Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said he is “deeply disappointed” and will immediately appeal an Appellate Division decision, released Wednesday, that said his takeover of the Paterson Police Department was an overreach.

In a published decision, an appeals court panel found that Platkin had no authority to supersede a police department’s operations without the municipality's permission. The Appellate Division decision, written by Judge Morris G. Smith, said after a review of the Criminal Justice Act and other statutes that Platkin did not have the right to take over the department. Additionally, the court reversed the attorney general’s order that superseded the authority of the Paterson police, directed him to send the former police chief back to Paterson, and ordered the return of operational control of the department to the plaintiffs.

Smith, who was joined by Judges Mark K. Chase and Christine M. Vanek, said those orders are to be completed within 21 days. However, Smith stayed the order for three days, anticipating either party seeking emergent relief.

Platkin said in a statement that since the decision does not take effect immediately, his office will be asking the state Supreme Court for emergency relief. He added that, since his office stepped in, crime has plummeted in Paterson and officer morale has improved.

Christopher J. Gramiccioni, co-founder of Kingston Coventry Law in Sea Girt, said the Appellate Division decision clearly states that Platkin overstepped his authority.

“We learn about the concepts of separation of powers and checks and balances within the branches of the government in elementary school,” Gramiccioni said. “The AG disregarded these fundamental principles in his illegal supersession, and thankfully, the court upheld these principles with its decision today.”

Platkin took over the Paterson Police Department in March 2023 in the wake of an officer-involved shooting. The attorney general removed the acting police chief, Engelbert Ribeiro, assigned him to the Police Training Commission, and appointed a New Jersey State Police officer to manage the department.

Those moves were challenged in two lawsuits, consolidated before the Appellate Division. Both alleged that the attorney general’s actions exceeded his authority. The first complaint was filed in October 2023 by Paterson Public Safety Director Mirza Bulur and Ribeiro in Bulur v. The New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. The second was filed in November 2023 by Paterson Mayor André Sayegh and Ribeiro against the attorney general and the officer he placed in charge of the department in Sayegh v. Abbassi.

Smith cited numerous Appellate Division cases that “clearly distinguish the AG’s supervisory authority from its supersession authority,” including Constantine v. Twp. of Bass River, State v. Ward, and Kershenblatt v. Kozmor. Also, the judge acknowledged a New Jersey Supreme Court case, State v. Winne, which held that county prosecutors are statutorily responsible for ensuring laws are being enforced by themselves, staff, or local law enforcement.

“The facts of this case are distinguishable from Winne,” Smith said. “The set of questions before us involve the extent of the supersession authority vested directly in the AG, not county prosecutors.”

Smith concluded that Winne does not give county prosecutors the implied authority to supersede municipal police departments; therefore, this decision does not conflict.

“We are deeply disappointed with today’s ruling—which comes nearly two years after the state took over the Paterson Police Department, having now spent millions of dollars to improve conditions in the city—and will be appealing immediately to the New Jersey Supreme Court,” Platkin said in a statement. “For decades, supersession has allowed both Attorneys General and County Prosecutors to directly manage law enforcement agencies when the circumstances call for it—as they did in Paterson when our office stepped in following a fundamental breakdown of community trust.”

By Wednesday afternoon, the office filed an emergent application, officially starting the appeals process to the Supreme Court.

Gramiccioni represented Bulur and Ribeiro. Edward J. Florio of Florio Kenny Raval represented Sayegh. Deputy Solicitor General Michael Zuckerman represented the Office of the Attorney General. Florio and the Attorney General’s Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.