Dear Manalapan Township,

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:

Body cam footage and dash cam footage for Officer A. Diagne on November 10, 2023 in response to Police Crash Investigation Report 23MN41357.

Also, body cam footage and dash cam footage from any other officers and/or vehicles responding to the accident documented in New Jersey Police Crash Investigation Report 23MN41357.

Please provide any footage prior to, during, and to conclusion after the contact of this accident and investigation in its entirety.

Yours faithfully,

Thomas X. Smith III

Dear Carmen Sevilla,

Your response to our OPRA request required a sworn statement. See Paff v. Dep’t of Labor, 392 N.J. Super 334 (App. Div. 2007). Pursuant to Paff, an agency to which a request is made shall be required to produce sworn statements by agency personnel setting forth in detail:
1) The search undertaken to satisfy the request;
2) The documents responsive to the request;
3) The determination of whether the document or any part thereof is confidential and the source of the confidential information;
4) A statement of the agency’s document retention/destruction policy and the last date on which documents that may have been responsive to the request were destroyed.
[Paff v. N.J. Dep't of Labor, 392 N.J. Super. 334, 341 (App. Div. 2007)]

Please accept this as a formal request for the sworn statement you were required to produce. Please advise if portions of the video have been redacted. The audio of the BWC footage appears to be incomplete as the audio does not start until 30 seconds into the footage. A Vaughn index is required to explain why such audio is not provided. Additionally, other officers responded to the scene but their camera footage was not provided. Is this redacted, or non-existent? Officers are required to begin recording with their BWC upon arrival at the scene. Please advise if additional recordings are being withheld and, pursuant to Paff, please advise as to why they were not provided if they exist.

Yours sincerely,

Thomas X. Smith III