In a letter sent to the Justice Department Wednesday, a statewide advocacy group urged U.S. Attorney Merrick Garland to investigate the Paterson Police Department following a string of troubling news reports and prosecutions against the local agency and some of its officers, which culminated most recently in the fatal shooting of anti-violence activist Najee Seabrooks on March 3.

The call comes from the NJ Institute for Social Justice one month after the state Attorney General's Office assumed control of the local police department, citing "a crisis of confidence" in the city's law enforcement.

While the institute applauded that move by New Jersey's AG, Matthew Platkin, Laurie Beacham, a spokesperson for the group, said "We just don’t think it’s either/or."

The institute had sent a similar letter in March, before the state AG's takeover. At that time, the institute had asked for a federal probe into the department, and enumerated a laundry list of scandals and misconduct allegations that have beleaguered Paterson's rank-and-file, including the falsifying of reports, multiple claims of excessive force, deaths among suspects in custody and the infamous "Robbery Squad" of detectives who admitted in federal court to shaking down residents for money and drugs.

Now, in Wednesday's letter, the institute upped the ante calling not just for a federal probe, but pushing the DOJ to force Paterson into a consent decree, a legally binding agreement that would set specific policy updates to be enacted from the bottom up and can sometimes include audits and the assignment of federal monitors to ensure the new measures are followed.

The state police were subject to a consent decree from 1999-2009, to avoid prosecution under then-Attorney General Janet Reno for alleged civil rights violations. Newark Police Department entered into its own agreement with the Justice Department in 2016, which the institute cited several times in its letter, and will remain under federal scrutiny through this summer unless the arrangement is renewed for a longer term.

"We’re looking for accountability and the kind of investigation that can do a deep dive, really change policies, not just trim around the edges," Beacham said.

In broad terms, the institute said it hopes a potential arrangement with the DOJ could reign in Paterson's use of force, establish stiffer early-warning systems for potentially problematic officers, ensure complaints against officers are properly investigated, enact new policies guiding emergency responses to mental health crises, and bolster the department's community engagement.

"There has been a perception that officers have been preying on members of the community and not protecting them," said Yannick Wood, who directs NJISJ's Criminal Justice Reform Program.

But as for specifics, he said the group will rely on the guidance of Platkin, whose office respond for a request to comment as of Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, a public information officer for the Paterson Police Department could not be reached, and a spokesperson for the DOJ said his agency could not comment at the moment but may have a statement after looking into the matter.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ Institute for Social Justice calls for fed probe into Paterson PD