PATERSON — Social justice activists last January celebrated Gov. Phil Murphy’s signing of a new law that was supposed to help prevent incidents such as the fatal police shooting of Paterson’s Najee Seabrooks in March 2023.
The law called for the creation of a new state advisory council that is supposed to establish best practices for handling emergency responses to people in a mental health or substance abuse crisis.
The law — named after Seabrooks and Andrew Washington, who was fatally shot by a police officer in Jersey City in August 2023 — said the advisory council would hold six meetings per year. Those sessions would be open to the public with agendas, minutes and other documents posted on a state government website.