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Help Goes To Distraught Knife-Wielding Man After Paterson's First Standoff Since State Takeover

UPDATE: The first standoff in Paterson since the state attorney general's office took control of the police department ended peacefully last weekend when a distraught man wielding a knife surrendered after 6½ hours, authorities announced.

Saturday's incident was the first major incident handled by New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin's appointees since the state takeover of the day-to-day operations of the Paterson Police Department.

Saturday's incident was the first major incident handled by New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin's appointees since the state takeover of the day-to-day operations of the Paterson Police Department.

Photo Credit: Kyle Mazza/UNF News for DAILY VOICE
The standoff in Paterson began Saturday afternoon, April 8, and stretched out for several hours.

The standoff in Paterson began Saturday afternoon, April 8, and stretched out for several hours.

Photo Credit: Kyle Mazza/UNF News for DAILY VOICE
New Jersey State Police sent a negotiator, backed by a Passaic County Sheriff's SWAT team, among other tactical officers, soon after the standoff began at Park Avenue and East 19th Street in Paterson shortly before 5:30 p.m. April 8.

New Jersey State Police sent a negotiator, backed by a Passaic County Sheriff's SWAT team, among other tactical officers, soon after the standoff began at Park Avenue and East 19th Street in Paterson shortly before 5:30 p.m. April 8.

Photo Credit: Kyle Mazza/UNF News for DAILY VOICE

He was immediately placed into a mental health program, they said.

Paterson and New Jersey State police worked together to resolve the confrontation with no injuries at NJ TRANSIT's Market Street garage last Saturday, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said.

No charges were filed, either, because the incident was considered a mental-health crisis that “involved police action as part of law enforcement’s community caretaking function,” the attorney general said on Friday, April 14.

Why nothing about the incident was officially addressed for nearly a week wasn't immediately clear.

What Platkin did say is that the incident began when city police got a 911 call shortly before 5 p.m. April 8 from a man claiming that he was homeless and had become suicidal.

“When officers arrived at the location near the Paterson Great Falls, they observed the man with a large knife who appeared prepared to harm himself,” he said.

City police officers talked with the man while receiving “assistance and expertise” from the NJSP Emergency Response Team, the attorney general said.

Talks appeared possibly headed to continue on Easter Sunday, but the man finally agree to surrender and hand over the knife just before 11:30 p.m., Platkin said.

Authorities immediately connected with a crisis team at St. Joseph’s University Medical Center “to ensure a transition to mental health services” once the man had been brought there, he said.

State Police Major Frederick Fife, who’s the interim officer in charge of the city department, said the “professionalism, patience and dedication” of both squads “allowed us to resolve the matter and ensure that the proper steps were taken to keep the community safe.”

Platkin took control of the day-to-day operations of the Paterson Police Department last month following a series of incidents capped by the fatal March 3 police shooting of Najee Seabrooks, a 31-year-old crisis intervention worker, that ended a nearly five-hour standoff.

SEE: 'No Safety Without Trust': AG Takes Over Paterson PD, Pledges Changes In Mental Crisis Policing

Seabrooks, a respected and admired non-violence activist, was in the middle of what family members said was apparently a drug-induced mental health crisis that morning.

SEE: Video Shows Paterson Non-Violence Activist Bursting From Bathroom With Knife When He's Shot

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