Paterson Faith Leaders, Police Unite To Strengthen Community Ties

Paterson’s faith leaders and law enforcement officials are working to strengthen community trust after years of police reform, reaffirming a shared commitment to public safety, neighborhood engagement, and collaboration during a recent gathering hosted by the Paterson Pastor’s Workshop.  

The Paterson Pastor’s Workshop brought together clergy, police leaders, educators, health professionals, and residents to discuss public safety, education, public health, and strategies for strengthening relationships between law enforcement and the community.

Pastor Michael McDuffie, the workshop’s president, said this meeting aimed to unite with local clergy and police in expanding his organization’s work through the I.A.A.M Initiative (Infiltrate, Adopt-A-School, Adopt-A-Block, Make Disciplined Ones). This faith-based movement specializes in enhancing community support and engagement in Paterson’s schools and students.

“We found out that the faith-based community is the hub of every city. And if we can create some type of traffic to go through the faith-based community, we can train, equip [and] teach people how to deal with their problems and really help de-escalate violence and create more of a community in unity,” McDuffie said in an interview.

McDuffie stated that he has collaborated with Paterson’s police department to provide faith-based leadership to residents for 20 years. He also said those efforts have been enhanced after Isa Abbassi and the state Attorney General’s office took over Paterson’s police department in March 2023. 

Abbassi, who now serves as the executive director of the NJ Office of Policing Strategy and Innovation, became the officer in charge of Paterson’s police in response to a “crisis in confidence” in the city’s law enforcement following multiple allegations of police misconduct and the fatal shooting of Najee Seabrooks.

Dr. Randall M. Lassiter, the workshop’s vice president and pastor at Calvary Baptist Church, said he hopes they continue the work that Abbassi started to improve policing and community engagement. He said they can expand this work by collaborating with the state’s new attorney general, Jennifer Davenport, and the Paterson Police Department’s current officer in charge, Patrick Murray.

“We got a great team,” said Lassiter. “We haven’t had a great team like this in a long time who understand the dynamics of the city [of Paterson] and connecting those things and making a difference in terms of what we’re doing.”

Abbassi pointed to measurable progress since Patrick Murray became officer in charge in November 2024. According to Paterson police data reported by NJ.com, shooting incidents declined by approximately 40 percent, while the number of shooting victims fell by more than 50 percent between 2024 and 2025.

Abbassi said that Paterson’s police department can expand its best practices and enhance public safety and security by collaborating with local clergy, advocates, and stakeholders.

“In Paterson, we kind of had this perfect storm where we got some very competent, incredible community people who were willing to engage in a very competent and credible police leadership team and a police department that was hungry to make positive change and restore their reputation,” said Abbassi.

Murray said rebuilding trust remains the police department’s highest priority, beginning with officer training and respectful interactions with residents. He also stated that their city’s clergy and faith-based organizations are the best partners to accomplish this, as they share a common goal of building trust within their community.

“We lost [the community’s] trust some years back, and we have no problem with acknowledging that,” said Murray. “Things didn’t go the way we would have liked them to go, but we stood up. We acknowledge that, and we’re working every day to regain and then maintain that trust with everyone in our community.”

For local advocates, this gathering represented more than another community meeting. They see it as part of a long-term effort to ensure that Paterson’s faith leaders, police, and residents continue working together to build safer neighborhoods and restore confidence in public institutions.

“What I’m looking forward to [is] the diversified opinions of others, and how they’re all buying in. We’re all in one accord. We’re not fighting. This is not a political agenda. This is a kingdom agenda. And we’re gonna continue to move and network together, looking forward to what God will continue to do,” said McDuffie.