Paterson’s Extra Business-District Foot Patrols Are Now in Effect

Paterson’s expanded foot-patrol program was reported to begin July 1, putting uniformed off-duty officers in selected commercial areas during afternoon and evening hours when businesses, restaurants and shoppers are active.

The program calls for 16 officers and two supervisors to patrol Thursday through Sunday from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. It is funded through $1.8 million in Urban Enterprise Zone money and is intended to address vandalism, loitering, theft and other quality-of-life concerns.

Where and when the patrols operate

News 12 New Jersey reported that 14 areas were selected for the expanded presence. The city-linked UEZ program description lists eight designated posts: Union Avenue, 21st Avenue, 10th Avenue, Main Street, Park Avenue/Market Street, Belmont Avenue, Totowa Avenue and Bunker Hill.

The available sources do not fully explain the difference between 14 selected areas and eight designated posts. The figures may reflect different ways of grouping corridors, neighborhoods or deployment points, but that distinction should be confirmed through current city or UEZ records. The UEZ materials also say assignments may be adjusted based on crime patterns.

The officers are working in uniform but are technically off duty. That means the program adds a visible presence without describing it as an increase in regular on-duty Paterson Police Department staffing.

How the $1.8 million is allocated

The UEZ program description identifies $1,648,640 for personnel costs, including hourly wages for officers and supervisors. It assigns another $169,836.96 to maintenance of cameras and other equipment purchased through earlier UEZ funding.

Officers are required to complete activity log sheets during their shifts. The forms are described as documenting interactions, traffic enforcement and other quality-of-life activity. Those records could help residents and businesses determine where patrols were deployed and what work officers performed.

The city-linked material says the program was funded for the 2025–2026 fiscal year and that patrols were expected to run daily during December’s holiday season. Whether those schedules and spending plans remain current should be checked against city and UEZ records.

Results have not yet been established

The reported launch does not establish that crime has declined, that business conditions have improved or that residents feel safer. Those conclusions would require current deployment records, completed activity logs, calls for service, complaints, citations, arrests or comparable crime data from after July 1.

The New Jersey Attorney General’s CompStat archive is a potential source for public-safety comparisons, but a verified July 2026 report was not used here. The central accountability question is whether Paterson will release enough local data to show where officers worked, what they encountered and whether conditions changed.

Separate lighting and security work

The foot patrols should not be combined with every other public-safety investment in the same corridors. A June 24, 2026 agenda for the New Jersey Urban Enterprise Zone Authority lists a separate Paterson Corridor Lighting & Security Project approved at $1,235,197.

The state agenda identifies that project as a separate UEZ infrastructure investment. It should not be treated as part of the $1.8 million foot-patrol allocation, which the city-linked program description assigns to personnel and equipment maintenance.

For Paterson residents, workers and businesses, the immediate reported change is a scheduled presence of extra uniformed officers Thursday through Sunday from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. Whether the program meets its stated purpose will depend on deployment records, activity logs and public-safety results that can be independently reviewed after the patrols have operated.

Sources

• News 12 New Jersey: Paterson deploys extra foot patrols to protect local businesses
• City of Paterson Urban Enterprise Zone: $1.8M police-presence program
• New Jersey Urban Enterprise Zone Authority Board Meeting Agenda, June 24, 2026