony about the way they robbed, beat and intimated Paterson residents while patrolling the city’s streets in police cars.

“They really gave a picture of the inner workings of the Paterson Police Department, and it was scary,” Thomas said, citing as one example Toledo’s testimony about stopping people who were “driving while Black.”

A federal jury in Newark found Cheff guilty on two charges of conspiring to violate victims' civil rights and falsifying records. The 26-year veteran of the city force faces up to 30 years in prison.

Thomas, a city schoolteacher, said the text messages among the five cops joking about their exploits revealed the depths of Paterson’s police conduct problem. Another activist, Corey Teague, said the testimony from the convicted cops provided a rare look behind “the blue wall of silence.”

Teague, a member of the Paterson Board of Education, said he would have preferred if the wrongdoers admitted their misdeeds for some reason other than to try to save themselves. Still, he said, their testimony validated allegations Paterson residents have been making against city cops for many years.

“It’s like you're crazy until you’re proven right,” Teague said.

Mason Maher, president of the union that represents Paterson’s ranking officers, attended the trial in support of Cheff, one of his group’s members.

“I was disgusted by what I heard during their testimony,” Maher said, adding that he was referring to the crimes admitted by the five patrol officers. “It was egregious. What they did sickened me.”

“But this was a limited group of thugs who are now rightfully where they belong,” Maher added. “They don’t represent the vast majority of men and women in the Paterson Police Department.”

Maher also noted that the FBI probe that caught the crooked city cops started when the Paterson Police Department’s Internal Affairs division spotted problems with the five officers. It was Paterson police officials who asked the federal authorities to intervene, he pointed out.

"Let's not forget that it was the Paterson Police Department that brought all this to light," added Jerry Speziale, the city's public safety director. "We did everything we could and brought in our federal partners to take these guys out."

Speziale said his department has been working with the faith-based leaders to build ties between cops and the community. He was scheduled to speak at the monthly meeting of the Paterson-area NAACP on Thursday evening, the same night the jury rendered its conviction of Cheff.

"We're doing everything we can to build trust and legitimacy," Speziale said.

Activist Bilal Hakeem said he wasn’t surprised by the disturbing testimony from the convicted cops. “This was not an isolated incident,” he said.

“There are many good police, but this here trial was definitely a black eye for the Police Department,” Hakeem added. “It destroyed the people’s trust.”

Hakeem said he wasn’t happy about the possibility that the crooked cops may get reduced prison time because they testified.

“They got caught. That’s why they talked,” he said. “Whatever the maximum is, they should get it. They were supposed to uphold the law.”

But another activist, Ernest Rucker, said he supported federal authorities’ decision to strike deals with the patrol officers to convict their sergeant. Rucker said Paterson won’t be able to address the “systematic problems” in its Police Department until ranking officers — “the brass” — are held accountable.

“I think you take things to another level when you bring down a sergeant or a lieutenant,” he said.

Rucker said the Cheff trial exposed the need for a “change in the culture” of the department.

“Anybody who looks at that trial and doesn’t see it as a travesty for the Paterson Police Department has lost their minds,” he said.

In a statement Friday, Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh said Cheff, who had been on suspension for two years, had been fired.

"His trial revealed sickening and horrific acts committed by former officers who violated their oath to protect and serve," the mayor said. But he said Paterson has taken "significant steps to root out such conduct and prevent it from happening, including ensuring that every officer is equipped with a body worn camera, officers are re-trained, and de-escalation is a point of emphasis."

"I will ensure that such officers are held accountable to the public, as well as to their fellow officers who do the right thing every day as they put their lives on the line for our great city," Sayegh added. "As we close this chapter in our city's history, I look forward to continuing the work to restore and earn back the trust between the police and community they serve."

More from the trial: 

Guilty: Paterson sergeant convicted in corruption case for leading 'robbery squad' of crooked cops

Ringleader or victim?: Closing arguments clash in Paterson sergeant's corruption trial

‘Everything we do is illegal': Crooked ex-Paterson cops joked about their crimes

'We gotta give him a cut': Crooked ex-Paterson cop testifies to sergeant's role in scheme

Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press.

Email: editor@patersonpress.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson NJ police corruption trial cracked blue wall of silence