The Jersey City Council passed two resolutions to hire lawyers to defend the police officers being sued for the fatal shooting of Andrew Washington at last night’s meeting after the issue was scrutinized during caucus, also forming an ad hoc committee.
By Daniel Ulloa/Hudson County View
A civil case against the police officers was launched last year after the August 2023 incident did not result in a criminal charges from a state grand jury.
The resolution to establish an ad hoc committee to study community-based mental health emergency responses was a late item added to the agenda and not discussed during their Monday caucus.
“Our committee has been advocating for the hiring of trained outreach workers to go out on emergency calls when JC residents are experiencing a mental health or substance abuse crisis, as well as staff to handle the emergency calls and training for the police department to handle this,” activist Bill Lillis of Jersey City Together explained.
He was happy there was a resolution dedicated to setting up a committee to address this.
“It could have been prevented … this resolution shows there is positive momentum in place to serve the most vulnerable in our population,” Lillis added.
“Justice for Drew!” Gina Davison exclaimed.
“A lot of our hearts have been heavy this week, knowing that this is coming up. It’s been three years since Drew was shot to death in his own home during a mental health crisis. Years later, we still don’t have justice. We still don’t have a scalable mental crisis response center in Jersey City. We still don’t have a Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) with subpoena power,” she explained.
Activist Edward Perkins noted they said they were legally obligated to hire the lawyers.
“These same protocols must also ensure accountability to the taxpayers and families who lost loved ones to systemic failures,” he said.
“We are demanding a public accounting of the 1.2 million in annual funds authorized by the previous Council in 2022 for mental crisis programming … We need to know exactly where this money has gone.”
Perkins praised the resolution to form the committee as well.
“We would like to have a seat at the table. This committee must include members of families of victims in the decision-making process to ensure these funds are used for true, community-led intervention. Transparency is not a request,” he said, also advocating for a CCRB with subpoena power.
During the vote, council members reiterated what was said at caucus, that they had a legal obligation to provide counsel to the officers.
“I asked for a copy of the police union collective bargaining agreement, which does stipulate that we as a city provide legal advice and counsel. We have to follow the contract,” noted Ward B Councilman Joel Brooks.
“We are … contractually required as a city to provide legal counsel to our employees. And this is a civil case. But it doesn’t end the conversation on mental health services and de-escalation training, which is hopefully what we’re addressing today,” Ward C Councilman Tom Zuppa said.
Ward D Councilman Jake Ephros said it was “frankly painful” to vote for the resolutions, but repeated that is was their legal obligation to do so.
“I’ll publicly state my commitment to fight for a CCR B… both here in Jersey City with subpoena power and also to make sure we change state law working with Assemblywoman (Katie) Brennan, Senator [Angela] McKnight so that we can actually have the power here locally,” he added.
Ward E Councilwoman Eleana Little echoed that sentiment.
“This is extremely heavy. It’s not something I want to vote aye on, but I recognize our statutory obligations both contractually with the CBA and statutorily under state law, she stated.
“It makes me sick that we’re spending taxpayer dollars on this. I remain committed to ensuring the city invests in mental health services.”
She also endorsed a CCRB with subpoena power and wanted to know where previous mental health funding went.
Councilman at-Large Michael Griffin said he needed to abstain due to his relationship with Washington’s family.
“Know this is not a reflection of any support: It’s our statutory obligation,” Councilman at-Large Rolando Lavarro said before voting yes.
The resolutions hiring the lawyers passed 7-0-2, with Griffin and Ward F Councilman Frank “Educational” Gilmore abstaining.
Former Police Officer Stephen Gigante will be represented by Cedar Grove-based O’Toole Scrivo, LLC, where Port Authority Chair Kevin O’Toole is a managing partner.
Officer Felix DeJesus, Gigante’s partner during the incident, would potentially be represented by Philadelphia-based Bennett, Bricklin & Saltzburg, LLC. Both contracts are for $225 an hour, not to exceed $65,000.
“We have to start addressing our issues here with crisis prevention. As many of you know, it was the second time Andrew Washington was shot,” Griffin noted about the committee resolution.
The resolution to set up a committee to study mental health issues passed unanimously (9-0).
