A major win for the state Attorney General's office this week after New Jersey's Supreme Court yesterday upheld the state's takeover of the Patterson Police Department, meaning the office will continue to control the city's police for the foreseeable future.

But the court's ruling was written to be limited just to the situation in Patterson, and justices left a question open about the AG's general authority to take over other local police departments undecided.

Dealing with that question is now up to state lawmakers.

As senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan reports, it's unclear if they'll take any action.

I'm extraordinarily gratified that the court did say emphatically that what we did again was legal.

State Attorney General Matt Platt can hail the New Jersey Supreme Court ruling that lets his office remain in control of Patterson's notorious police department after a hostile takeover more than two years ago faced ferocious legal challenges from the mayor and police union.

Social justice advocates also cheered.

This is a win for the people of Patterson.

The AG superseded Patterson's police department because of the years of blatant police misconduct at the hands of their police department towards, in particular, the black and brown people of Patterson.

But the high court focused specifically on Patterson, narrowly targeting its unanimous decision to address whether New Jersey's legislature authorized the March 2023 takeover.

It found Trenton lawmakers did by approving an interim officer in charge, Isa Abasi, and by appropriating millions in state aid to finance the effort.

But the justices punted on a much larger question.

Can the AG do what Platt can did by law?

And that is a good question.

I mean, I think the court didn't say, didn't decide one way or the other.

Courts routinely do not reach larger questions when they don't have to.

It's about whether the supersession of the Patterson police department was lawful.

And on that question, the court emphatically said 7-0 unanimous yes.

But even as it reversed an appellate decision, the high court warned this appeal raises significant questions about the claim that the attorney general may supersede and take control of an entire law enforcement agency whenever he determines that step to be appropriate.

The legislature has the authority to address those questions directly and clarify its intent and expectations should it decide to do so.

It was a more limited decision.

And so we are calling on lawmakers in the state legislature to pass a law that expressly ratifies the attorney general's ability to do that in other police departments around the state.

The legislative leadership didn't respond to requests for comment.

New Jersey's ACLU, which filed an amicus brief in the case, pointed to the Trump administration's decision to retract investigations of police departments like the one in Trenton that alleged cops used excessive force against the public.

When the federal government is retreating from holding local police departments accountable, the attorney general's ability to intervene and make sure that New Jersey communities are getting the policing they deserve and that's lawful and constitutional is really critical.

Now, if the state legislature wants to grant whomever is the attorney general going forward that authority, then they have every right to do so.

But at the moment, there is no law that states that an attorney general has the right to take over a police department in New Jersey.

Patterson's mayor had argued that point from the start.

He acknowledges the Supreme Court ruling means Patterson remains under the AG's control because the legislature supports it.

He also welcomes the additional $10 million in annual state aid for public safety.

I've only looked for a partnership.

We know that we are resource strapped in our city.

Both Seya and Platkin praised the department's current officer in charge, Captain Pat Murray, a 40-year veteran of the force.

Both cited statistics that show crimes trending downward here and that the frayed relationship between Patterson's cops and its beleaguered residents is slowly beginning to mend.

A local activist who often protested against police violence agrees.

Where in the past, I've been on the opposite side with the signs, with the bullhorns, with the pickets and so forth.

But in looking at the data and looking just at the environment, the flow, the way people even respond to the police department, it's different.

Patterson police have been implementing the attorney general's 55-point strategic plan to reform the department, aiming to restore the public's faith in its police force.

Platkin says it's 90 percent completed.

And yes, when the time is right, I agree.

Return to local control should occur.

We're not there yet.

We have more work to do.

But everybody agrees that is the long-term goal here.

There's no actual timeline, but there is a political calendar predicting change.

Both major party candidates for New Jersey governor have stated if elected, they intend to appoint their own attorney general.

I'm Brenda Flanagan, NJ Spotlight News.

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