Dear Manna:

Thank you for submitting your request for government records of Rutgers,
The State University of New Jersey. Your request has been received and is
being processed in accordance with the New Jersey Open Public Records Act
(OPRA), NJSA 47:1 et seq. Your request was received through the online,
public portal [1]Rutgers University Open Public Records Center of this
office on 6/3/2025 and given the reference number R009847-060325.  

Your request will be forwarded to the Office of the Custodian of
Records for review and processing, including determining the volume of
responsive documents and any potential costs associated with satisfying
your request. Please note, the N.J. Open Public Records Act does not
require the University to create new documents, to conduct research, or to
answer questions for information.

Records Requested: Arrest Date:2/10/2023 Incident Number:23RS00101 Please
provide the following documents: Arrest report Incident report Mugshot

The Office of the Custodian of Records uses the [2]Rutgers University Open
Public Records Center to communicate with you, respond to and track all
open public records requests.  If you have submitted your request
electronically through Rutgers Open Public Records Center portal, you have
already been required to create an account.

Notice to First Time Portal Users:

If you are a first time user and did not submit your request through the
public portal, you are receiving this request because the Rutgers Office
of the Custodian has created an account for you at the [3]Rutgers
University Open Public Records Center . 

To access your account and view your request:

1.Go to: [4]Rutgers University Open Public Records Center.

2. Select/open  "My Records Center"
3. Enter your email and password as provided in your previously received
Welcome Letter.

You can monitor your request through the [5]Rutgers University Open Public
Records Center at "My Request Center."

Thank you and if you have questions, you  may contact the OPRA
Administrator at (973) 972-1981.

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

University Custodian of Records

Office of Enterprise Risk Management, Ethics and Compliance

65 Bergen Street, Ste. 1346 

Newark, New Jersey 07101-1709

Phone: (973) 972-1981

Fax: (973) 972-2396

References

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4. https://u8387795.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/clic...
5. https://u8387795.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/clic...

Attachments:
[1]R009847.pdf

--- Please respond above this line ---

Reference: Rutgers Open Public Records Request,  # R009847-060325

Dear Manna,

Please accept this letter as the University Custodian of Records response
to your request for records pursuant to the Open Public Records Act
(“OPRA”). On June 03, 2025, this office received your request for the
following:

“Arrest Date:2/10/2023

Incident Number:23RS00101

Please provide the following documents:

Arrest report

Incident report

Mugshot”

The University has reviewed your request. The responsive document(s) with
redactions for privacy is available to you through the Rutgers University
Open Records Center. OPRA specifically places on the University “a
responsibility and an obligation to safeguard from public access a
citizen’s personal information with which it has been entrusted when
disclosure thereof would violate the citizen’s reasonable expectation of
privacy.” Serrano v. South Brunswick Twp., 358 N.J. Super. 352, 368 (App.
Div. 2003). Please log in to the [2]Records Center and "My Request
Center" to retrieve the appropriate responsive document(s). The
document(s) is also attached to this email for your convenience. 

In response to your request for an incident report, we have reviewed your
request pursuant to OPRA and determined that the document responsive
thereto is a criminal investigatory record and is thus exempt from
disclosure. A “criminal investigatory record” is defined by the statute as
“a record which is not required by law to be made, maintained or kept on
file that is held by a law enforcement agency which pertains to any
criminal investigation or related civil enforcement
proceeding.” N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1. The Government Records Council (“GRC”)
has held that this definition “includes commonly made police records such
as incident reports, supplemental reports and operations reports.” Blue v.
Wall Township Police Department, GRC Complaint 2002-47 (August 22, 2003).
The GRC has consistently held that investigation reports are not required
to be made, maintained or kept by law and are exempt from OPRA.
See Williams v. Union County Prosecutor’s Office, GRC Complaint No.
2019-21 (July 28, 2020); Briggs v. City of Trenton, GRC Complaint No.
2007-58 (March 28, 2007); McCrone v. Burlington County Prosecutor’s
Office, GRC Complaint 2005-146 (November 22, 2005). Accordingly, your
request is denied because criminal investigative reports are exempt from
OPRA as criminal investigatory records. 
 
Moreover, as the Court in North Jersey Media Group, Inc. v. Township of
Lyndhurst recently held, “Treating internal agency directives on record
creation or retention as ‘required by law’ would also create an anomaly
under the law…. Thus, an agency may, through formally promulgated
regulations, both require the making of a document, and exempt it from
access.” 441 N.J. Super. 70, 103 (App. Div. 2015), aff’d in part, rev’d on
other grounds, 229 N.J. 541 (2017). In that case, the Court ruled that
police reports, incident reports, operation reports, investigation reports
and offense reports are not required by law to be created and are thus
exempt under OPRA. Id at 106. Accordingly, because the incident report
responsive to your above request is a criminal investigatory record, your
request is denied.

If your request has been denied, you may take your appeal to the New
Jersey Government Records Council (NJGRC), which has mediation and dispute
resolution procedures, or you may file a lawsuit with the New Jersey
Superior Court, as provided by N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1, et seq. Your rights of
appeal is provided with this letter at [3]Public Facing Pages of the
Rutgers University Open Public Records Request Center. You may also review
the brochure at the [4]Rutgers Custodian of Records page or visit the
[5]NJGRC page.

If you have any questions, or wish to discuss this further, you may
contact my office at 973.972.8000.

Sincerely,

Ashley Sanchez

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

To monitor the progress or update this request please log into the [6]Open
Public Records Center.

References

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4. https://u8387795.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/clic...
5. https://u8387795.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/clic...
6. https://u8387795.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/clic...