The Alternative Press

PATERSON, NJ – Early Tuesday afternoon, several groups of teenagers were hanging out at Roberto Clemente Park. They weren’t particularly tough or rowdy kids, just youths from the neighborhood looking for place to get together.

None of them said they knew Jose Rivera, the 17-year-old who had been shot and killed in the park the night before, near where they were sitting. In fact, none of them had been in the park the night before. After dark, it’s too dangerous, they said.

Authorities say the 17-year-old was gunned down and his 15-year-old friend wounded during a robbery by four young men just before 9 pm on Monday. His body was found on an asphalt path that starts at the park’s Carroll Street entrance and leads past a playground and a gazebo towards Bauerle Field, where the city’s high school teams play football, soccer and track.

“It’s not a safe place,’’ said 5^th Ward Councilman Julio Tavarez. “Things could be better.’’

Police have not released Rivera’s name, but people who know him confirmed his identity. Jorge Rivera, a four-decade city resident who is not a relative of the murdered teenager, said he had known Jose ever since the boy’s mother pushed him around in a stroller.

“He was such a nice, quiet boy,’’ said Jorge Rivera. But in recent years, the youth acquired a taste for the streets, Rivera said. He was out of school and was getting in trouble, Rivera said.

 Not long ago, Rivera said, the boy borrowed $5 from him, saying he wanted to buy food. “He wasn’t going  to use the money for food,’’ Rivera said.

Authorities have said the gunmen took cash and cell phones from the victims.  Police said it was not clear why the suspects started shooting.

The murder was Paterson’s 14^th of this year. Meanwhile, the 15-year-old, who was wounded through the arm by a bullet that pierced his chest, is being treated at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center and is expected to survive.

"How much more do they think we can take?'' asked Michelle Tobias, a community activists whose 30-year-old son had been killed 12 years ago near the Riverside housing projects. "After a while, we won't be able to come out our front doors. The violence is overwhelming us.''

Tobias has scheduled a community meeting on the city violence problem for Thurs., Oct. 20 at 5 pm at St. Augustine Church at 159 Governor Street. Tobias said she had planned the meeting after a city man was fatally shot several weeks ago on Rosa Parks Boulevard.

"Every time Paterson has another chil get killed, it's just like it was my child all over again,'' she said.

On Tuesday afternoon, a police car patrolled the park while an investigator combed the scene of the shooting for evidence.

“We’ll send more cops into the area for about a week to get people’s confidence up, but that hasn’t worked,’’ Tavarez said. “The problems come back.’’

In places like Roberto Clemente Park, small crimes grow into big ones, Tavarez said. “There’s a snowball effect,’’ said the councilman. “If you allow people to throw garbage wherever they want, they steal cars. If you allow them to steal cars, they sell drugs. If you allow them to sell drugs, they steal, rob and murder.’’

Tavarez said the solution to Paterson’s crime problem required more than just a police response. He said municipal leaders needed to craft a public safety strategy with “measureable outcomes.”

“The gang culture is taking over the city of Paterson,’’ Tavarez said. On top of that, he said, city residents have been conditioned to accept the violence that plagues Paterson.  “It’s almost like it’s okay,’’ he said.