Today marks one year since the state took control of all law enforcement functions within Paterson's police department, which followed years of police misconduct and evidence of excessive use of force.

Since then, the state has touted a drop in violent crime, more discipline for officers who misbehave and more public input through an increased number of community meetings.

Yet top leaders in the city are pushing back on that narrative and say much of the improvement can actually be traced to reforms that were already in place.

Melissa Rose Cooper has the update.

I have seen a stronger connection and communication between the community and the police department far better than it was in the past.

A major change community adviser, Corey Teague says, has happened in the last year since the state took control of the Paterson Police Department.

State Attorney General Matthew Platkin making the announcement a year ago today, just weeks after the death of Najee Seabrooks during a mental health crisis.

Following a 4 hours plus standoff with police, the A.G. saying Seabrook's death, along with other incidents of police misconduct, created a crisis of confidence in Paterson.

And it's important because in the past there was not a strong connection between the community and the police department at all.

They did have community policing for years in Paterson, but for some reason, I'm not sure exactly why the connection wasn't there.

But in the past year, it's been a tremendous effort by the police department and equally by the community to bridge that gap.

Last fall, NYPD chief of Strategic Initiatives Isa Abbasi, whom Platkin appointed as officer in charge of the Paterson Police Department, outlined a strategic plan of reform.

The initiative included having more visible officers in the community as well as increased transparency.

The Attorney General commending Abbasi's leadership, saying in a statement, one year later, we are seeing significant progress in many areas, including police accountability, transparency, communication and a significant drop in violent crime.

But not everyone agrees.

I'm going to contend that.

Matt Platkin This takeover is unlawful, it's undemocratic and quite frankly it's un-American.

The Attorney General can't make the law take the law or break the law.

Mayor Andre Sayegh credits a reduction in crime and improved relationships between law enforcement and the community to programs the city was already working on.

We've created an opioid response team.

We have a real fix program to address opioid use disorder.

So those to work in concert with each other.

We have a guaranteed income initiative to help or empower the working poor.

We have a financial empowerment center, which I believe is helping individuals who have been struggling for far too long.

The mayor is now part of a lawsuit challenging the state's takeover of the police department.

Say it accuses Platkin of wanting to advance his own political career.

He argues Platkin programs mimic some of the programs already in place in Paterson.

And he criticized the attorney general for, quote, exiling the police chief to a training program while taxpayers still pay his salary.

In response to critics, Platkin says it is regrettable that some public officials can only view bold actions through the lens of ambition.

Here we took bold action simply because it was the right thing to do.

My office has a long term commitment to the people of Patterson and our work in the city is far from complete.

You know the place that we ended up in.

It didn't happen overnight.

And, you know, the road to recovery, the relationship between the police department in the city, that's not going to take overnight either.

That's going to take a little while.

It's a process.

And while community advocates agree, there's still plenty of room for improvement, they're hopeful they can continue to work with the city and law enforcement to continue to improve community police relations.

For NJ Spotlight News, I am Melissa Rose Cooper.