Congressman Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09), Co-Chair of the Congressional Law Enforcement Caucus, today celebrated the drastic drop in violent crime in Paterson in 2023.

“The reduction in violent crime in Paterson is a cause of celebration for our entire community,” said Congressman Pascrell. “Our neighbors have cried out for safer streets and we are finally seeing progress with a huge drop in murders, shootings, robberies, and assaults. I applaud Officer in Charge Abbassi, Attorney General Platkin, our state and county public safety partners, and most importantly Paterson’s finest for these advances – they deserve the lion’s share of credit. My office won federal funding to hire new police officers and I am gratified they helped combat crime. Federal, state and county leaders have teamed up here and the infusion of new leadership and new ideas by the state have had a profoundly positive impact for Patersonians. Let’s keep it going in 2024.”

In calendar year 2023, Paterson saw a 33.3% decrease in shooting incidents compared to 2022 (66 vs. 99). This includes a 43.5% decrease in shooting incidents in the fourth quarter of the year, as compared to 2022 (13 vs. 23).

• Fewer homicides: Drop of 39.3% in murders (17 murders in 2023, versus 28 in 2022)
• Fewer violent crime victims: Shooting victims decreased 25.2% (95 vs. 127).
• Fewer robberies: Robberies decreased 22.6% (332 vs. 429).
• Fewer assaults: Aggravated assaults decreased 15.8% (1,098 vs. 1,304).

Congressman Pascrell has fought for years to provide federal funds for our nation’s law enforcement. He has repeatedly led efforts to fully fund the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Hiring Program, the Byrne JAG program, and other key funding streams for state and local law enforcement. As co-chair of the Congress’s Law Enforcement Caucus, he regularly leads a bipartisan group of colleagues in support of increased funding for our federal policing grants.

On July 10, 2020, the City of Paterson was awarded a $1,880,000 federal COPS Hiring Grant to support the hiring of 10 new officers that Pascrell worked to secure. On November 18, 2021, Pascrell announced a $3,772,096 COPS Hiring Grant for the City of Paterson to support the hiring of 20 new police officers – the largest policing grant in the City’s history. In 2021, Pascrell secured $700,000 to establish a Crime Gun Intelligence Center in the City of Paterson. In 2022, Pascrell helped the City of Paterson obtain $2,450,000 in Bureau of Justice funding to combat opioid and substance abuse, foster partnerships with Saint Joseph’s Hospital and the Paterson Police Department to respond to behavioral and mental health episodes, and establish a community court program to encourage rehabilitative approaches to low level, non-violent crimes.