Dear North Haledon Borough,

Please accept this electronic request for public records made under OPRA 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 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:

The body cam footage at the American Legion 512 High mountain Road North Haledon NJ 07508 830 pm-end. For the altercation that occurred during the Manchester Junior Falcons Meeting including the footage outside and there after.

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,

Nicole Gorter

Dear Colleen Carver,

I received the email. I am trying to create an account and it’s saying “ Please contact your agency's Evidence.com administrator to obtain an invite code.” Please let me know what I should do. Thanks

Yours sincerely,

Nicole Gorter

Dear Colleen Carver,

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing regarding my formal Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”) request submitted on [insert date], seeking the complete, unedited Body Worn Camera (“BWC”) footage from [insert brief description of incident/date].

On 4/26/25, you produced a grossly deficient and heavily edited video totaling only 1 minute and 46 seconds, with audio manipulated, muted, and inconsistently restored, without any legal justification, redaction log, or statutory citation for the withholding of material — as required by N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(g) and Attorney General Law Enforcement Directive 2015-1 (and subsequent updates).

Your failure to produce the complete BWC footage or to provide lawful justification constitutes a willful and knowing violation of New Jersey law. Your actions obstruct public access to government records and violate both OPRA and the New Jersey common law right of access to public documents.

FINAL DEMAND:
I hereby demand that the North Haledon Police Department:
1. Produce the entire from 8:30- end of meeting, unedited BWC footage responsive to my OPRA request, with full, uninterrupted video and audio;
2. Provide a written legal basis for each and every redaction or edit previously made, along with a detailed privilege/redaction log citing specific statutory exemptions.

You have five (5) business days from the date of this letter to fully comply.

Be advised: If you fail to fully comply, I am fully prepared to initiate litigation in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Passaic County, seeking:
• Immediate injunctive relief compelling production of the full BWC footage;
• Assessment of attorneys’ fees and court costs pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-6;
• Punitive damages as permitted under the law for willful OPRA violations;
• Referral of this matter to the New Jersey Government Records Council and the Office of the Attorney General for investigation of your improper handling of public records.

This letter shall serve as your final notice. I strongly suggest you seek legal counsel immediately.

GOVERN YOURSELVES ACCORDINGLY.

Sincerely,
Nicole Gorter

Dear North Haledon Borough,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Open Public Records Act reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of North Haledon Borough's handling of my OPRA request 'Body cam footage 4/16/25 at American Legion 830pm-end'.

[ GIVE DETAILS ABOUT YOUR COMPLAINT HERE ]

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing regarding my formal Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”) request submitted on [insert date], seeking the complete, unedited Body Worn Camera (“BWC”) footage from [insert brief description of incident/date].

On 4/26/25, you produced a grossly deficient and heavily edited video totaling only 1 minute and 45 seconds, with audio manipulated, muted, and inconsistently restored, without any legal justification, redaction log, or statutory citation for the withholding of material — as required by N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(g) and Attorney General Law Enforcement Directive 2015-1 (and subsequent updates).

Your failure to produce the complete BWC footage or to provide lawful justification constitutes a willful and knowing violation of New Jersey law. Your actions obstruct public access to government records and violate both OPRA and the New Jersey common law right of access to public documents.

FINAL DEMAND:
I hereby demand that the North Haledon Police Department:
1. Produce the entire, unedited BWC footage responsive to my OPRA request, with full, uninterrupted video and audio;
2. Provide a written legal basis for each and every redaction or edit previously made, along with a detailed privilege/redaction log citing specific statutory exemptions.

You have five (5) business days from the date of this letter to fully comply.

Be advised: If you fail to fully comply, I am fully prepared to initiate litigation in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Passaic County, seeking:
• Immediate injunctive relief compelling production of the full BWC footage;
• Assessment of attorneys’ fees and court costs pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-6;
• Punitive damages as permitted under the law for willful OPRA violations;
• Referral of this matter to the New Jersey Government Records Council and the Office of the Attorney General for investigation of your improper handling of public records.

A full history of my OPRA request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://opramachine.com/request/body_cam...

Yours faithfully,

Nicole Gorter

Dear Colleen Carver,

Dear Det. Sgt. Carver:

I write in response to your continued assertion that the 1 minute and 46 second video produced in response to my OPRA request constitutes the “entire video maintained by and on file” with the North Haledon Police Department, and your reference to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 and Burnett v. Cnty. of Bergen, 198 N.J. 408 (2009) as justification for withholding any further footage. Your position is both factually and legally deficient.

1. The Footage Is Incomplete and Suggests Manual Intervention

The BWC footage you produced does not capture the entirety of the incident that occurred at the American Legion on April 16, 2025. The footage begins with the video already recording while the audio is manually activated only after some time has elapsed, which is indicative of deliberate control over recording parameters — not standard passive operation. This raises a legitimate concern about improper redaction, editing, or incomplete preservation.

Moreover, the footage excludes critical moments including:
• Slanderous and defamatory statements made about me by Cristine Swenty/Pierson;
• An assault committed against me by Liza Amezquita;
• The announcement made by Nicholas Pierson that I was banned from the Falcons; this was done against there own by laws.
The only moment your footage did capture:
• The moment when I was shoved in the back by a North Haledon police officer as I peacefully exited.

I possess my own recording of the full meeting, which demonstrates conclusively that the BWC footage you provided is fragmentary and unrepresentative of the full interaction.

2. The Privacy Exception Is Misapplied

Your invocation of Burnett and the general privacy provisions of N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 is misplaced and does not relieve the Department of its duty to comply with OPRA. Burnett involved the wholesale disclosure of personal data from government-maintained databases, not a request for footage involving a public official’s interaction with a private citizen in a quasi-public setting, in which that citizen (myself) was directly involved and personally recorded the event.

I am not a disinterested third party. I am the subject of the footage, and the footage depicts an interaction in which I was slandered, defamed, physically assaulted, and then forcibly touched by a police officer. Any asserted privacy interest of third parties must be balanced against my affirmative right to access footage that directly pertains to my treatment by law enforcement and other individuals in a matter of public concern. See North Jersey Media Group, Inc. v. Township of Lyndhurst, 229 N.J. 541 (2017).

3. Legal Compliance Is Still Required

To date, the Department has failed to:
• Produce the full, unedited BWC footage from the moment the officer arrived through my departure;
• Provide any form of redaction or privilege log as required by N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(g);
• Cite any specific statutory exemption that would lawfully justify the limited production or manipulation of the footage.

Your response amounts to a blanket denial without legal support and appears designed to frustrate public access to records in violation of OPRA.

Final Notice

Unless I receive a full, unedited copy of the BWC footage from April 16, 2025, or a proper and complete privilege log within five (5) business days, I will have no choice but to initiate litigation in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Passaic County. I will seek:
• Immediate injunctive relief compelling production of the complete footage;
• An award of attorneys’ fees and costs pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-6;
• Punitive damages for any willful and knowing violation of OPRA;
• Referral to the Government Records Council and the Office of the Attorney General for further investigation into your office’s handling of this request.

This shall serve as your final opportunity to comply. I strongly suggest you consult with legal counsel.

Govern yourselves accordingly.

Sincerely,
Nicole Gorter