Elizabeth Police Public Records Request (personnel and crime data)
Hi,
I would like to make the following three public records requests:
1) I would like to request the following information for all crimes reported between 2005 and 2020 (if your system does not go back that far, more recent data will be sufficient). Additionally, if some of the below information is not available, providing only available information will be sufficient:
i) Incident Date
ii) Incident Time
iii) Incident description
iv) Incident Address (Block level is ok for privacy)
v) Incident Address Coordinates (if available)
vi) Premise Descrip (i.e. Street, Residence, etc)
vii) Police Precinct (or equivalent)
viii) Police Beat (or equivalent)
ix) Case status (i..e arrest, exceptional clearance, active, etc)
x) Incident Number
Please let me know if there will be a fee before beginning. If possible, I would like these records transmitted electronically. In the case that given your department's manner of record retention this request appears unduly burdensome, please let me know if there is a way I can modify it to make it easier to fulfill---I am hoping for an extract of information from a central database (even if this means that some of the information requested is not available), I do not wish to request that information is extracted individually from case files.
2) I would like to request shapefiles (or if not available pdf maps) of police division and beat boundaries from 2005 to the present. Only providing shapefiles for years before and after boundaries changed will be sufficient.
3)
I would like to request the following information about all Syracuse Police sworn personnel active between the years 2005 and 2020:
i) Sex (M,F)
ii) Race/Ethnicity (White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Other---if the department uses different categorizations then this is alright)
iii) Date joined department
iv) Year of birth
v) Each date employee began new position with following information about new position
a) Previous position (i.e. officer, detective, sergeant, captain, etc)
b) New position (i.e. officer, detective, sergeant, captain, etc)
c) Location of old position (as granular as possible, so ideally for officers I would like to know which beat (or equivalent) they were assigned, if this is not possible then division, etc)
d) Location of new position (as granular as possible, so ideally for officers I would like to know which beat (or equivalent) they were assigned, if this is not possible then division, etc)
vi) Date employee separated (if applicable)
vii) Deidentified employee id (I don't need officer names, but do need a unique id so I can see the same employee across multiple position changes)
Thank you for your help! If possible, I would like these records to be transmitted electronically. Please let me know if there will be any fees before beginning. In the case that given your department's manner of record retention this request appears unduly burdensome, please let me know if there is a way I can modify it to make it easier to fulfill.
Thank you for your help,
Sam
Good Afternoon,
Please see attachment.
Grace Sequeira
City Clerk's Office
Deputy Municipal Clerk
50 Winfield Scott Plaza
Elizabeth, N.J. 07201
908-820-4130
Good Afternoon,
Please see attachment.
Grace Sequeira
City Clerk's Office
Deputy Municipal Clerk
50 Winfield Scott Plaza
Elizabeth, N.J. 07201
908-820-4130
Good Morning,
Please see attachment.
Grace Sequeira
City Clerk's Office
Deputy Municipal Clerk
50 Winfield Scott Plaza
Elizabeth, N.J. 07201
908-820-4130
Dear Mr. Krumholz:
The City of Elizabeth is in receipt of your request for records to the
City Clerk dated August 11, 2020 pursuant to the New Jersey Open Public
Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq., (OPRA). The City of Elizabeth then
requested additional time to respond to said request.
OPRA requests “must identify with reasonable clarity those documents that
are desired, and a party cannot satisfy this requirement by simply
requesting all of any agency’s documents.” Bent v. Twp. of Stafford Police
Dep’t, Custodian of Records, 381 N.J. Super. 30, 37 (App. Div. 2005). A
proper OPRA request must state “a specific subject matter that [is]
clearly and reasonably described with sufficient identifying information.”
Burke v. Brandes, 429 N.J. Super. 169, 176 (App. Div. 2012). Custodians
are not required to conduct research or create new records in response to
an OPRA request. OPRA only allows requests for records, not requests for
information. In this regard, OPRA “is not intended as a research tool . .
