PATERSON — The Paterson Police Department today announced an upcoming Public Safety Summit including law enforcement, community and elected leaders at the local, county, state, and federal levels. It will take place on Monday, February 5th.
The summit will be held in two parts with the first including law enforcement and public safety partners from the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety’s Division of Criminal Justice, Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control and Office of the Attorney General, the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office, and the Passaic County Sheriff’s Office. The first part of the summit will take place at the Paterson Police Department Headquarters, hosted by Officer in Charge Isa Abbassi, Chief of Staff James Haggerty and Executive Officer Patrick Murray. The goal is to discuss strategies and policies meant specifically to further drive down crime in Paterson following a historic and unprecedented reduction of violent crime in the city in 2023.
The second part of the summit will include community partners and community advisors to the PPD. They will discuss the importance of expanding PPD’s efforts around community engagement, police accountability, transparency and community policing. That part will be held at the Paterson Public Library Main Branch. The Paterson Police Department has a history of open dialogues with the community under the leadership of Officer in Charge Abbassi as seen by continuously held Community Listening Sessions hosted by the Officer in Charge as well as smaller Community Roundtable Discussions where community members speak directly with police officers in a smaller setting.
“The purpose of this summit is to prove that public safety is a shared responsibility, and together, we can make anything happen. This forum will open a dialogue with as many law enforcement and community partners as possible about how we will move the needle in a significant way for the residents of Paterson,” said Officer in Charge Isa M. Abbassi. “I look forward to addressing some of the biggest issues facing the city of Paterson in 2024 so that we can continue to drive down crime, fear, and disorder in the community.”
The Safety Summit will make sure all law enforcement and community partners are working together as Officer in Charge Abbassi discusses new plans and strategies for the city. Further information on those plans will be announced following the completion of both sections of the Public Safety Summit.
