Historic Paterson City Hall made another history appointing the first Turkish-American and Muslim police chief in the history of Paterson.
Paterson’s new police chief, Ibrahim “Mike” Baycora, 60, was officially sworn in Tuesday, during a ceremony in Mayor Andre Sayegh’s office.
Baycora is a 32-year veteran of the Paterson Police Department.
Born in Turkey, Baycora was brought to the United States as an infant. Raised & education in Paterson, Baycora graduated from Eastside High School and went off to Boston University. After transferring to Rutgers University for financial reasons, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business and chemical engineering.
Baycora is the city’s 17th police chief and takes over the department’s reins at a time when eight Paterson police officers have been arrested by the FBI on charges that include shaking down motorists for money. He succeeds Troy Oswald as the city police chief. Oswald retired effective on the first day of February.