Diversity statistics, hiring, promoting, motor vehicle stops, and arrests
Dear Gloucester 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:
Please provide the following information for the Gloucester Township Police Department:
1)Diversity statistics broken down by race and sex for current sworn, non-supervision positions.
2)Diversity statistics broken down by race and sex for current sworn, supervisory positions.
3) Your hiring policy, procedures, guidelines, etc.
4)Any record which originated from a municipal employee and recommended the hiring of a specific employee from Jan 1, 2018 to present.
5)Your promotion policy, procedures, guidelines, etc.
6) Any record which originated from a municipal employee and recommended the promotion of a specific employee from Jan 1, 2018 to present
7)Diversity statistics broken down by race and sex for the occupants during motor vehicles for the last 12 months.
8)Diversity statistics broken down by race and sex for all individuals arrested during the last 12 months.
This request should be considered to to cover any non-privileged document in the broadest meaning of the term “document”, including without limitation handwritten notes, memoranda, correspondence, electronic and facsimile communications, documents maintain in paper or electronic format, and drafts.
Yours faithfully,
Equality Now
Good afternoon,
Please see attached memo from Captain Brian McKendry of the Police
Department, requesting an extension until November 30, 2020 , due to the
volume of information requested . Please kindly respond to this email, so
we have documentation that it was received. Any questions please contact
our office at 856 228 4000 ext. 3236.
Thank you
G.T. Clerk
On November 2, 2020, the Township received of a request made by you under
the Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”) for certain information and records
pertaining to the Gloucester Township Police Department. You made the
following eight (8) numbered requests:
1) Diversity statistics broken down by race and sex for current sworn,
non-supervision positions.
2) Diversity statistics broken down by race and sex for current sworn,
supervisory positions.
3) Your hiring policy, procedures, guidelines, etc.
4) Any record which originated from a municipal employee and recommended
the hiring of a specific employee from Jan 1, 2018 to present.
5) Your promotion policy, procedures, guidelines, etc.
6) Any record which originated from a municipal employee and recommended
the promotion of a specific employee from Jan 1, 2018 to present
7) Diversity statistics broken down by race and sex for the occupants
during motor vehicles for the last 12. months.
8) Diversity statistics broken down by race and sex for all individuals
arrested during the last 12 months.
The below and attached shall constitute the response on behalf of the
custodian of records of the Township.
Requests #1 and #2: I have attached the information for Request #1
and #2.
Request #3: I have included a copy of the Township’s Employment
Procedure from our Policies and Procedures Manual below. For your
information, also please note that Gloucester Township has adopted Title
11 of the Revised Statutes of New Jersey. Accordingly, the Township is
governed by the NJ Civil Service statutes and regulations as they pertain
to employee hiring.
Request #4: The OPRA request for “[a]ny record which originated
from a municipal employee and recommended the hiring of a specific
employee from Jan 1, 2018 to present” fails to seek specific identifiable
government records and is overly broad. Because this request fails to
identify the specific government records sought and would force the
Township to research its voluminous records in order to determine if any
documents meeting the subjectively described criterion set forth in said
request, the request is overly broad and invalid under OPRA pursuant to
MAG Entertainment, LLC v. Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 375 N.J.
Super. 534, 546 (App. Div. 2005), Bent v. Stafford Police Department, 381
N.J. Super. 30, 37 (App. Div. 2005), New Jersey Builders Association v.
New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing, 390 N.J. Super. 166, 180 (App.
Div. 2007), and the Council’s decisions in Schuler v. Borough of
Bloomsbury, GRC Complaint No. 2007-151 (February 2009) and Robert A.
Very v. Borough of South Bound Brook, GRC Complaint No. 2009-108 (April 8,
2010).
Request #5: Gloucester Township does not have any documents or records
pertaining to internal promotion policy, procedures, or guidelines. For
your information, please note that Gloucester Township has adopted Title
11 of the Revised Statutes of New Jersey. Accordingly, the Township is
governed by the NJ Civil Service statutes and regulations as they pertain
to employee promotions.
Request #6: The OPRA request for ”[a]ny record which originated from a
municipal employee and recommended the promotion of a specific employee
from Jan 1, 2018 to present” fails to seek specific identifiable
government records and is overly broad. Because this request fails to
identify the specific government records sought and would force the
Township to research its voluminous records in order to determine if any
documents meeting the subjectively described criterion set forth in said
request, the request is overly broad and invalid under OPRA pursuant to
MAG Entertainment, LLC v. Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 375 N.J.
Super. 534, 546 (App. Div. 2005), Bent v. Stafford Police Department, 381
N.J. Super. 30, 37 (App. Div. 2005), New Jersey Builders Association v.
New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing, 390 N.J. Super. 166, 180 (App.
Div. 2007), and the Council’s decisions in Schuler v. Borough of
Bloomsbury, GRC Complaint No. 2007-151 (February 2009) and Robert A.
Very v. Borough of South Bound Brook, GRC Complaint No. 2009-108 (April 8,
2010).
Request #7 and #8. I have attached the information for Request #7 and #8.
Thank you,
Township Clerk
[Gloucester Township request email]