. to force government officials to identify and siphon useful
information.” MAG Entm't, LLC v. Div. of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 375
N.J. Super. 534, 546 (App. Div. 2005). In other words, a records custodian
is not required “to conduct research among its records . . . and correlate
data from various government records in the custodian's possession.” Ibid.
Regarding your first request, please narrow your time frame and/or list
which specific crime(s) you would like to access. Currently, your request
as written is overly broad. Several thousand crimes are reported per year;
therefore, to satisfy your request with the current fifteen (15) year time
frame listing all crimes will “substantially disrupt agency operations”
pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(g).
Regarding your second request, we request an additional seven (7) day
extension to accommodate your request.
Regarding your third request, it is denied as we have no responsive
records for the Syracuse Police Department.
Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have additional questions
regarding your request or the above response. Thank you for your patience.
Very truly yours,
Samantha J. Castrelos, Esq.
Special Counsel
City of Elizabeth, Law Department
50 Winfield Scott Plaza, Room 201
Elizabeth, New Jersey 07201
(908) 820-4009
Dear Mr. Krumholz:
The City of Elizabeth is in receipt of your request for records to the
City Clerk dated August 11, 2020 pursuant to the New Jersey Open Public
Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq., (OPRA). The City of Elizabeth then
requested additional time to respond to said request.
Please see attached PDF map responsive to your second request. Please
note, we are still waiting to attempt to accommodate your first request by
clarifying the types of crimes reported and/or by narrowing the time frame
requested.
Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have additional questions
regarding your request or the above response. Thank you for your patience.
Very truly yours,
Samantha J. Castrelos, Esq.
Special Counsel
City of Elizabeth, Law Department
50 Winfield Scott Plaza, Room 201
Elizabeth, New Jersey 07201
(908) 820-4009
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
From: Samantha Castrelos
Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2020 2:50 PM
To: [email address]
<[email address]>
Cc: Grace Sequeira <[email address]>
Subject: OPRA Request
Dear Mr. Krumholz:
The City of Elizabeth is in receipt of your request for records to the
City Clerk dated August 11, 2020 pursuant to the New Jersey Open Public
Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq., (OPRA). The City of Elizabeth then
requested additional time to respond to said request.
OPRA requests “must identify with reasonable clarity those documents that
are desired, and a party cannot satisfy this requirement by simply
requesting all of any agency’s documents.” Bent v. Twp. of Stafford Police
Dep’t, Custodian of Records, 381 N.J. Super. 30, 37 (App. Div. 2005). A
proper OPRA request must state “a specific subject matter that [is]
clearly and reasonably described with sufficient identifying information.”
Burke v. Brandes, 429 N.J. Super. 169, 176 (App. Div. 2012). Custodians
are not required to conduct research or create new records in response to
an OPRA request. OPRA only allows requests for records, not requests for
information. In this regard, OPRA “is not intended as a research tool . .
. to force government officials to identify and siphon useful
information.” MAG Entm't, LLC v. Div. of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 375
N.J. Super. 534, 546 (App. Div. 2005). In other words, a records custodian
is not required “to conduct research among its records . . . and correlate
data from various government records in the custodian's possession.” Ibid.
Regarding your first request, please narrow your time frame and/or list
which specific crime(s) you would like to access. Currently, your request
as written is overly broad. Several thousand crimes are reported per year;
therefore, to satisfy your request with the current fifteen (15) year time
frame listing all crimes will “substantially disrupt agency operations”
pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(g).
Regarding your second request, we request an additional seven (7) day
extension to accommodate your request.
Regarding your third request, it is denied as we have no responsive
records for the Syracuse Police Department.
Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have additional questions
regarding your request or the above response. Thank you for your patience.
Very truly yours,
Samantha J. Castrelos, Esq.
Special Counsel
City of Elizabeth, Law Department
50 Winfield Scott Plaza, Room 201
Elizabeth, New Jersey 07201
(908) 820-4009