2024 Fatal Crash Reports and Charges Filed
Charlie Kratovil made this OPRA request to East Brunswick Township as part of a batch sent to 14 authorities Automatic anti-spam measures are in place for this older request. Please let us know if a further response is expected or if you are having trouble responding.
Dear East Brunswick Township,
Please accept this electronic request for public records made under OPRA, Title 39, and the common law right of access. I am not required to fill out an official form or use a particular software platform to submit my request per NJSA 47:1A-6(f), which states that an email from a requestor including all of the information required on the adopted form shall suffice in place of a completed form as a valid government record request.
I HAVE NOT been convicted of any indictable offense under the laws of New Jersey, any other state, or the United States.
I WILL NOT use the requested government records for a commercial purpose.
I AM NOT seeking records in connection with a legal proceeding.
Records requested: Copies of all crash reports and criminal complaints related to fatal crashes that occurred in the year 2024 and were investigated by municipal police.
My preferred delivery method for response(s) to this request is by E-mail as attachments. Please confirm you have received this request. If you are not the custodian of records, please forward my request to that person and provide their email address to me for future reference.
Yours faithfully,
Charlie Kratovil
-- Attach a non-image file and/or reply ABOVE THIS LINE with a message,
and it will be sent to staff on this request. --
East Brunswick Township Public Records
Record request #25-4 has been closed. The closure reason
supplied was:
Greetings,
This is in response to your Open Public Records Act (OPRA)
request for access to East Brunswick Police Department
Records.
Your OPRA request sought access to the following records:
1. Copies of all crash reports and criminal complaints
related to fatal crashes that occurred in the year 2024 and
were investigated by municipal police.
Be advised that any motor vehicle crash that results in any
type of injury, including a fatality, is classified as a
“Motor Vehicle Crash w/ Injury” in our Records Management
System (RMS). As such, our RMS cannot be explicitly queried
for crashes that resulted in a fatality.
For this reason, your request for “crash reports and criminal
complaints related to fatal crashes that occurred in the year
2024” is overly broad and requires research. The request here
would require a Records Custodian to search through a wide
range of records and analyze which records happen to be
related to your request.
More specifically, a Custodian would need to review all 173
“Motor Vehicle Crash w/ Injury” classified incidents from
2024 to determine if they resulted in the fatality of an
involved person. This type of records research is not
required, and the request is therefore overly broad (See
Burnett, 415 N.J. Super. at 515-16).
In closing, we are unable to locate responsive crash reports
and criminal complaints without additional incident
information such as names of involved persons, dates,
locations, etc.
The East Brunswick Police Department reserves the right to
raise any other grounds in support of this response. The
failure of the East Brunswick Police Department to assert any
exception, exemption, or privilege does not act as a waiver
of any ground for denial.
This OPRA request is now deemed answered and closed.
Regards,
Records Custodian
[1]View Request 25-4
https://eastbrunswicktownshipnj.nextrequ...
[2][IMG]
Questions about your request? Reply to this email or sign in to contact
staff at East Brunswick Township.
Technical support: See our [3]help page
References
Visible links
1. https://eastbrunswicktownshipnj.nextrequ...
2. https://www.nextrequest.com/
3. https://www.nextrequest.civicplus.help/h...
Dear East Brunswick Township,
Following up on the denial of access to records requested in request #25-4, I would like to draw your attention to this resource: https://www.nj.gov/njsp/info/fatalacc/20...
As you can see, there are at least four fatal crashes that occurred in the Township last year:
East Brunswick Twsp 08/23/2024 0502 New Jersey Turnpike MP 81.2
East Brunswick Twsp 08/06/2024 1631 County 617
East Brunswick Twsp 07/25/2024 0200 State Highway 18
East Brunswick Twsp 02/12/2024 1754 Rues Lane
Under OPRA, Title 39, and the common law right of access, please provide copies of all four crash reports, and copies of any charges filed related to these incidents. Thanks for your assistance.
Yours faithfully,
Charlie Kratovil
-- Attach a non-image file and/or reply ABOVE THIS LINE with a message,
and it will be sent to staff on this request. --
East Brunswick Township Public Records
Your record request #25-4 has been submitted successfully.
