Body-Worn Camera Footage, Child Predator Arrest of Daniel R. Gallagher, Staples, Route 70, Evesham Township, NJ — September 14, 2022
OPRA Request — Body-Worn Camera Footage, Child Predator Arrest of Daniel R. Gallagher, Staples, Route 70, Evesham Township, NJ — September 14, 2022
This request seeks a limited number of body-worn camera recordings related to the Evesham Township Police Department's arrest of Daniel R. Gallagher, 48, of Marlton, NJ, on September 14, 2022, at the Staples on Route 70 in Evesham Township. Gallagher was arrested after traveling to the location believing he would meet a 13-year-old girl he had been communicating with through a chat application, who was in fact an undercover law enforcement officer. The operation was conducted jointly by the Evesham Township Police Department, the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office High-Tech Crimes Unit, and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations.
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:
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,
Bill Johnson
Good afternoon,
Thank you for contacting the NJ Government Records Council ("GRC"). The
information provided by the GRC is guidance and does not constitute legal
advice or a final decision of the GRC regarding whether a particular
record is exempt from disclosure or not since the provisions of the Open
Public Records Act ("OPRA") are applied to the specific facts of the
request and/or complaint. Specifically, the GRC adjudicates denial of
access complaints filed against state and local government records
custodians.
The GRC first notes that OPRA is one means by which an individual can gain
access to records in the State of New Jersey (informal, common law or
discovery are some other methods). Thus, it is not the only method an
individual may use when seeking information from New Jersey public
agencies. Further, the requestor is the only individual capable of
invoking OPRA either by submitting the request on the agency’s official
OPRA request form or by citing to OPRA in an equivalent writing. If an
individual chooses to invoke OPRA in a request, then the statutory
provisions will apply. However, some agencies have adopted policies
requiring an individual to submit an OPRA request for records. Such a
policy is at the agency’s prerogative and not statutorily required by
OPRA, nor a GRC directive. Based on the foregoing, it is never ”necessary”
for anyone to file an OPRA request to obtain any type of government record
(unless agency policy dictates such).
The GRC is not the agency that maintains the records you are seeking. This
is because the GRC is not a central repository for all records made or
maintained in the State of New Jersey. Instead, you must contact the
custodial agency or other records custodians who maintain the records you
seek. In this instance, you will need to submit your OPRA request to the
law enforcement agenc(ies) you believe are maintaining the records sought,
which in this case appears to be the Township of Evesham. OPRA information
and an online portal for the Township is available at
[1]https://www.eveshampd.org/index.php/en/o....
Generally, OPRA provides that "... government records shall be readily
accessible for inspection, copying, or examination .... with certain
exceptions ..." N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1. Additionally, OPRA defines a government
record as a record "made, maintained or kept on file ... or that has been
received in the course of ... official business ..." N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1.
Also, OPRA requires a custodian to grant access, deny access, request an
extension of the statutory response time, or seek clarification of the
request as soon as possible but no later than seven (7) business days from
receipt of the request. N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(i). OPRA further requires that
custodians prove and inform requestors of the lawful basis for any denial
of government records. N.J.S.A. 47:1A-6.
If you make an official OPRA request of a records custodian in New Jersey
and you believe you are unlawfully denied access to government records,
you may file an action in Superior Court and pay the court filing fee or
file a denial of access complaint with our agency (the Government Records
Council). Please note that filing in court may result in your complaint
being resolved more quickly than filing with the GRC. Additionally, the
court can assess your common law right of access whereas the GRC cannot.
Should you choose to file a complaint in Superior Court, you must contact
the Court Clerk for the county in which you plan to file. Should you
choose to file a complaint with the GRC, you must download a Denial of
Access Complaint form from our website
([2]http://www.nj.gov/grc/register/), fill it out and send it to our
agency.
All Denial of Access Complaints must be submitted to the following:
Government Records Council
101 South Broad Street
PO Box 819
Trenton NJ 08625-0819
or
(609) 633-6337 Fax
or
[3][email address]
Sincerely,
Frank F. Caruso
Government Records Council
Executive Director
Tel: (609) 292-6830 | Fax: (609) 633-6337
[4]http://www.state.nj.us/grc/