Asbury Park Protest Arrests 6-1-2020
ASK NJ Media made this OPRA request to Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office This request has been closed to new correspondence. Contact us if you think it should be reopened.
Dear Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office,
This is a request for public records made under OPRA and the common law right of access. I am not required to fill out an official form. Please acknowledge receipt of this message.
Records requested:
Please send your response in PDF form.
1. Copies of any police CAD report(s) with narrative(s), police incident reports, arrest report(s) criminal charge complaint(s), affidavit(s) of probable cause, and indictments against the 12 citizens who got arrested at the Asbury Park Protest that took place on 6-1-2020.
*I don't know any other details other than what I read in the article linked down below.
https://www.nj.com/monmouth/2020/07/he-s...
Please include a Record Index with your response.
*A record index that identifies each record requested and the specific legal basis for a denial of access (including redactions) to each record.
Yours faithfully,
ASK NJ Media Co.
In reference to the below record request, the Monmouth County Prosecutor's
Office does not have a record that identifies the "12 citizens" that the
nj.com article indicates were arrested in Asbury Park on 6-1-20. I cannot
attest to the accuracy of that information. The record request is invalid
because it does not provide the names of the persons, or case or complaint
numbers, associated with the records that you seek. The request initially
is one for information -- who was arrested at the June 1, 2020 Asbury Park
protest? -- and I would have to do investigation and research to learn
that fact before I could respond to your request for associated records.
See Bent v. Township of Stafford Police Dep't, 381 N.J. Super. 30, 37
(App. Div. 2005) ("OPRA only allows requests for records, not requests for
information" and "is not intended as a research tool ..."). The request
is being denied on this ground.
On June 20, 2020, ASK NJ Media submitted a record request for the weekly
report that lists all of the felony complaints issued in Monmouth County
for May 29 through June 4, 2020. We provided that record on July 7, 2020.
That report provides information that could assist you in submitting a
sufficiently definite request for particular records relating to arrests
in Asbury Park on June 1 and 2, 2020 (i.e., defendant's name, complaint
number, case number).
Some of the complaints in the felony complaint report might arise from the
“protest,” others not. It is reasonable to expect that some, if not most,
arrests that arose from the "protest" would have resulted in disorderly
persons or ordinance violations. Those cases would be handled in
municipal court and not by this Office; they would not appear on the
felony complaint report, and this Office would not have records in
connection with them.