Thank you for submitting your Open Public Records Act (OPRA)
request!
You can expect to receive a response to your request for
access to government records within seven (7) business days
after the records custodian receives the request. Requests
for a “commercial purpose” have a fourteen (14) business day
response timeframe.
If the record you requested is not currently available or is
in storage, we will advise you when it can be made available
and provide the estimated cost of reproduction.
Thank you,
Records Custodian
Township of East Brunswick
[1]View Request 25-4
https://eastbrunswicktownshipnj.nextrequ...
As the requester, you can always see the status of your
request by signing into the East Brunswick Township
[2]portal.
If you haven't already signed in, you may need to [3]activate
or setup your account to get started. Once your account is
activated, you can communicate directly with the East
Brunswick Township through NextRequest.
[4][IMG]
Reply to this email or sign in to contact East Brunswick Township.
[5]Change your email settings | [6]Visit our help center
References
Visible links
1. https://eastbrunswicktownshipnj.nextrequ...
2. https://eastbrunswicktownshipnj.nextrequ...
3. https://eastbrunswicktownshipnj.nextrequ...
4. https://www.nextrequest.com/
5. https://eastbrunswicktownshipnj.nextrequ...
6. https://www.nextrequest.civicplus.help/h...
-- Attach a non-image file and/or reply ABOVE THIS LINE with a message,
and it will be sent to staff on this request. --
East Brunswick Township Public Records
Record request #25-4 has been reopened. You can see it
anytime at the link below.
[1]View Request 25-4
https://eastbrunswicktownshipnj.nextrequ...
[2][IMG]
Questions about your request? Reply to this email or sign in to contact
staff at East Brunswick Township.
Technical support: See our [3]help page
References
Visible links
1. https://eastbrunswicktownshipnj.nextrequ...
2. https://www.nextrequest.com/
3. https://www.nextrequest.civicplus.help/h...
-- Attach a non-image file and/or reply ABOVE THIS LINE with a message,
and it will be sent to staff on this request. --
East Brunswick Township Public Records
An invoice has been created for record request #25-4.
Greetings,
This is in response to your Open Public Records Act (OPRA)
request for access to East Brunswick Police Department
Records.
Your OPRA request sought access to crash reports and criminal
complaints related to the following fatal crashes that
occurred in the Township of East Brunswick in 2024:
1. East Brunswick Twsp 08/23/2024 0502 New Jersey Turnpike MP
81.2
2. East Brunswick Twsp 08/06/2024 1631 County 617
3. East Brunswick Twsp 07/25/2024 0200 State Highway 18
4. East Brunswick Twsp 02/12/2024 1754 Rues Lane
At the outset, be advised that there are no records
responsive to item #1. It should be noted that the East
Brunswick Police Department is not responsible for
investigating motor vehicle crashes that occur on the New
Jersey Turnpike. As such, you should submit your request to
the appropriate Custodian of Records at the New Jersey State
Police.
The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Crash Investigation Reports (aka
“crash reports”) stemming from Incidents 2 through 4 will be
provided and are responsive to your request. No criminal
charges were filed as a result of these three (3) motor
vehicle crash incidents. Therefore, there are no records
responsive to your request for related criminal complaints.
Your OPRA request for crash reports is subject to a $5.00 fee
per report in addition to any applicable page copy fees. The
applicable fee of $5.00 for each of the three (3) reports
totals $15.00.
Prior to emailing the record(s), payment must be sent to:
East Brunswick Police Department
Records Custodian - OPRA
Reference: # 25-4
P.O. Box 1081
East Brunswick, NJ 08816
Alternatively, payment can be submitted in person during
regular business hours at the East Brunswick Police Records
Bureau located at 1 Jean Walling Civic Center Drive in East
Brunswick, NJ.
The record(s) will be transmitted to you electronically after
receipt of full payment. Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5.b.,
there will be no additional fee for this delivery method.
The Government Records Council (GRC) has held that pursuant
to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(b) and N.J.S.A. 39:4-131, a custodian may
charge an additional fee of up to $5 to cover the
administrative costs of providing motor vehicle crash
reports. See Donato v. Jersey City Police Dep’t, GRC
Complaint No. 2005-251 (Interim Order dated December 19,
2005) and Truland v. Borough of Madison, GRC Complaint No.
