On March 3, 2023 the Paterson Police Department responded to a call about Najee Seabrooks, a local Paterson resident and anti-violence activist with the Paterson Healing Collective, who was having a mental health crisis. Almost immediately when they got on the scene at Seabrooks’ apartment, the Paterson police escalated the situation with officers pushing Seabrooks into barricading his home. At one point Seabrooks reached out to his fellow members of the Paterson Healing Collective to help diffuse the situation, but the police refused to allow them to assist. During the four hour standoff that ensued, the Paterson Police were repeatedly offered assistance in deescalating the situation from the Paterson Healing Collective and St. Joseph’s University Medical Center, who had a specialized emergency psychiatric care team at the ready, but refused.

The Paterson Police instead decided to bring in their emergency response team (ERT), a SWAT style unit, to force Seabrooks out of his home to presumably arrest him and incarcerate him. ERT officers Qiao Lin (misspelled as Qiad in all prior news media pieces on the incident), Mario Vdovjak, and Hector Mendez tried breach Seabrooks’ residence and attack him a first time with “less than lethal force”, using stun guns, but were unsuccessful. Other ERT officers Anzore Tsay and Jose Hernandez then breached Seabrooks’ home and shot and killed him, supposedly because he confronted them with a knife. Paterson community members however have serious doubts about the officers accounts, noting that the police have refused to release the ERT’s body camera footage. Regardless of any action Seabrooks may have taken, the Paterson Police had a variety of resources they could have used to get him the help he needed. They instead decided to murder him.

The Paterson Police have a long history of abusing residents openly, committing a litany of horrific behavior against people they claim to “protect and serve”. Two other Paterson Police officers, Dodi Zarrilla and Jacob Feliciano, have also been covered in the Foerster Report before, for the brutal assault, kidnapping, and disappearance of Felix DeJesus in February 2021.

The following information is being released to the public as the Paterson police department and their ERT pose a risk to marginalized groups:

Anzore Tsay: Is in his early 30’s and is currently employed as an ERT officer. He was hired by the Paterson Police Department in 2015 and makes $60,000 a year. Tsay was looking to rise through the ranks of the Paterson Police and took the Sergeant’s exam in 2019. Tsay failed the exam and filed a trumped up complaint against Passaic County along with a handful of other officers, but was unsuccessful. Tsay has been resigned to his role as a standard ERT officer since his rejected complaint against Passaic County. Tsay also has a history of using physical violence on Paterson residents and has a record of doing so on two separate occasions according to official police records. He currently lives in Somerset, NJ.

Jose Hernandez: Is in his early 30’s and is currently employed as an ERT officer. He has a badly done tattoo of a woman’s face on his left forearm. He was hired by the Paterson Police Department in 2017, and currently makes $50,000 a year. Hernandez lives in Paterson, NJ. Since being hired in 2017, Hernandez has been officially documented using 15 instances of physical violence against Paterson residents, the highest of any of the officers involved in Seabrooks’ murder. Hernandez’s high record of force against city residents draws the question: why he hasn’t been held accountable before it escalated into someone being killed?

Qiao Lin: is in his late 30’s and is currently employed as an ERT officer. He is short in stature and has a tribal styled tattoo on his left arm. He was hired by the Paterson Police Department in 2020, and currently makes $37,000 a year. Lin is also one of the recent prominent faces of the Paterson Police Department copaganda PR machine to paint the department as diverse and inclusive. Lin also owns and operates two commercial properties in Paterson NJ, including Joe’s Grand Street Chinese Restaurant.

Currently, Lin has all of his property and business records tied to his restaurant on Grand Street in an effort to make sure his tenants and the public doesn’t find out where he actually lives, in Wayne, NJ. Lin owns and lives in his own private home in Wayne, NJ.

Mario A. Vdovjak: is 28 years old and is currently employed as an ERT officer. He was hired by the Paterson Police Department in 2017 and currently makes $50,000 a year. Vdovjak has had been officially reported on 3 separate instances using physical violence against Paterson residents. He currently lives in Wallington, NJ.

Hector Alejandro Mendez: Is in his mid 30’s and is currently employed as an ERT officer. He was hired by the Paterson police department in 2015 and currently makes $56,000 a year. Mendez has been officially documented on two separate instances using physical violence against Paterson residents. He currently lives in Paterson NJ.