Shootings, robberies, and other crimes declined in Paterson over the summer

Officials say targeted enforcement, community outreach, and programs addressing the root causes of crime are helping.

Reported shootings, robberies, burglaries, and other major crimes declined in Paterson this summer, continuing a broader reduction in reported crime more than three years after the state took control of the city’s police department.

Three people were shot in Paterson between June and August, compared with 11 during the same period last year, a 73% decrease, according to figures released by the Paterson Police Department. Shooting incidents also fell from 11 to three.

The city recorded one homicide, down from four last summer. The number of shooting victims was also down 89% from the summer of 2024, when 27 people were shot.

Robberies fell 27%, from 102 to 74, while burglaries dropped 23%, from 281 to 217. Thefts declined 13%, aggravated assaults fell 6%, simple assaults dropped 3%, and motor vehicle thefts decreased 1%.

Police described the summer as “one of the safest in the city’s history.” Paterson Police Department Officer in Charge Patrick Murray attributed the decline to the department’s ongoing efforts to improve public safety.

“While there is always more work to do, the historic reductions we are seeing in shootings and several other major categories of crime are encouraging,” Murray said in a statement. “We will continue to focus our resources where they are needed most and work with our community and law enforcement partners to build on this progress.”

City officials credit policing strategies, gun seizures and community programs with helping reduce violence, although the statistics do not establish how much any individual initiative contributed to the declines.

Mayor points to gun seizures and community programs

Mayor Andre Sayegh told The Jersey Vindicator that the city has spent years trying to reduce violence through gun seizures and programs addressing addiction, unemployment and other challenges facing residents.

“Since I’ve been mayor, we have confiscated roughly 200 guns every year,” Sayegh said. “By now, that’s thousands of guns that are off our streets. Fewer guns, fewer shootings.”

Police reported recovering more than 100 firearms through August, including 23 in July and 17 in August.

Sayegh, who took office in 2018, pointed to several programs he believes have helped reduce crime. RealFix provides medication delivery and support for people struggling with opioid addiction. Other programs help people returning from prison, residents facing financial difficulties, and people charged with low-level, nonviolent offenses who may qualify for alternatives to prosecution.

The city’s Options and Opportunities program provides employment opportunities for young men considered at risk of becoming involved in crime. Participants shovel snow for older residents, paint senior housing buildings and landscape public spaces.

“Public safety isn’t just policing; it’s also taking a holistic and also compassionate approach,” Sayegh said. “You know, focusing on drugs, reintegrating into society, or the financial instability that people face in Paterson.”

Police expanded summer enforcement and outreach

The Paterson Police Department also introduced a summer public safety strategy combining targeted enforcement with violence prevention and community outreach.

Announced in June, the strategy called for using crime data to guide officer deployments. The police department created a resource team with officers from various divisions to boost visibility and lower crime. The department also sought to curtail pop-up parties, illegal ATVs and dirt bikes, and narcotics issues. The department assembled officers from several divisions to carry out the strategy.

Police also expanded outreach in neighborhoods most affected by violence. Safe Parks, Safe Spaces and Community Fun Days offered activities for children and families while providing opportunities for officers to interact with residents. The department also sought to connect people at risk of involvement in violence with intervention services and community organizations.

Police department has been under state control since 2023

Paterson’s policing strategies have undergone significant changes since March 2023, when then-Attorney General Matthew Platkin assumed control of the department’s day-to-day operations following the fatal police shooting of Najee Seabrooks.

Seabrooks, a violence intervention specialist whose family said he was experiencing a mental health crisis, was shot by police officers who said he approached them with a knife. His death prompted protests and demands for changes in how Paterson police respond to people experiencing mental health emergencies.

Platkin removed the city’s police chief and appointed former New York Police Department official Isa Abbassi as officer in charge. Abbassi subsequently stepped down and was replaced by Murray, a nearly 40-year veteran of the Paterson Police Department.

City officials challenged the state takeover, arguing that the attorney general lacked the authority to assume control of the department. An appellate court initially ruled in their favor, but the New Jersey Supreme Court unanimously reversed that decision in 2025.

In an opinion written by Justice Anne Patterson, the court concluded that the Legislature had authorized the continued state control of Paterson’s police department. The ruling relied on legislation specifically addressing Paterson and did not give the attorney general unrestricted authority to take over municipal police departments.

Crime also down for the year, though some categories increased

The summer declines are part of a broader reduction in reported crime during the first eight months of 2026. Through Aug. 30, total reported crime in the categories tracked by the department was down 16% compared with the same period last year.

Robberies declined 40%, murders fell 31%, burglaries dropped 14%, and motor vehicle thefts decreased 16%. Shooting incidents fell 55%, from 31 to 14.

The decrease in shooting victims was smaller. Police recorded 25 victims through Aug. 30, compared with 32 during the same period last year, a decline of 22%.

Not every category improved. Theft and sexual assault increased during the first eight months of the year, although the department did not specify the number of incidents or the size of those increases.

Expert emphasizes community involvement

Kishon Hickman, a professor in Seton Hall University’s graduate law enforcement leadership program and a 21-year veteran of the New York Police Department, said the reductions in reported violence were encouraging.

“These figures, to me, represent more than just a statistical movement,” he said. “They represent people who are not shot, families who are not in trauma, and residents who are less likely to be the victims of major felonies. So, this is good.”

Hickman said community organizations, violence prevention workers and residents play important roles in reducing crime, even when their contributions are difficult to measure. He encouraged city officials to involve residents in public safety efforts, including neighborhood meetings, victim support and community programs.

“They’re not spectators here,” Hickman said. “They possess the knowledge, the relationships, the history, the credibility that no police department has.”

Sayegh said the city plans to continue its programs but cautioned against assuming crime will keep declining.

“You never want to get ahead of yourself as far as crime is concerned,” he said. “But I feel like we have a foundation now to address some of these long-standing societal challenges.”