Paterson holds peace march following news of police department takeover
PATERSON, New Jersey (WABC) -- The Mayor of Paterson joined community members for a peace march after what's been a tense time for the city.
Many call the relationship between city leaders, the Paterson Police Department, and residents broken.
On a rainy Saturday, they all came out for a peace walk, remembering and praying for those who lost their life to violence - something that hasn't been seen in the city in a while.
"I think we need this. I think we need more of this," said Nashem Benjamin, a resident of Paterson.
Among those who walked was Mayor Andre Sayegh, who's been under fire to resign following the death of community activist Najee Seabrooks and the Attorney General's take over of the police department.
"I take tremendous pride in being the mayor of Paterson," said the Mayor. "I am always eager to go to the office and do what I was elected to do. To position Paterson for progress and continue to find ways to improve our city."
Mayor Sayegh said the relationship between the city and residents has to be restored, but it would take a while and the answer to restoration isn't clear.
"This is an area where we are going to focus as far as public safety is concerned. But also public trust," he said. "There's some measures that we have taken and some measure we will take to repair that relationship with police and the public."
The peace walk came after the New Jersey Attorney General announced it would be taking over the Paterson Police Department after a police-involved confrontation led to the shooting death of Seabrooks earlier this month.
The AG's office said that two officers, identified as Anzore Tsay and Jose Hernandez, from the Paterson Police Department's emergency response team responded with lethal force when they shot and killed Najee Seabrooks, 31, on March 3.
The terrifying moments were caught on body camera footage.
The lack of trust between community and police is what drove outrage from community members, as they rallied at a city council meeting last week to demand change from the police department riddled with investigations and controversy.
Speaking on this matter on Saturday, Mayor Sayegh said, "We did an audit, and the audit yielded recommendations. One of them was more training. De-escalation training . We implemented it."
"It's going to take a lot for Paterson police, police in general, for the community to have their trust. I think I speak for the community on that one."
RELATED | Fiery meeting about Paterson police takeover stretches into overnight
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