The struggle for control of the Paterson police is getting uglier. A new lawsuit shows why

PATERSON — It was just after 7 a.m. on Nov. 15 when Mayor Andre Sayegh sent an email telling his ousted police chief, Bert Ribeiro, to return to Paterson the next day and to report for duty at City Hall.

Ribeiro — whom state officials had ordered to work in Trenton for the previous six months — received another message almost seven hours after the one from Sayegh.

The second email came from Isa Abbassi, the retired New York police commander whom state officials put in charge in Paterson after they seized command of the city’s troubled law enforcement agency earlier this year.

Abbassi told Ribeiro to continue his state-imposed assignment at the New Jersey Police Training Commission in Trenton.

Those emails were filed in New Jersey Superior Court this week as part of a new lawsuit in the protracted power struggle between Sayegh and Attorney General Matthew Platkin over control of the city Police Department. The lawsuit, along with a sworn statement filed by Ribeiro, seemed to show there’s no sign of the ongoing conflict abating.

The initial lawsuit, now pending in state appellate court, has been an attempt by Sayegh, Ribeiro and Assistant Public Safety Director Mark Bulur to end the state intervention. The new lawsuit focuses on where Ribeiro should be working while the other battle plays out.

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Ribeiro appeared at Paterson police headquarters, suit contends

In his sworn statement, Ribeiro said he faced “conflicting orders” in the Nov. 15 emails from Sayegh and Abbassi. The ousted chief, whose $225,000 salary is paid by the city, said that on the morning of Nov. 16 he “reported to Paterson City Hall as directed by my employer.”

Apparently, word quickly reached Abbassi in police headquarters. That morning, state officials sent a series of emails and text messages to Ribeiro, the lawsuit said.

The ousted chief also got a phone call from a lieutenant in Paterson’s Internal Affairs Division who informed Ribeiro he was recording their conversation. The IA lieutenant told Ribeiro he was being ordered to attend a face-to-face meeting with Abbassi at Paterson police headquarters that afternoon.

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During that meeting — which the lawsuit said was also recorded — Abbassi told Ribeiro he must follow Abbassi’s orders, not those of a “politician,” the ousted chief said in his court statement.

Paterson Press asked the Attorney General's Office if Platkin or Abbassi wished to say anything about the new lawsuit. But the office declined to comment.

What do Platkin and Sayegh say?

Sayegh issued a written statement in response to a reporter’s inquiry about what duties the mayor wanted Ribeiro to perform at City Hall.

"Chief Ribeiro is a city employee whose transfer to Trenton comes at the expense of Paterson taxpayers, who pay his salary," Sayegh’s statement said.

“Chief Ribeiro would be assigned to create an Office of Violence Prevention and coordinate efforts relative to our opioid response team and our RealFix initiative," the mayor added, referring to programs designed to combat the city’s heroin problem.

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The state takeover in March followed years of controversies plaguing the Paterson Police Department, including criminal convictions of eight cops for crimes ranging from drug dealing to assaults and illegal shakedowns. As part of the intervention, the state has allocated $10 million in extra funding for the department.

During 2023, Paterson has seen a decline in shootings and homicides — reductions that began before the Attorney General's Office stepped in and have continued since then.

The attorneys handling the lawsuit attempting to nullify the state control are not being paid with taxpayers’ money, Sayegh has said.

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

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson NJ: Lawsuit shows fight for control of police department