Cop Sues City

Paterson (NJ) police officer Wayne Smith has suffered a terrible tragedy: his son was stabbed to death in March 2005, and he was dispatched to the incident. Now he’s suing the city of Paterson in federal court alleging that two 911 calls reporting a disturbance at the scene of the murder were not acted upon by dispatchers, even though he was unassigned at the time. The first call at 3 a.m. reported a crowd in front of a house that was unruly, but no officers were dispatched, the lawsuit says. Fifteen minutes later a homeowner calls to report a fight, with one person having a gun. But, the lawsuit says, no officer was dispatched. Finally, a resident reports a stabbing, and officers–including Smith–respond to find the victim. Read the story here.