With Paterson police force under fire, mayoral candidates split on reform efforts

Editor’s note: This is the fourth installment in a series looking at how Paterson’s mayoral candidates plan to address the city’s issues. Prior stories have looked at crime, development and the future of Westside Park.

PATERSON — During the past four years, authorities arrested 11 Paterson police officers on charges ranging from assaults on civilians to selling drugs while on duty.

One crew of five rogue cops pleaded guilty to shaking down people they illegally stopped and taking money and drugs from the victims. Two other officers admitted to beating a patient at a hospital emergency room after the patient had tried to take their own life.

The 11 arrests – seven have resulted in convictions, with charges pending in the other four – represent what some say has been the lowest point for the Paterson Police Department in its history.

Activists point out that the crimes by Paterson cops continued even after officials at City Hall promised to reform the department. Paterson trails all other major cities in New Jersey in equipping its cops with body cameras. A recent police audit has come under criticism for not addressing the force's major problems. Meanwhile, efforts to create a police civilian complaint review board have stalled.

Paterson Press asked the five contenders running for mayor on May 10 what they would do during their first six months in office to improve accountability, especially regarding officers' interactions with the public. One candidate, Councilman Michael Jackson, didn’t provide a response. Here’s what the other four had to say:

Mayor Andre Sayegh

The mayor didn’t cite any new initiatives to be launched if he's reelected to a second term. Instead, Sayegh focused on what he said he's done in the past four years. Those efforts will continue, he said.

Sayegh highlighted his administration’s decision to terminate officer Spencer Finch last year after Finch was charged with beating a man involved in a domestic dispute, an incident captured in a video recording by another cop’s body camera. The mayor called the termination – imposed while charges were still pending against Finch – “unprecedented.”

Sayegh used the same word to describe the police department audit, the findings of which were made public in March after the review was delayed for more than a year. The mayor said the review produced more than 90 recommendations for change in the department.

Sayegh said his administration has equipped officers with body cameras, expanded the community policing unit and attempted to recruit homegrown cops.

“We value the input of our residents on policing. That is why we established a De-Escalation Task Force made up of community leaders who will provide input to our Police Department on ways to avoid use of force incidents,” the mayor said.

Sayegh announced the task force last May. The mayor waited until December to appoint the task force, which has yet to hold a public meeting.

More: Andre Sayegh addresses long-awaited police audit — while Paterson police chief is absent

Analysis: Police audit says Paterson needs more analysis of cops’ use of force

Councilman Luis Velez

Velez said he would have his own audit done of the police department, asserting that the previous one did a poor job addressing key issues like community interactions and police response times to calls from the public.

Velez also promised to issue an executive order to create a civilian review board for police complaints “right away.” The councilman said he's not concerned that a state Supreme Court case has left Newark’s police review board in limbo. “I’m committed to doing what the community needs,” Velez said.

The councilman said he would bring in a new police chief as part of his reforms. He said the current chief, Ibrahim “Mike” Baycora, has not been responsive to the public. “We need a chief who understands the community,” Velez said.

He said he would not impose changes on the department without talking with its union leaders.

“We need to have a full conversation,” Velez said.

Former councilman Aslan Goow

Goow, himself a former special police officer, said he doesn’t oppose creating a civilian review board for police. But such a panel “is not the answer,” he added.

“The average citizen has no idea of what a police officer has to deal with every day,” Goow said. “I have always recommended that the police department take a civilian out with them every so often so they can see firsthand what they have to deal with on a daily basis.”

Goow said he spoke with Paterson police officers, who told him someone spit on them recently. He said cops are at a disadvantage because they are asked to restrain themselves and refrain from engaging in any conflict. “What person in their right mind would ever tolerate another person spitting in their face?” he said.

Goow said he wouldn’t tolerate cops who abused their powers but believed that officers should not have to endure mistreatment. “It has to be a two-way street,” he said.

The former councilman said that back when he was on the city’s governing body he tried to get Paterson’s police rules and regulations updated, saying they included too many discrepancies. Goow said improved rules would bring more accountability in the police department.

Improvements in community policing, police presence, police visibility and response times would make for a better relationship between the department and the community, Goow added.

Councilman Alex Mendez

Mendez said he would not seek to implement a civilian review board” because it remains unclear whether such an approach is ”permissible under New Jersey law, and there is no point getting caught up in protracted litigation for an imperfect solution.

“Rather, my administration’s approach will be to attack the issue and problem where it originates, with the training and culture of the police department,” Mendez said. “This starts with recruitment, and continues with training in sensitivity, cultural education, mental health evaluation, de-escalation and proportionate use of force.”

Mendez also said he would “address leadership” in the Paterson police force by holding superior officers accountable for those under their command.

He would use the community policing program “to improve engagement with the communities and to improve the confidence of the community in our police department."

“When individual officers are familiar with the communities they serve and they remain for extended tours, they gain the trust and confidence of residents, and get to know individual community members, developing relationships that improve both working conditions for police officers and the perception of the public of the individual department members,” the councilman said.

Mendez also said he would strive to make it easier and more convenient for civilians to lodge complaints about police conduct with Paterson’s Internal Affairs division. The city's response to those complaints must be "timely," he said, "and the complainants kept apprised, so it is clear that the city is responding to legitimate complaints."

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson NJ mayor election: Where candidates stand on police reform