2006-88 (September 2007).
If we do not receive payment prior to January 27, 2025, we
will assume that you are not interested in paying the
applicable fees.
The East Brunswick Police Department reserves the right to
raise any other grounds in support of this response. The
failure of the East Brunswick Police Department to assert any
exception, exemption, or privilege does not act as a waiver
of any ground for denial.
Regards,
Records Custodian
[1]View Request 25-4
https://eastbrunswicktownshipnj.nextrequ...
[2][IMG]
Questions about your request? Reply to this email or sign in to contact
staff at East Brunswick Township.
Technical support: See our [3]help page
References
Visible links
1. https://eastbrunswicktownshipnj.nextrequ...
2. https://www.nextrequest.com/
3. https://www.nextrequest.civicplus.help/h...
-- Attach a non-image file and/or reply ABOVE THIS LINE with a message,
and it will be sent to staff on this request. --
East Brunswick Township Public Records
Record request #25-4 has been closed. The closure reason
supplied was:
Greetings,
This OPRA request is now deemed answered and closed.
Thank you,
Records Custodian
[1]View Request 25-4
https://eastbrunswicktownshipnj.nextrequ...
[2][IMG]
Questions about your request? Reply to this email or sign in to contact
staff at East Brunswick Township.
Technical support: See our [3]help page
References
Visible links
1. https://eastbrunswicktownshipnj.nextrequ...
2. https://www.nextrequest.com/
3. https://www.nextrequest.civicplus.help/h...
Dear East Brunswick Township,
Regarding request #25-4, as you are attempting to charge me $5 each for the NJ-TR1 reports per 39:4-131, then you surely will not be withholding (redacting) any portion of them as confidential per the same statute. Am I correct or are you planning to charge me for redacted records? Please clarify, thank you.
Yours faithfully,
Charlie Kratovil
Dear East Brunswick Township Public Records,
Regarding request #25-4, please confirm if the records are redacted and advise what time tomorrow I can come by to pick them up to avoid the $5 fees.
Yours sincerely,
Charlie Kratovil
Dear East Brunswick Township,
Regarding request #25-4 , please confirm if the records are redacted and advise what time tomorrow I can come by to pick them up to avoid the $5 fees.
Yours faithfully,
Charlie Kratovil
-- Attach a non-image file and/or reply ABOVE THIS LINE with a message,
and it will be sent to staff on this request. --
East Brunswick Township Public Records
A message was sent to you regarding record request #25-4:
Greetings,
Open Public Records Act (OPRA) requests for motor vehicle
crash reports are subject to redaction pursuant
to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. and the Federal Drivers Privacy
Protection Act 18 U.S.C. § 2721 et seq. in observance
with N.J.S.A. 47:1A-9a.
Since Title 39 of the New Jersey States Annotated does not
supersede the provisions set forth by OPRA, personal and
sensitive information specifically exempt from disclosure
must undergo redaction and will not be provided as a matter
of adherence to legal obligations.
Your original request for crash reports is subject to a $5
fee since the request was not made in person. This fee is
also in accordance with East Brunswick Township Ordinance §
3-114, which provides the schedule of fees for copies of
documents.
Crash reports are available at the East Brunswick Police
Records Bureau, which has operating hours from Monday through
Friday from 8 am to 4 pm. Since you will be requesting the
crash reports in person, they will be provided to you at the
standard copy fee of $.05 per page. For your convenience, the
crash report numbers stemming from the three (3) fatal
crashes are 24-08434, 24-40341, and 24-42820.
Regards,
Records Custodian
[1]View Request 25-4
https://eastbrunswicktownshipnj.nextrequ...
[2][IMG]
Questions about your request? Reply to this email or sign in to contact
staff at East Brunswick Township.
Technical support: See our [3]help page
References
Visible links
1. https://eastbrunswicktownshipnj.nextrequ...
2. https://www.nextrequest.com/
3. https://www.nextrequest.civicplus.help/h...